title: How to convert all arguments to string in string formatting
body: <p>Starting with this from Corey Goldberg:</p>
  
  <pre><code>#!/usr/bin/env python
  
  import json
  import pprint
  import urllib2
  
  
  def get_stock_quote(ticker_symbol):   
      url = 'http://finance.google.com/finance/info?q=%s' % ticker_symbol
      lines = urllib2.urlopen(url).read().splitlines()
      return json.loads(''.join([x for x in lines if x not in ('// [', ']')]))
  
  
  if __name__ == '__main__':
      quote = get_stock_quote('IBM')
      print 'ticker: %s' % quote['t']
      print 'current price: %s' % quote['l_cur']
      print 'last trade: %s' % quote['lt']
      print 'full quote:'
      pprint.pprint(quote)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Using this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>import urllib2, json
  
  def get_stock_quote(ticker_symbol):   
      url = 'http://finance.google.com/finance/info?q=%s' % ticker_symbol
      lines = urllib2.urlopen(url).read().splitlines()
      #print lines
      return json.loads(''.join([x for x in lines if x not in ('// [', ']')]))
  
  
  
  if __name__ == '__main__':
      symbols = ('Goog',) 
      symbols2 = ('Goog','MSFT')
      quote = get_stock_quote(symbols)
      print 'ticker: %s' % quote['t'],  'current price: %s' % quote['l_cur'], 'last trade: %s' % quote['ltt']
      print quote['t'],  quote['l'], quote['ltt']
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Usings symbols works, symbols2 does not work. The error message is</p>
  
  <p><strong>TypeError: not all arguments converted during string formatting</strong></p>
  
  <p>How do I convert all arguments to string in string formatting. In browser, the code that works is: Goog,MSFT.   </p>
  
  <p>EDIT: the output I am looking for is a list with goog, msft info. </p>