[python] 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).