Bad operand type for unary +: 'str'

The code works for me. (after adding missing except clause / import statements)

Did you put \ in the original code?

urlToVisit = 'http://chartapi.finance.yahoo.com/instrument/1.0/' \
              + stock + '/chartdata;type=quote;range=5d/csv'

If you omit it, it could be a cause of the exception:

>>> stock = 'GOOG'
>>> urlToVisit = 'http://chartapi.finance.yahoo.com/instrument/1.0/'
>>> + stock + '/chartdata;type=quote;range=5d/csv'
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: bad operand type for unary +: 'str'

BTW, string(e) should be str(e).


You say that if int(splitLine[0]) > int(lastUnix): is causing the trouble, but you don't actually show anything which suggests that. I think this line is the problem instead:

print 'Pulled', + stock

Do you see why this line could cause that error message? You want either

>>> stock = "AAAA"
>>> print 'Pulled', stock
Pulled AAAA

or

>>> print 'Pulled ' + stock
Pulled AAAA

not

>>> print 'Pulled', + stock
PulledTraceback (most recent call last):
  File "<ipython-input-5-7c26bb268609>", line 1, in <module>
    print 'Pulled', + stock
TypeError: bad operand type for unary +: 'str'

You're asking Python to apply the + symbol to a string like +23 makes a positive 23, and she's objecting.