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Chapter 8 - Prices
All the price information is consolidated into this chapter. You reach
the tables and forms described here via the Local Security Table or Global
Security Table. There are several ways to update security prices:
o Use the Price Update key on the Local Security Table or Global Security
Table, and cycle through securities, updating the prices from a form.
From the Local Security Table, you cycle through all securities in the
current portfolio. From the Global Security Table, you cycle through all
securities.
o Use the Price Update key on the Local Security Table or Global Security
Table, and update prices from a comma-delimited ASCII file. Any or all
securities can be listed in this file.
o Use the Price History Table key on the Local Security Table or Global
Security Table to bring up the Price History Table for the highlighted
security. Then, use the Ins key to add a price.
===>>> Remember: Price history is associated with the global security.
Price information for local securities is available through the global
security link. This approach reduces redundant data.
A number of different price and distribution types are supported. Some
of the types apply to both price history and the activity logs, such as
prices and dividend payments. Some of the types apply only to the Price
History File, such as stock splits. And, some of the types apply only to
the activity logs, such as fees.
8.1 Price History Table
When you choose the Price History function key from the Local or
Global Security Table, the Price History Table for the highlighted local
or global security and requested range of dates is shown.
The Price History Table shows:
o The global security symbol and name. Remember that price information is
related to the global security, not the local security.
Price history records are interleaved with distribution and split records,
sorted in descending date order. For price records, you're shown:
o The Date of the price.
o The Price.
o The Volume (in hundreds), if recorded with the price.
For distribution records, you're shown:
Capital Gainz Users Manual 8-1
o The Date of the distribution.
o The type of distribution.
o The distribution amount per share.
For stock splits, you're shown:
o The Date of the split.
o The split ratio.
At the bottom of the table, you're shown:
o The High price and date, Low price and date.
o The Monthly Average price.
o The total Distribution per share.
The table includes distribution per share amounts to explain price
drops due to dividend or capital gain payouts. Stock split information is
shown for historical reference only. The highest price for the period is
flagged with an H, and the lowest price is flagged with an L.
Function keys at the bottom of the screen are:
o Ins:Add - add a price, distribution, or split.
o Enter:Change - change the highlighted price, distribution, or split.
o Del:Delete - delete the highlighted price, distribution, or split.
o Esc:Exit - exit from the Price History Table.
o Ctrl-PgUp:Top - go to the first record.
o Ctrl-PgDn:Bottom - go to the last record.
o F2:Delete Range - delete the displayed range of price history
information.
o F3:Price History Report - print the Price History Report for the
displayed global security and date range.
8.1.1 Add a Price History Entry
The Price Form is brought up to add a Price History File entry when
you hit the Ins key on the Price History Table. The global security's
symbol and name are displayed, and you enter:
o (Required) The Date for the price information.
Capital Gainz Users Manual 8-2
o (Required) The Type of price history data. If you leave this field
blank, or enter an invalid value, the Price Type Lookup Table, described
below, pops up for you to select from.
If you selected the Price type, you also enter:
o (Required) The Price of the security.
o (Optional) The security's trading Volume (in hundreds) on that day.
===>>> If you don't want to record volume, turn off the Use Volume on
Price Update user setting, and the volume field is skipped.
If you selected the Dividend, Interest, Long Term Capital Gain, or Short
Term Capital Gain type, you also enter:
o (Required) The distribution Per Share.
If you selected the Split type, you also enter:
o (Required) The stock split ratio.
Function keys at the bottom of the screen are:
o Form Accept - accept form, the same as hitting Enter on each field. This
key is only displayed when changing records.
o Form Reject - exit immediately, the same as hitting Esc to back out.
This key is only displayed when adding or changing records.
o F5:Price From Value - let Capital Gainz calculate the price based on an
entered value. This function is described below. This key is only
displayed when adding or changing records.
o F6:Calc Load/Comm - calculate the net asset value of a mutual fund based
on the entered price, which includes a load. This key is only displayed
when adding or changing records.
===>>> If an existing record has the same type/date, it is deleted before
adding the new one. Thus, only a single price can be recorded for a given
date.
After completing the form, you return to the Price History Table, and
the new entry is highlighted.
8.1.1.1 Price Type Lookup Table
The Price Type Lookup Table is brought up if you enter an invalid
price type. This table is similar to the Distribution Type Lookup Table
described in Chapter 6, but has a few different values. Hitting Enter
selects the highlighted price type.
