diff --git a/Meeting-Documentation/Meeting-2.md b/Meeting-Documentation/Meeting-2.md
index 637bca3..971cf45 100644
--- a/Meeting-Documentation/Meeting-2.md
+++ b/Meeting-Documentation/Meeting-2.md
@@ -34,4 +34,4 @@
 - Review Sprint 1 for code review + fix any issues (**Luke + Sameer**)
 - Support team with repository processes (**Jack + Azlan**)
 - Final check of architecture diagram to ensure it matches code structure (**Azlan**)
-- Update Kanban with Sprint 2 tasks from feedback (**Luke + Jack**)
+- Update Kanban with Sprint 2 tasks from feedback (**Jack**)
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7214545..80a099f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -22,4 +22,8 @@ This is a Java-based web application for charting and comparing share prices ove
 | **Individual Reflection** | 23.4.26 | 10% | - |
 
 ## How to run
-<code>./mvnw spring-boot:run</code>
+`cd stockscope && ./mvnw spring-boot:run`
+
+### Set your API key
+- Mac/Linux (zsh): `export ALPHAVANTAGE_KEY="YOUR_KEY_HERE"` then restart the app.
+- If you run from an IDE (IntelliJ/Eclipse), set `ALPHAVANTAGE_KEY` in the Run/Debug configuration environment variables (Terminal exports may not be inherited).
diff --git a/stockscope/pom.xml b/stockscope/pom.xml
index 86244eb..10738fe 100644
--- a/stockscope/pom.xml
+++ b/stockscope/pom.xml
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 			<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId>
 			<scope>test</scope>
 		</dependency>
+		
 	</dependencies>
 
