The items in the dashboard are preview of what you'd see when you access the main page for the stocks. It is still best to visit the site itself for a wider set of information. Also, the manual update is necessary. Still, you may try to refresh the configuration on MSN just to make sure that it is not corrupted in some way that affected how the items appear on the dashboard:
1. Restart the computer.
2. Start computer but do not sign in
3. Press CTRL SHIFT and F11 together
4. If done correctly, you get an option to remove account from the computer
5. Proceed to remove account.
6. Run MSN, provide your information.
7. Sign in and let the information resynchronize before you check if the issue remains