The price types are:
Capital Gainz Users Manual 8-3
o PRC - Price
o DIV - Dividend or INT - Interest
o STCG - Short Term Capital Gain
o LTCG - Long Term Capital Gain
o SPLT - Stock Split
Entering a Stock Split here simply records it - the split is not executed.
8.1.1.2 Price From Value
===>>> The Price From Value function lets you track securities for which
you don't know the share price. This is often the case in retirement
plans, such as a company-sponsored 401k plan. You typically receive a
statement showing your contributions, and the value of your holdings at
the end of the period. To track such plans:
o Set up the local security to use the average selling method (SCAT). This
takes care of partial withdrawals.
o Record the initial purchase at a price of $100. This allows more
precision than $1.
o When you receive a statement, use the Value listed on the statement to
calculate a Price in the Price From Value Form.
o On subsequent purchases, use the most recently calculated price.
Since the gains and losses are determined by the calculated price, this
strategy works well. Other approaches, such as using fees or fabricated
sales, should be avoided since they result in realized gains and losses.
===>>> Price is derived from security value, so this feature requires:
o Price updates from the Local Security Table or Form.
o Only a single local security can be linked to the global security.
For example, say you have a 401K plan, and your monthly payroll
deduction is $500. Over the quarter, you'll record three purchases:
Date Price Amount Calculated Shares
1/1/92 100.0000 500.00 5.0000
2/1/92 100.0000 500.00 5.0000
3/1/92 100.0000 500.00 5.0000
───────────────────────────────────────────────
Total 1500.00 15.0000
Value: 15.0000 shares at 100.0000 = 1500.00
At the end of the quarter, you receive a statement indicating:
Capital Gainz Users Manual 8-4
Your investment plan is worth $1575.00 on 3/31/92.
Update the price with the Price From Value function, entering the $1575
value. Capital Gainz calculates the new price to be $105. You now have:
Value: 15.0000 shares at 105.0000 = 1575.00
Purchases over the next three months are recorded with a price of $105, an
amount of $500, and a calculated 4.7619 (500/105) shares:
Date Price Amount Calculated Shares
1/1/92 100.0000 500.00 5.0000
2/1/92 100.0000 500.00 5.0000
3/1/92 100.0000 500.00 5.0000
4/1/92 105.0000 500.00 4.7619
5/1/92 105.0000 500.00 4.7619
6/1/92 105.0000 500.00 4.7619
───────────────────────────────────────────────
Total 3000.00 29.2857
Value: 29.2857 shares at 105.0000 = 3075.00
At the end of the quarter, you receive a statement indicating:
Your investment plan is worth $3200.00 on 6/31/92.
Update the price with the Price From Value function, entering the $3200
value. The new price calculated is $109.2683, and you now have:
Value: 29.2857 shares at 109.2683 = 3200.00
Your cost is $3000, as it should be, and your gain is $200:
Value - Amount = 3200.00 - 3000.00 = 200.00
No gains have been realized. If you make a partial withdrawal, let the
Sell Shares Form calculate the number of shares based on the amount and
the last price.
8.1.1.3 Calculate Load/Commission
The Calc Load/Comm function lets you determine the net asset value
based on the loaded price. See Chapter 6 for details and examples.
8.1.1.4 Example - Add a Price Entry
Say you insert a price record:
Global Symbol:CPL
Date :01/02/92
Type :PRC
Price :$54.00
Volume :0
o If a price history entry exists for the Price and Type, it is deleted.
Capital Gainz Users Manual 8-5
o The price history record is added.
o Any open or closed shares records with this Date are not changed.
o We can omit the Volume field through user settings.
8.1.2 Change a Price History Entry
The Price Form is brought up to change the highlighted record when you
hit the Enter key on the Price History Table. The Price Form, described in
the Add a Price History Entry section, is initialized to the current
values of the price history record to be changed. You can't change the
Type. Instead, delete the original and add the new one.
If you change a price history record, the original is deleted and the
new one is added. On return to the Price History Table, the new one is
highlighted.
8.1.2.1 Example - Change a Price Entry
Using the previous example, say you change the Date to 1/31/92.
o The old price history entry is deleted.
o The price history record is added.
o Any open shares or closed shares records with the old Date or new Date
are not changed.
8.1.3 Delete a Price History Entry
The Price Form is brought up to delete the highlighted record when you
hit the Del key on the Price History Table. The Price Form, described in
the Add a Price History Entry section, is initialized to the current
values of the price history record to be deleted.
After deleting the price history record, you return to the Price
History Table, and the record after the deleted record is highlighted.
