Decorative banner for the Ask the Data section: abstract geometric shapes in the site's colours. It carries no data.

This assistant only knows what is in this site's own database. It looks up the same rows the pages show, quotes the date and the basis of every figure, and links the page the number came from. It cannot search the web, cannot see your accounts, and will say the site does not hold something rather than guess at it. It also will not tell you what to buy — ask it what a number means or how two things differ, and it answers well; ask it what to do, and it will hand the facts back and leave the decision with you.

Research tools

Ask the Data

A question box wired to this site's database. Ask about a security, a rate, a distribution date or what the site covers, and the answer is read from the same rows the pages are built from — with the basis and the date of every figure attached.

This is not a chatbot with opinions about markets. It has no knowledge of its own: it can run a short list of fixed lookups against this site's data and answer from what comes back. If a lookup returns nothing, it says so instead of filling the gap.

Ask a question to begin. Try one of the examples underneath the box.

Research only. Nothing here is investment advice, a recommendation or an offer, and the assistant will not tell you what to buy, sell or hold. Figures come from the database behind this site and can be delayed or wrong — the page a figure links to is the authority. Your question is sent to a model provider to produce the answer, so do not type account numbers, holdings or personal details into it. See Privacy and Disclaimers.

Questions that work

Each of these maps onto a lookup the assistant actually has. Select one to put it in the box.

  • What is the current yield on O, and what basis is it?One security, with the basis and the price date attached.
  • Compare MAIN, ARCC and OBDC.The same fields side by side.
  • What is the 3-month Treasury bill rate?One published series, with its observation date.
  • Show me the current cash rates.Every deposit, money-market, CD and bill series in one group.
  • Which BDCs have the highest published yields?A screen ordered by yield — not a recommendation.
  • What does return of capital mean?Finds the explainer instead of improvising a definition.
  • Which securities go ex-dividend in the next 14 days?Projected from the recorded payment cadence.
  • How many preferred series does this site track?Counts, medians and how fresh the data is.

What it can do

  • Look up any security the site tracks and tell you its yield, the basis of that yield, its price and when that price was recorded.
  • Put up to four securities side by side on the same fields.
  • Quote any interest-rate series the site publishes, with its observation date and its source.
  • Say what the database actually holds — counts by type, median yields, and when each dataset was last refreshed.
  • Find the Learn explainer for a term and point you at it.
  • List the securities whose next projected ex-dividend date falls inside the next month.

What it will not do

  • Recommend anything. It will not tell you what to buy, sell, hold or allocate, and it will not rank anything as best, safest or most attractive.
  • Predict. No price targets, no rate forecasts, no view on where a dividend goes next.
  • Invent a figure. If a lookup comes back empty it says so and points at the page that would carry it, rather than filling the gap.
  • Answer from the open web. It sees this site's database and nothing else, so it knows nothing about news, filings or anything that has not been loaded here.
  • Advise on your tax, your retirement account or your personal circumstances.
What a number here does and does not tell you
Every answer is a research statement, not guidance. A list ordered by yield is a screen, not a shortlist. A high published yield frequently reflects a market that expects the payment to be cut, and a figure computed on a trailing basis describes cash already paid rather than a rate that repeats. Read the page behind any number before acting on it, and take decisions with a qualified professional who knows your circumstances.

Frequently asked

Where do the answers come from?
From this site's own database, read at the moment you ask. The assistant is given a small set of fixed lookups — one security, a ranked screen, a rate series, a group of rates, a comparison of up to four securities, a Learn search, a summary of the universe, and the ex-dividend calendar. It runs those and answers from what comes back. It cannot write its own query, cannot reach any other table, and cannot see the database directly.
Can it get a number wrong?
It can only repeat what the lookup returned, so a figure here is the same figure the corresponding page shows. What it can get wrong is the framing — reading a trailing yield as a forward one, or treating a stale reading as today's. That is why every answer is asked to carry the basis and the date, and why the page it links to is the authority. If the two ever disagree, believe the page.
Why will it not tell me what to buy?
Because this site is a research reference, not an adviser. Nothing here is investment advice, and we are not registered to give any. The assistant is built to hand you facts with their basis attached and then stop.
Does it remember me?
No. The conversation lives in this browser tab and is sent back with each question so the assistant can follow the thread. Close the tab and it is gone. No account, no profile, no history stored against you.
What happens to my question?
It is sent to the model provider to produce the answer, along with the rows the lookups returned. Do not type anything into it you would not put in a search box — account numbers, holdings, personal details. See /privacy for the full picture.
Why does it sometimes say the site does not have something?
Because it does not. The securities universe covers US-listed dividend payers, preferred series, exchange-traded debt, income funds, BDCs, REITs and MLPs, and the rate series come from published sources. Anything outside that returns nothing, and saying so is more useful than a confident guess.

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