 	<build>
@@ -50,6 +51,10 @@
 			<plugin>
 				<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
 				<artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
+				<version>4.0.2</version>
+				<configuration>
+					<mainClass>com.sharecomparison.StockComparisonApplication</mainClass>
+				</configuration>
 			</plugin>
 		</plugins>
 	</build>
diff --git a/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/StockComparisonApplication.java b/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/StockComparisonApplication.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8012b7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/StockComparisonApplication.java
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+package com.sharecomparison;
+
+import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
+import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Value;
+
+import com.sharecomparison.application.MarketDataService;
+import com.sharecomparison.application.PriceRepository;
+import com.sharecomparison.infrastructure.AlphaVantageService;
+import com.sharecomparison.infrastructure.InMemoryPriceRepository;
+
+@SpringBootApplication
+public class StockComparisonApplication {
+
+    public static void main(String[] args) {
+        SpringApplication.run(StockComparisonApplication.class, args);
+    }
+
+    @Bean
+    public PriceRepository priceRepository() {
+        return new InMemoryPriceRepository();
+    }
+
+    @Bean
+    public MarketDataService marketDataService(
+            PriceRepository repository,
+            @Value("${alphavantage.key:demo}") String apiKey,
+            @Value("${alphavantage.outputsize:compact}") String outputSize) {
+        return new AlphaVantageService(repository, apiKey, outputSize);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/application/MarketDataService.java b/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/application/MarketDataService.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2e21a9b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/application/MarketDataService.java
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+package com.sharecomparison.application;
+
+import java.time.LocalDate;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import com.sharecomparison.domain.PriceData;
+
+public interface MarketDataService {
+
+    List<PriceData> fetchSharePrices(
+            String symbol,
+            LocalDate startDate,
+            LocalDate endDate
+    );
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/application/PriceRepository.java b/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/application/PriceRepository.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9eaf87d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/application/PriceRepository.java
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+package com.sharecomparison.application;
+
+import java.time.LocalDate;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import com.sharecomparison.domain.PriceData;
+
+public interface PriceRepository {
+
+    void savePrices(List<PriceData> prices);
+
+    List<PriceData> loadPrices(
+            String symbol,
+            LocalDate startDate,
+            LocalDate endDate
+    );
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/infrastructure/AlphaVantageService.java b/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/infrastructure/AlphaVantageService.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3a09484
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/infrastructure/AlphaVantageService.java
@@ -0,0 +1,263 @@
+package com.sharecomparison.infrastructure;
+
+import java.net.URI;
+import java.net.URLEncoder;
+import java.net.http.HttpClient;
+import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
+import java.net.http.HttpResponse;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.time.LocalDate;
+import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.regex.Matcher;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
+
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
+import com.sharecomparison.application.MarketDataService;
+import com.sharecomparison.application.PriceRepository;
+import com.sharecomparison.domain.PriceData;
+
+public class AlphaVantageService implements MarketDataService {
+
+    private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(AlphaVantageService.class);
+    private static final int LOG_SNIPPET_LENGTH = 250;
+    private static final long MIN_REQUEST_INTERVAL_MS = 1100;
+    private static final Object RATE_LIMIT_LOCK = new Object();
+    private static long lastRequestAtMs = 0L;
+
+    private final HttpClient httpClient = HttpClient.newHttpClient();
+    private final PriceRepository repository;
+
+    private final String apiKey;
+    private final String outputSize;
+
+    public AlphaVantageService(PriceRepository repository) {
+        this(repository, null);
+    }
+
+    public AlphaVantageService(PriceRepository repository, String apiKey) {
+        this(repository, apiKey, null);
+    }
+
+    public AlphaVantageService(PriceRepository repository, String apiKey, String outputSize) {
+        this.repository = repository;
+        this.apiKey = resolveApiKey(apiKey);
+        this.outputSize = normalizeOutputSize(outputSize);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public List<PriceData> fetchSharePrices(String symbol, LocalDate startDate, LocalDate endDate) {
+        try {
+            if (symbol == null || symbol.isBlank()) {
+                return repository.loadPrices(symbol, startDate, endDate);
+            }
+
+            List<PriceData> cached = repository.loadPrices(symbol, startDate, endDate);