8.1.3.1 Example - Delete a Price Entry
Using the previous example, say you delete the price on 1/31/92.
o The old price history entry is deleted.
o Any open or closed shares records with this Date are not changed.
Capital Gainz Users Manual 8-6
8.1.4 Delete Range of Price History Entries
The Delete Range function key allows you to delete the displayed
prices, the displayed distributions, or both.
You will always be prompted for confirmation, regardless of the
Confirm Delete global setting, since many records could be affected.
After the deletion, you return to the Local or Global Security Table.
8.1.5 Price History Report
The Price History Report is generated for the specified date range.
See Chapter 14 for a description of this report.
8.2 Price Update
After selecting the Price Update function key from the Local or Global
Security Table, you are asked if you want to update security prices from
the screen or from a file. Also, you can:
o F2:Create Skeleton File - create an example price update file, showing
all global security symbols and their latest prices/dates. This gives
you a template to use in creating your own update file.
8.2.1 Price Update From the Screen
===>>> When updating prices from the screen, you step through each
security and enter the date and share price. This is a quick way to
prepare for reports at the end of the month or quarter. If called from the
Local Security Table, you only update prices in the current portfolio.
From the Global Security Table, you'd update the prices of all securities.
===>>> If you set the Exchange field in the Global Security Form, then
symbols are updated in order by exchange, then by symbol. This eliminates
flipping back and forth when updating prices from newspaper listings. In
fact, if there are certain securities that you don't want to update prices
for, set their Exchange field to NONE so they are skipped in the price
update.
The Price Update Form shows the global security name and Symbol, plus
the Exchange in the top corner, and accepts:
o (Required) Date for the price. The first entry automatically displays
the current system date, and subsequent securities show the last entered
date. You can accept this date or enter a different one.
o (Required) Price of the security. If all you have is a fractional
figure, use the Fraction-to-Decimal Table to convert it to a decimal
value.
o (Optional) The security's trading Volume (in hundreds) on that day.
Capital Gainz Users Manual 8-7
===>>> If you don't want to record volume, turn off the Use Volume on
Price Update user setting, and the volume field is skipped.
Function keys at the bottom of the screen are:
o Form Reject - exit immediately.
o F2:Skip Forward - skip the currently displayed global security, and go
to the next one.
o F3:Skip Backward - skip the currently displayed global security, and go
to the previous one.
o F5:Price From Value - calculate the price based on an entered value.
o F6:Calc Load/Comm - calculate the net asset value of a mutual fund based
on the entered price, which includes a load.
After completing a form, the record is written to the Price History
File, and the form is displayed for the next security. At the end of
updating securities, you return to the Local or Global Security Table.
8.2.1.1 Price From Value
The Price From Value function, described earlier, lets you track
securities for which you don't know the share price.
8.2.1.2 Calculate Load/Commission
The Calc Load/Comm function lets you determine the net asset value
based on the loaded price. See Chapter 6 for details and examples.
8.2.2 Price Update From a File
===>>> To update prices from a file, you enter the name of the price
update file to read in. The default format of this file is:
SYMBOL, PRICE, DATE, TYPE, VOLUME
where:
SYMBOL - global security symbol, quotes optional
PRICE - decimal price value, format 999999.9999
DATE - MM/DD/YY, quotes optional
TYPE - PRC, DIV, INT, STCG, LTCG, UPPER, LOWER, quotes optional
VOLUME - trading volume, in hundreds
If you omit the type or specify an invalid type, PRC (price) is assumed.
VOLUME is optional. Thus, the last two fields can be omitted if you are
just adding prices. If the SYMBOL is SYMBOL or blank, it is skipped.
For each record read in the price update file, a price history entry
is added. The global securities in the file can be in any portfolio - you
aren't limited to the current portfolio's securities even if called from
the Local Security Table. Also, a given global security can have more than
one date/price added from this file.
Capital Gainz Users Manual 8-8
As the file is processed, a list of prices that were added is
generated. This list is displayed when processing completes.
See Chapter 15 for information on how you can get Capital Gainz to
automatically read in a price update file at start up.
