Quick tip: retrieving raw, unprocessed files stored in Github

 The domain raw.githubusercontent.com serves raw, unprocessed files stored in Github repositories - think of it as GitHub's "direct file download" backend. Tools like curl, wget or Python scripts can fetch files directly using a specific url composed of the user name, repo, branch, folder and filename

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/[user]/[repo]/[branch]/[folder]/[filename] 

example: curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jorisp/tradingnotebooks/master/data/DJI.csv

You can also read these raw files form GitHub using pandas.read_csv

Quick tip: checking your Github Copilot settings

 Open https://github.com/settings/copilot/features

References:

• Best practices for using GitHub Copilot
• Asking GitHub Copilot questions in your IDE

Interactive Pandas dataframes with ITables 2.0

 ITables is a Python package available on Github (maintained by Marc Wouts) which changes how Pandas and Polars dataframes are rendered in Python notebooks and other Python applications. It works out of the box without any dependencies in Jupyter, Dash, Streamlit and Marimo. 

For more info see:

• Make your Pandas or Polars DataFrames Interactive with ITables 2.0
• ITables Quick Start

Enable and disable Data Wranger in VS Code for Pandas DataFrame and Series

To disable default rendering of Pandas DataFrames in VS Code Jupyter Notebook with Data Wrangler (after installing the extension) - follow these steps:

1. Open Command Palette : Preferences: Open Settings (UI)
2. Search for: Data Wrangler
3. Uncheck the Data Wrangler>Output Renderer: Enabled Types for Pandas Dataframe and Series to disable the rendering and check them again when needed

Related links:

• Getting started with Data Wrangler in VS Code

Datawrapper: enrich your stories with charts, maps and tables

 Datawrapper is designed to make professional-quality charts, maps and tables - even for those without coding or design skills. Also check out their blog which has excellent posts such as Fix my chart - turning donuts into bars (Part of the Data Visualization Do's & Don'ts). 

"Statistiek Vlaanderen" (government agency in Flanders) makes extensive use of Datawrapper - it has used it to create more than 2000 Datawrapper charts and maps on more than 300 webpages. (Statistics Flanders: "We want to reach everyone")

Source: International migration (July 2025) - Statistics Flanders

Quick tip: Upgrade yfinance as part of OpenBB

I have noticed that the yfinance Python package requires regular updating to keep it working. yfinance is also one of the core libraries inside OpenBB and you can upgrade it independently of the other packages using this command

pip install --upgrade openbb-yfinance

References:

• How to use pip (install, update and uninstall packages)
• OpenBB Platform (PyPi)

Divididend analysis of Telenor ASA using Jupyter Notebook

Cross posted from Divididend analysis of Telenor ASA using Jupyter Notebook

I just published the notebook dividends.ipynb on my GitHub repository jorisp/tradingnotebooks which shows how dividends contribute to the total return. This notebook uses the yfinance API to retrieve the data.  I used Telenor ASA (a Norwegian telecom operator) as an example.

If you are considering to invest in foreign dividend stocks as a Belgian investor, you need to keep in mind the double taxation of dividends. Even with a withholding tax applied abroad, the Belgian government will tax your dividend again at a flat rate of 30%.

Disclaimer: The information on this blog is intended solely for informational and educational purposes. I am not a certified financial advisor, and the content provided here does not constitute professional financial advice. (Full disclaimer)

Getting financial data in Python using the OpenBB SDK

The OpenBB SDK (also known as OpenBB Platform) is developed as open-source (the code is available on https://github.com/OpenBB-finance/OpenBB) by the company Open BB. The OpenBB SDK provides programmatic access to a wide range of financial data sources from one place in a standard way.

The OpenBB SDK was developed to drive the OpenBB Workspace (See Introducing the new OpenBB Terminal ) which provides a customizable platform for financial analysts, investors and researchers that rivals traditional financial terminals without the steep costs.

By default, the OpenBB SDKwill attempt to download data from free sources such as Yahoo Finance but OpenBB SDK integrates with multiple other data sources as well such as , Alpha Vantage, FRED,FMP,SEC,etc .... In most OpenBB API platform calls, you can indicate a different data source - some of them free others requiring a separate subscription - allowing you to pull equities, options, crypto, forex and macroeconomic data using a single SDK. 

Since you can access both historical and real-time market data, OpenBB is ideal for backtesting and live trading strategies. The SDK is compatible with Jupyter Notebooks, Python scripts, and automated trading systems. I recently tested the OpenBB SDK as an alternative to Pandas_DataReader in Jupyter Notebooks, and it worked flawlessly.

I shared this Jupyter notebook on my Github repo:

https://github.com/jorisp/tradingnotebooks/blob/master/openbbdemo.ipynb

Please note that many of the code samples found in various articles and posts are no longer functional due to significant changes in the codebase. The shared Jupyter notebook has been tested with OpenBB 4.3.5 and Python 3.12.8.

Quick tip: command prompt shortcut for PAC development tools

Last year, I blogged about how you can use PAC to start the Plugin Registration Tool and Configuration Tool  (see Start CRM development tools from command prompt with Power Platform CLI). 

Remember that you quite easily create a shortcut for this as well by using "C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k pac tool prt" as input for the shortcut.

Quick Tip: installing Azure Service Bus Explorer with Chocolatey

 Recently I had to reinstall Azure Service Bus Explorer on a new laptop and it seems that you now need to use Chocolatey (a package manager for Windows) to install Azure Service Bus Explorer. 

Installing Chocolatey, is quite straightforward, - you need to follow the steps outlined on Install Chocolatey for individual use - I installed Chocolatey using PowerShell prompt (with elevated privileges) and did not encounter any issues. 

Next you can simply install Azure Service Bus Explorer from command prompt using "choco install servicebusexplorer". By default it will install into this folder C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\lib\ServiceBusExplorer\tools\ServiceBusExplorer.exe . No issues encountered with version 6.0.3