+            if (!cached.isEmpty()) {
+                log.debug("Returning cached prices for symbol={} ({} to {})", symbol, startDate, endDate);
+                return cached;
+            }
+
+            String json = fetchTimeSeriesDailyJson(symbol, outputSize);
+            if (json == null) {
+                return repository.loadPrices(symbol, startDate, endDate);
+            }
+
+            if (json.contains("\"Note\"")) {
+                log.warn("Alpha Vantage throttled request: {}", extractStringFieldOrSnippet(json, "Note"));
+                return repository.loadPrices(symbol, startDate, endDate);
+            }
+            if (json.contains("\"Information\"")) {
+                log.warn("Alpha Vantage returned information: {}", extractStringFieldOrSnippet(json, "Information"));
+                if ("full".equals(outputSize)
+                        && json.contains("outputsize=full")
+                        && (json.toLowerCase().contains("premium") || json.toLowerCase().contains("subscribe"))) {
+                    log.warn("Retrying Alpha Vantage request with outputsize=compact (free-tier fallback).");
+                    String fallbackJson = fetchTimeSeriesDailyJson(symbol, "compact");
+                    if (fallbackJson != null
+                            && !fallbackJson.contains("\"Information\"")
+                            && !fallbackJson.contains("\"Note\"")
+                            && !fallbackJson.contains("\"Error Message\"")
+                            && !fallbackJson.contains("\"error message\"")) {
+                        json = fallbackJson;
+                    } else {
+                        return repository.loadPrices(symbol, startDate, endDate);
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    return repository.loadPrices(symbol, startDate, endDate);
+                }
+            }
+            if (json.contains("\"Error Message\"") || json.contains("\"error message\"")) {
+                log.warn("Alpha Vantage error for symbol={}: {}", symbol, extractStringFieldOrSnippet(json, "Error Message"));
+                return repository.loadPrices(symbol, startDate, endDate);
+            }
+
+            List<PriceData> prices = parseTimeSeriesDailyJson(symbol, json, startDate, endDate);
+
+            if (prices.isEmpty()) {
+                log.warn("Alpha Vantage returned no price data for symbol={}. Response snippet: {}", symbol, snippet(json));
+                return repository.loadPrices(symbol, startDate, endDate);
+            }
+
+            repository.savePrices(prices);
+            return prices;
+
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            log.warn("Alpha Vantage fetch failed for symbol={}: {}", symbol, e.toString());
+            return repository.loadPrices(symbol, startDate, endDate);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private String fetchTimeSeriesDailyJson(String symbol, String outputSize) throws Exception {
+        rateLimit();
+        String url = "https://www.alphavantage.co/query" +
+                "?function=TIME_SERIES_DAILY" +
+                "&symbol=" + URLEncoder.encode(symbol.trim(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8) +
+                "&outputsize=" + URLEncoder.encode(normalizeOutputSize(outputSize), StandardCharsets.UTF_8) +
+                "&apikey=" + URLEncoder.encode(apiKey, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+
+        HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
+                .uri(URI.create(url))
+                .header("Accept", "application/json")
+                .GET()
+                .build();
+
+        HttpResponse<String> response = httpClient.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
+        if (response.statusCode() != 200) {
+            log.warn("Alpha Vantage HTTP error: status={}", response.statusCode());
+            return null;
+        }
+        return response.body();
+    }
+
+    private static void rateLimit() {
+        synchronized (RATE_LIMIT_LOCK) {
+            long now = System.currentTimeMillis();
+            long elapsed = now - lastRequestAtMs;
+            if (elapsed < MIN_REQUEST_INTERVAL_MS) {
+                long sleepMs = MIN_REQUEST_INTERVAL_MS - elapsed;
+                try {
+                    Thread.sleep(sleepMs);
+                } catch (InterruptedException ignored) {
+                    Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
+                }
+            }
+            lastRequestAtMs = System.currentTimeMillis();
+        }
+    }
+
+    List<PriceData> parseTimeSeriesDailyJson(
+            String symbol,
+            String json,
+            LocalDate start,
+            LocalDate end) {
+
+        List<PriceData> prices = new ArrayList<>();
+
+        int timeSeriesIndex = json.indexOf("\"Time Series (Daily)\"");
+        if (timeSeriesIndex == -1) {
+            log.warn("No 'Time Series (Daily)' section found in Alpha Vantage response");
+            return prices;
+        }
+
+        int startObj = json.indexOf('{', timeSeriesIndex);
+        if (startObj == -1) return prices;
+
+        int braceCount = 1;
+        int cursor = startObj + 1;
+        while (cursor < json.length() && braceCount > 0) {
+            char c = json.charAt(cursor);
+            if (c == '{') braceCount++;
+            if (c == '}') braceCount--;
+            cursor++;
+        }
+        if (braceCount != 0) {
+            log.warn("Unbalanced braces while parsing 'Time Series (Daily)'");
+            return prices;
+        }
+
+        String timeSeriesBlock = json.substring(startObj, cursor);
+