8.2.2.1 Price Update File - Different Formats
You can alter the default format of the price update file by
specifying the format as the first record, prefaced with a !. This lets
you input data that may be formatted differently without going through a
conversion process. The valid field names are: SYMBOL, DATE, PRICE, TYPE,
VOLUME, and VOLUME100. Any other field names are ignored, so if you had a
file in this format:
SYMBOL, DATE, HIGH, LOW, CLOSE, VOLUME
and only wanted the CLOSE price and VOLUME, make sure the first line in
the file is:
!SYMBOL, DATE, IGNORE, IGNORE, PRICE, VOLUME
===>>> Volume is in hundreds. If the file you want to read in contains
total volume, use VOLUME100 instead of VOLUME so it's divided by 100 at
input:
!SYMBOL, DATE, IGNORE, IGNORE, PRICE, VOLUME100
If you use the price format line, you'll end up prepending it to each
price update file prior to reading it into Capital Gainz. It's a good idea
to stick this line in a file by itself, say PRICE.FMT. Then, to prepare a
file of prices to be read into Capital Gainz, you can either edit the file
and read in PRICE.FMT at the beginning, or use DOS' COPY command to
prepend PRICE.FMT. If the price update file is PRICE, the format file is
PRICE.FMT, and the file to read in is PRICE.INP:
COPY PRICE.FMT + PRICE PRICE.INP
In this example, you'd then read PRICE.INP into Capital Gainz.
8.2.2.2 The Download Program
The Capital Gainz Download Program can access popular online services
to download quotes, convert them into the price update file format, and
read them into the Price History File. It can even do this for services
that don't provide downloadable price files by capturing the session
dialogue and extracting the relevant data. While most services offer at
least current prices, several give you the ability to read in historical
price data. The Download Program is explained in detail in the Capital
Gainz Download Program Users Manual. All that's required is a modem and an
account with one of the supported services.
Capital Gainz Users Manual 8-9
8.2.2.3 Example - Price Update File
Here's an example of a price update file:
"CPL",52.5," 5/30/92"
"FPEUR",12.4," 5/30/92"
"FPINC",11.38," 5/30/92"
"FPTXF",15.74," 5/30/92"
"GRACE",34," 5/30/92"
"KRG",17.75," 5/30/92"
"PFZ",74.625," 5/30/92"
"PSNC",20.25," 5/30/92"
"TCHTG",8.98," 5/30/92"
"TCTXI",102.17," 5/30/92"
"TCVIS",10.90," 5/30/92"
"CPL",0.79," 5/06/92","DIV"
"FPINC",0.0028," 5/29/92","DIV"
"FPTXF",0.0749," 5/29/92","DIV"
"NUVNC",3.25," 5/29/92","DIV"
"TCCSH",0.24," 5/29/92", "DIV"
"TCTXI",0.38," 5/29/92","DIV"
o The first records from CPL through TCVIS are price entries. The type and
volume fields are omitted.
o The records at the end, from CPL through TCTXI, are dividend entries.
They include a per share value, date, and type.
8.3 Price/Volume Alerts
If you have specific upper and/or lower price or volume limits for
securities that you are following, special records can be added to the
price update file so Capital Gainz will alert you when the limits are
exceeded. Records are in the same format as standard update records in
this file, except you specify UPPER or LOWER as the TYPE. For example, if
you want to be alerted if GRACE breaks out from the $30-40 price range,
and if PFZ breaks out above $80:
"GRACE",40," 5/06/92","UPPER"
"GRACE",30," 5/06/92","LOWER"
"PFZ",80," 5/06/92","UPPER"
The dates specify when the alerts should be triggered. In the above
example, if the current date was 5/1/92, the limits would not be checked
since they are dated 5/6/92. They would be checked on or after 5/6/92.
Only the last recorded price is compared to the limits.
If an alert is triggered, a message is displayed briefly before
processing continues. After the file is processed, the list of triggered
alerts is displayed.
Volume alerts work the same way. For records of type UPPER or LOWER,
the price is checked first, unless it's 0. If the price does not trigger
an alert, the volume is checked unless it's zero. For instance:
Capital Gainz Users Manual 8-10
"GRACE",40," 5/06/92","UPPER",800
"PFZ",0," 5/06/92","UPPER",100000
Here, GRACE will generate an alert if the price exceeds 40, or if the
volume exceeds 80,000 shares, after 5/6/92. For PFZ, volume over 1,000,000
shares after 5/6/92 will trigger an alert.
===>>> Upper and lower price/volume limits are manually added to the price
update file using a text editor.
One way to implement alerts is to set up a price update file with just
price/volume limits, and set the Price File Read at Startup in the User
Settings Form to the file name. Every time you start Capital Gainz, it
will check if the limits have been exceeded. It's a good idea to name
this file something like LIMITS.PRC to remember what it's for.
Capital Gainz Users Manual 8-11
