diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 82a68961..8889f94b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -26,6 +26,13 @@ Project will work on both python 2 and python 3
     buy_order = my_trader.place_buy_order(stock_instrument, 1)
     sell_order = my_trader.place_sell_order(stock_instrument, 1)
 
+    # save the token so you don't need user/password again
+    # should probably encrypt this if saving to a file
+    token = my_trader.token
+
+    # load from token rather than login
+    my_trader.token = token
+
 ### Data returned
 * Quote data
   + Ask Price
diff --git a/Robinhood/Robinhood.py b/Robinhood/Robinhood.py
index 22308f6e..1720b4f3 100644
--- a/Robinhood/Robinhood.py
+++ b/Robinhood/Robinhood.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 import getpass
 import logging
 import warnings
+from contextlib import suppress
 from enum import Enum
 
 import requests
@@ -11,6 +12,7 @@
 from six.moves import input
 from . import exceptions as RH_exception
 
+
 class Robinhood:
     """wrapper class for fetching/parsing Robinhood endpoints"""
     endpoints = {
@@ -52,7 +54,7 @@ class Robinhood:
 
     headers = None
 
-    auth_token = None
+    _auth_token = None
 
     logger = logging.getLogger('Robinhood')
     logger.addHandler(logging.NullHandler())
@@ -167,8 +169,7 @@ def login(
             raise RH_exception.TwoFactorRequired()  #requires a second call to enable 2FA
 
         if 'token' in data.keys():
-            self.auth_token = data['token']
-            self.headers['Authorization'] = 'Token ' + self.auth_token
+            self.token = data['token']
             return True
 
         return False
@@ -187,10 +188,19 @@ def logout(self):
             warnings.warn('Failed to log out ' + repr(err_msg))
 
         self.headers['Authorization'] = None
-        self.auth_token = None
+        self._auth_token = None
 
         return res
 
+    @property
+    def token(self):
+        return self._auth_token
+
+    @token.setter
+    def token(self, token):
+        self._auth_token = token
+        self.headers['Authorization'] = 'Token ' + self._auth_token
+
     ##############################
     #GET DATA
     ##############################
@@ -198,7 +208,7 @@ def logout(self):
     def investment_profile(self):
         """fetch investment_profile"""
         res = self.session.get(self.endpoints['investment_profile'])
-        res.raise_for_status()  #will throw without auth
+        res.raise_for_status()  # will throw without auth
         data = res.json()
         return data
 
@@ -208,7 +218,8 @@ def instruments(self, query=None, symbol=None, instrumentid=None):
         Args:
             query (str): search for ticker, e.g. by company name
             symbol (str): find instrument by it's symbol
-            instrumentid (str): instrumentid [uuid without the rest of URL]
+            instrumentid (str): instrumentid [uuid with or without the rest of
+             URL]
 
         Returns:
             (:obj:`dict`): JSON contents from `instruments` endpoint
@@ -216,6 +227,9 @@ def instruments(self, query=None, symbol=None, instrumentid=None):
         """
         res = None
         if instrumentid:
+            with suppress(IndexError):
+                # allow for url rather than making the user strip it
+                instrumentid = instrumentid.strip('/').split('/')[-1]
             res = self.session.get(
                 self.endpoints['instrumentid'].format(instrumentid=instrumentid)
             )
@@ -231,14 +245,18 @@ def instruments(self, query=None, symbol=None, instrumentid=None):
             )
         res.raise_for_status()
         res = res.json()
-
         # if requesting all, return entire object so may paginate with ['next']
         # Not sure variable returns types here is the best approach..
         # API doesn't return pagination though when query is non-empty query=a ??
         #if query is None and not (symbol or instrumentid):
         #     return res
         # XXX perhaps should return an iterable to hide the pagination, e.g. res['next'], res['previous'] aspects
-        return res['results']
+        try:
+            return res['results']
+        except KeyError:
+            # res can either contain a list of dicts or a single dict
+            # return it as a list of one dict rather than variable return types
+            return [res]
 
     def instrument_splits(self, instrumentid=None):
         """fetch instruments splits endpoint
@@ -946,7 +964,6 @@ def cancel_order(self,oid):
         res.raise_for_status()
         return res
 
-
     def cancel_orders_all(self,instrument=None):
         """
         convenience function to cancel all orders, optionally only for a given instrument