+        DateTimeFormatter fmt = DateTimeFormatter.ISO_LOCAL_DATE;
+
+        Pattern entryPattern = Pattern.compile(
+                "\"(\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2})\"\\s*:\\s*\\{[^}]*?\"4\\. close\"\\s*:\\s*\"([^\"]+)\"",
+                Pattern.DOTALL
+        );
+
+        Matcher matcher = entryPattern.matcher(timeSeriesBlock);
+        while (matcher.find()) {
+            String dateStr = matcher.group(1);
+            String closeStr = matcher.group(2);
+            LocalDate date;
+            try {
+                date = LocalDate.parse(dateStr, fmt);
+            } catch (Exception ex) {
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            if (date.isBefore(start) || date.isAfter(end)) continue;
+
+            double closePrice;
+            try {
+                closePrice = Double.parseDouble(closeStr);
+            } catch (NumberFormatException ex) {
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            prices.add(new PriceData(symbol, date, closePrice));
+        }
+
+        // Sort just in case
+        prices.sort((a, b) -> a.getDate().compareTo(b.getDate()));
+
+        return prices;
+    }
+
+    private static String resolveApiKey(String apiKey) {
+        String resolvedKey = (apiKey == null || apiKey.isBlank())
+                ? System.getenv("ALPHAVANTAGE_KEY")
+                : apiKey;
+        if (resolvedKey == null || resolvedKey.isBlank()) {
+            log.warn("Alpha Vantage API key not set (property/env). Falling back to 'demo' key.");
+            resolvedKey = "demo";
+        }
+        if ("demo".equalsIgnoreCase(resolvedKey)) {
+            log.warn("Alpha Vantage is configured with the 'demo' key (very limited symbols). Set ALPHAVANTAGE_KEY (or alphavantage.key) to use a real key.");
+        }
+        return resolvedKey;
+    }
+
+    private static String normalizeOutputSize(String outputSize) {
+        if (outputSize == null || outputSize.isBlank()) return "compact";
+        String normalized = outputSize.trim().toLowerCase();
+        if (!"compact".equals(normalized) && !"full".equals(normalized)) {
+            log.warn("Invalid alphavantage.outputsize='{}'. Falling back to 'compact'.", outputSize);
+            return "compact";
+        }
+        return normalized;
+    }
+
+    private static String extractStringFieldOrSnippet(String json, String fieldName) {
+        String extracted = extractStringField(json, fieldName);
+        return extracted != null ? extracted : snippet(json);
+    }
+
+    private static String extractStringField(String json, String fieldName) {
+        if (json == null || json.isBlank() || fieldName == null || fieldName.isBlank()) return null;
+        Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("\"" + Pattern.quote(fieldName) + "\"\\s*:\\s*\"([^\"]*)\"");
+        Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(json);
+        if (!matcher.find()) return null;
+        return matcher.group(1);
+    }
+
+    private static String snippet(String value) {
+        if (value == null) return "null";
+        String trimmed = value.trim();
+        if (trimmed.length() <= LOG_SNIPPET_LENGTH) return trimmed;
+        return trimmed.substring(0, LOG_SNIPPET_LENGTH) + "...";
+    }
+}
diff --git a/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/infrastructure/InMemoryPriceRepository.java b/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/infrastructure/InMemoryPriceRepository.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..21094db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/infrastructure/InMemoryPriceRepository.java
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+package com.sharecomparison.infrastructure;
+
+import java.time.LocalDate;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import com.sharecomparison.application.PriceRepository;
+import com.sharecomparison.domain.PriceData;
+
+public class InMemoryPriceRepository implements PriceRepository {
+
+    private List<PriceData> storedPrices = new ArrayList<>();
+
+    @Override
+    public void savePrices(List<PriceData> prices) {
+        for (PriceData newPrice : prices) {
+            boolean replaced = false;
+
+            for (int i = 0; i < storedPrices.size(); i++) {
+                PriceData existing = storedPrices.get(i);
+
+                if (existing.getSymbol().equals(newPrice.getSymbol())
+                        && existing.getDate().equals(newPrice.getDate())) {
+                    storedPrices.set(i, newPrice);
+                    replaced = true;
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+
+            if (!replaced) {
+                storedPrices.add(newPrice);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public List<PriceData> loadPrices(
+            String symbol,
+            LocalDate startDate,
+            LocalDate endDate) {
+
+        List<PriceData> results = new ArrayList<>();
+
+        for (PriceData p : storedPrices) {
+
+            if (p.getSymbol().equals(symbol)
+                    && !p.getDate().isBefore(startDate)
+                    && !p.getDate().isAfter(endDate)) {
+
+                results.add(p);
+            }
+        }
+
+        return results;
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/presentation/WebPageController.java b/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/presentation/WebPageController.java
index 8d094b4..a4c2e1e 100644
--- a/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/presentation/WebPageController.java
+++ b/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/presentation/WebPageController.java
@@ -1,15 +1,17 @@
 package com.sharecomparison.presentation;
 
