This will allow you to grab less data at one whack. I'll also throw in some prettier constructs which use fewer temporary variables.

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

use strict;
use DBI;
use Finance::QuoteHist;

my $user="me";
my $password="pass";
my $database="stocks";

my $dbh=DBI->connect("dbi:mysql:$database",$user,$password,{RaiseError
+=>1})
    or die "Cannot connect to database";

my $syms = $dbh->selectcol_arrayref("Select symbol from symbols");

my $sth=$dbh->prepare("INSERT INTO stocks
                       (symbol,date,open,high,low,close,volume,adjuste
+d)
                       VALUES(?,?,?,?,?,?,?,?)");

for (@{$syms}) {
    my $q = new Finance::QuoteHist(
        symbols => [$_], # just one symbol    
        start_date => '01/01/2001',
        end_date => 'today');

    for ($q->quotes()){
        $sth->execute(@{$_});
    }
    #next stock symbol now
}
# done

$dbh->disconnect();
[download]

The selectcol_arrayref call is relatively new in DBI.pm. If it's unavailable, what you have will work just fine.

After Compline,
Zaxo