-import com.sharecomparison.application.IPriceController;
-import com.sharecomparison.domain.ComparisonResult;
+import java.time.LocalDate;
+
 import org.springframework.format.annotation.DateTimeFormat;
 import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
 import org.springframework.ui.Model;
+import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ExceptionHandler;
 import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
-import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.PostMapping;
 import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestParam;
+import org.springframework.web.method.annotation.MethodArgumentTypeMismatchException;
 
-import java.time.LocalDate;
+import com.sharecomparison.application.IPriceController;
+import com.sharecomparison.domain.ComparisonResult;
 
 @Controller
 public class WebPageController {
@@ -21,19 +23,15 @@ public WebPageController(IPriceController priceController) {
     }
 
     @GetMapping("/")
-    public String index(Model model) {
-        LocalDate end = LocalDate.now();
-        LocalDate start = end.minusMonths(6);
-
+    public String showForm(Model model) {
         model.addAttribute("symbol1", "AAPL");
         model.addAttribute("symbol2", "MSFT");
-        model.addAttribute("startDate", start);
-        model.addAttribute("endDate", end);
-
+        model.addAttribute("startDate", LocalDate.now().minusYears(1).toString());
+        model.addAttribute("endDate", LocalDate.now().toString());
         return "index";
     }
 
-    @PostMapping("/compare")
+    @GetMapping("/compare")
     public String compare(
             @RequestParam String symbol1,
             @RequestParam String symbol2,
@@ -41,30 +39,55 @@ public String compare(
             @RequestParam(required = false) @DateTimeFormat(iso = DateTimeFormat.ISO.DATE) LocalDate endDate,
             Model model) {
 
-        String s1 = symbol1 == null ? "" : symbol1.trim().toUpperCase();
-        String s2 = symbol2 == null ? "" : symbol2.trim().toUpperCase();
-
-        LocalDate effectiveEnd = endDate == null ? LocalDate.now() : endDate;
-        LocalDate effectiveStart = startDate == null ? effectiveEnd.minusMonths(6) : startDate;
+        LocalDate start = (startDate != null) ? startDate : LocalDate.now().minusYears(1);
+        LocalDate end = (endDate != null) ? endDate : LocalDate.now();
 
-        model.addAttribute("symbol1", s1);
-        model.addAttribute("symbol2", s2);
-        model.addAttribute("startDate", effectiveStart);
-        model.addAttribute("endDate", effectiveEnd);
+        symbol1 = symbol1.trim().toUpperCase();
+        symbol2 = symbol2.trim().toUpperCase();
 
-        if (s1.isEmpty() || s2.isEmpty()) {
-            model.addAttribute("error", "Both symbols are required.");
+        if (start.isAfter(end)) {
+            model.addAttribute("error", "Start date must be on or before end date.");
+            model.addAttribute("symbol1", symbol1);
+            model.addAttribute("symbol2", symbol2);
+            model.addAttribute("startDate", start.toString());
+            model.addAttribute("endDate", end.toString());
             return "index";
         }
 
-        if (effectiveStart.isAfter(effectiveEnd)) {
-            model.addAttribute("error", "Start date must be on or before end date.");
+        ComparisonResult result = priceController.comparePrices(symbol1, symbol2, start, end);
+
+        if (result.getSymbol1Data().isEmpty() || result.getSymbol2Data().isEmpty()) {
+            model.addAttribute("error", "No data available for one or both symbols in this range.");
+            model.addAttribute("symbol1", symbol1);
+            model.addAttribute("symbol2", symbol2);
+            model.addAttribute("startDate", start.toString());
+            model.addAttribute("endDate", end.toString());
             return "index";
         }
 
-        ComparisonResult result = priceController.comparePrices(s1, s2, effectiveStart, effectiveEnd);
         model.addAttribute("result", result);
+        model.addAttribute("symbol1", symbol1);
+        model.addAttribute("symbol2", symbol2);
+        model.addAttribute("startDate", start.toString());
+        model.addAttribute("endDate", end.toString());
 
         return "index";
     }
+
+    @ExceptionHandler(MethodArgumentTypeMismatchException.class)
+    public String handleDateParseError(MethodArgumentTypeMismatchException ex, Model model) {
+        String paramName = ex.getName();
+        if (LocalDate.class.equals(ex.getRequiredType())
+                && ("startDate".equals(paramName) || "endDate".equals(paramName))) {
+            model.addAttribute("error",
+                    "Invalid date format for '" + paramName + "'. Please use YYYY-MM-DD (e.g. 2024-01-15).");
+        } else {
+            model.addAttribute("error", "Invalid value for parameter '" + paramName + "'.");
+        }
+        model.addAttribute("symbol1", "AAPL");
+        model.addAttribute("symbol2", "MSFT");
+        model.addAttribute("startDate", LocalDate.now().minusYears(1).toString());
+        model.addAttribute("endDate", LocalDate.now().toString());
+        return "index";
+    }
 }
diff --git a/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/presentation/WebUI.java b/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/presentation/WebUI.java
deleted file mode 100644
index e8f8828..0000000
--- a/stockscope/src/main/java/com/sharecomparison/presentation/WebUI.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-package com.sharecomparison.presentation;
-
-import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
-import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
-
-@SpringBootApplication(scanBasePackages = "com.sharecomparison")
-public class WebUI {
-
-    public static void main(String[] args) {
-        SpringApplication.run(WebUI.class, args);
-    }
-}
diff --git a/stockscope/src/main/resources/application.properties b/stockscope/src/main/resources/application.properties
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7139445
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stockscope/src/main/resources/application.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+# ================================
+# Alpha Vantage API Configuration
+# ================================
+# Get your free key at: https://www.alphavantage.co/support/#api-key
+# Use 'demo' for quick testing (limited symbols, 25 calls/day)
+alphavantage.key=${ALPHAVANTAGE_KEY:demo}
+# "full" is now treated as premium for TIME_SERIES_DAILY by Alpha Vantage (free keys will get an "Information" response).
+alphavantage.outputsize=compact
+
+# ================================
+# Development / Debugging Helpers
+# ================================
+# Disable Thymeleaf template caching → changes to index.html reload instantly without restart
+spring.thymeleaf.cache=false
+
+# Show detailed startup logs and bean wiring info (helpful for debugging ambiguous mappings, etc.)
+logging.level.org.springframework=INFO
+# logging.level.org.springframework.web=DEBUG          ← uncomment for more request details
+# logging.level.com.sharecomparison=DEBUG              ← uncomment to log your own classes
+
+# Optional: Change server port if 8080 is blocked/conflicted
+# server.port=8081
+
+# Optional: If you later add a database (e.g. H2 for persistent cache)
+# spring.datasource.url=jdbc:h2:mem:testdb
+# spring.datasource.driverClassName=org.h2.Driver
+# spring.datasource.username=sa
+# spring.datasource.password=
+# spring.jpa.database-platform=org.hibernate.dialect.H2Dialect
+# spring.h2.console.enabled=true
diff --git a/stockscope/src/main/resources/templates/index.html b/stockscope/src/main/resources/templates/index.html
index 4a38c1f..f5bc6d7 100644
--- a/stockscope/src/main/resources/templates/index.html
+++ b/stockscope/src/main/resources/templates/index.html
@@ -175,6 +175,12 @@
             display: block;
         }
 
+        .error {
+            color: #911d1d;
+            font-weight: bold;
+            margin-bottom: 1rem;
+        }
+
         @media (max-width: 768px) {
             .cards {
                 grid-template-columns: 1fr;
@@ -201,7 +207,7 @@
     <div class="container">
         <h1>Share Price Comparison</h1>
 
-        <form method="post" action="/compare">
+        <form method="get" action="/compare">
             <input name="symbol1" placeholder="First symbol (e.g. AAPL)" th:value="${symbol1}" required />
             <input name="symbol2" placeholder="Second symbol (e.g. MSFT)" th:value="${symbol2}" required />
             <input name="startDate" type="date" th:value="${startDate}" />
@@ -213,7 +219,7 @@ <h1>Share Price Comparison</h1>
 
         <div th:if="${result}">
             <p class="muted"
-                th:text="|Showing ${result.symbol1} vs ${result.symbol2} from ${result.startDate} to ${result.endDate}|">
+               th:text="|Showing ${result.symbol1} vs ${result.symbol2} from ${result.startDate} to ${result.endDate}|">
             </p>
 
             <div class="chart-wrap">
@@ -294,7 +300,10 @@ <h3 th:text="${result.symbol2}"></h3>
                     </table>
                 </section>
             </div>
+        </div>
 
+        <div th:unless="${result}" class="muted">
+            Enter two stock symbols and a date range above to see live historical comparison.
         </div>
     </div>
     <footer>