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************************************************************************** * STOCK PORTFOLIO RECORD MANAGER * * Release 3.7 January 1993 * ************************************************************************** Robert Gellman Gellman Software 431 Fifth Street, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20003 (C) Copyright 1987-1993 Robert Gellman ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Stock Portfolio Record Manager stores, manipulates, and prints the records needed to manage an investment portfolio. The program totally replaces or supplements paper records. If you own stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or other publicly traded investments, then you need this program. Stock Portfolio Record Manager tracks the purchase and sale of stocks; accepts multiple buy and sell transactions; registers stock splits; tracks cash dividends; calculates hypothetical transactions; and accounts for changes in basis. The program is adept at recording dividend reinvestments and fractional shares. There is no limit to the number of stocks or transactions other than the space available on your disk. You can even calculate the value of your portfolio for any date in the past using prices previously entered. This program also produces a wide variety of useful reports that can be printed on paper or to a disk file. The reports are the most powerful feature of the program. Portfolio, transaction, dividend, and history reports in several different flavors are available. Both dot matrix and laser printers are supported. There are some things that Stock Portfolio Record Manager does not do. It does not provide analysis, graphs, buy/sell signals, or tax advice. You cannot download prices directly. There are no special facilities for short sales or futures. If you want these features, you need another program. However, the program can handle mutual funds, bonds, options, and limited partnerships, and other investments similar to stocks. Users have reported that they track certificates of deposit and precious metals. With version 3.0, Stock Portfolio Record Manager became shareware. Shareware provides you with an opportunity to try a program before you are obliged to pay for it. You may try the program on a trial basis for thirty days. If you don't use it thereafter, you own nothing. If you continue to use the program, you are obliged to register with the author. The price is $25.00. This is a reasonable price for a program used to manage a stock portfolio. If you invest in the stock market, you can afford to pay for this program. Foreign registrants must send payment in US dollars. Canadian Postal money orders (in US dollars) are fine. To register the program, send $25.00 to Robert Gellman at the address at the top of this page. Please include your name, address, the version number you are using, and where you got the program. Thank you. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 A. RUNNING STOCK PORTFOLIO RECORD MANAGER . . . . . . . . 1 C. COMMAND LINE SWITCHES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 D. DOCUMENTATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 II. HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 A. FILE STRUCTURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 B. TRANSACTION TYPES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 C. COMPLEX & HYPOTHETICAL TRANSACTIONS. . . . . . . . . . 5 D. INVESTMENTS OTHER THAN STOCKS. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 E. ENTERING DATA, PRICES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 F. DIVIDENDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 III. REPORTS AND PRINTERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 A. REPORTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Portfolio Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Transaction Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Cash Dividend Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 History Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 File Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 B. PRINTING AND VIEWING FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Physical Printing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 DOS File Printing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 File Viewer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 C. YEAR END REPORTING PROCEDURES. . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 IV. MISCELLANEOUS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 A. DIRECTORIES AND MULTIPLE PORTFOLIOS . . . . . . . . . 19 B. BASIS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 C. CHANGING AND DELETING RECORDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 D. BACKUPS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 E. DATES AND DOLLARS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 V. PROGRAM SUPPORT AND LEGAL FORMALITIES . . . . . . . . . . . 23 A. PROBLEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 B. LICENSE AGREEMENT AND DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES . . . . 24 C. DISTRIBUTION BY VENDORS AND BULLETIN BOARDS . . . . . 25 D. UPDATE POLICIES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 E. PROGRAMMING NOTES AND HISTORY. . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 APPENDIX I: FILE STRUCTURE INFORMATION. . . . . . . . . . . . 27 APPENDIX II: GELLMAN SOFTWARE PROGRAMS. . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Author's Note: I hate documentation that goes on for pages explaining shareware and begging for registrations, so this is it: IF YOU USE THE PROGRAM, PLEASE PAY FOR IT. Please read the license agreement, disclaimer of warranty, and discussion of other legal technicalities later in this documentation. I. INTRODUCTION A. RUNNING STOCK PORTFOLIO RECORD MANAGER ----------------------------------------------------------------- To start Stock Portfolio Record Manager, change to the directory or drive containing STOCK.EXE and enter STOCK at the DOS prompt. That's all. If you understand how to buy and sell securities, then you can operate the program. The best way to learn is to run the program. The program requires 512 K and should run under DOS 3.0 or better. If you get an ERROR 73 shortly after starting the program, then you are probably using an earlier version of DOS. You must find a later version of DOS if you want to run this program. The program supports both monochrome and color monitors. A graphics card is NOT required. You can run the program from a floppy disk, although a hard disk is strongly recommended. Stock Portfolio Record Manager is menu-driven and simple to use. Use the cursor keys to navigate through the main menu and highlight options. Make selections by hitting the ENTER key. Stock Portfolio Record Manager lets you meet your own needs for data. Some users enter current prices for all stocks weekly and print reports. Others enter prices less frequently or not at all. You can maintain as many prices for each stock as you like and you can delete them as you please. The choice is yours. When you start the program for the first time, you will be told that the main data file (STOCK.DAT) cannot be found. This is a warning in the event that existing data files are not in the current directory. Ignore the warning the first time. If you see it after you have entered data, chances are that you are in the wrong directory or a file is missing. Investigate before entering more data. On your first visit to the main menu, you only have three live options. You can ENTER A NEW STOCK from the ENTER menu; you can SELECT PRINTERS from the PRINT menu; or you can QUIT. Once you have entered a new stock, all other options are available. To print on paper, you must have an IBM Proprinter, HP Laserjet, or compatible printer. Most dot matrix printers work like the IBM, and most laser printers can emulate the HP. The printer selection routine is explained later. You must use continuous form paper in your dot matrix printer. You also can print reports to a disk file so you can use the program even if don't have a printer or if your printer isn't compatible. There is even an internal file viewer so that you can read report from disk files. - 1 - B. ADVICE TO NEW USERS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stop reading and run the program. Enter a stock or two and several transactions. Then order a sample of each report. Use the file viewer in the program to read the reports. This will allow you to decide if the program really meets your needs. I bet that it will. If not, thanks for having a look. If you like what you see, then come back and read the rest of this file at your leisure. It will make more sense once you have seen the program in operation. C. COMMAND LINE SWITCHES ----------------------------------------------------------------- There are three optional command line switches: HP - Selects the HP Laserjet as the default printer. IBM - Selects the IBM Proprinter as the default printer. BW - Selects monochrome display on a color monitor. To use a command line switch, enter it from this DOS prompt like this: STOCK /HP or STOCK /IBM/BW Please note that you can also select a printer within the program through the PRINT menu. D. DOCUMENTATION ----------------------------------------------------------------- This file was created with margins at 5 and 75, and there are form feeds every 60 lines. To print this documentation, you can enter TYPE STOCK.DOC > PRN from the DOS prompt. You also can load it in your word processor with the proper margins and edit it before you print it. This document explains all of the basics, but it does not explain every feature in gory detail. Instead, it explains the general approach and uses of the program that are not intuitive. A full description would be 200 pages long, and you wouldn't print it or read it. No one has reported the program to be difficult use. Try it and see for yourself. The documentation is worth reading. It includes useful advice on how to handle unusual transactions, how to adjust your portfolio at the end of the year, and how to maintain multiple portfolios. New with version 3.7: Now you can read the documentation from within the program. Select the Display Documentation on Screen option from the Display menu. This will be easier to do if you keep this file (STOCK.DOC) in the same directory as the program. If necessary, however, you can specify an alternate path for the file. You can only read a file named STOCK.DOC with this facility. - 2 - II. HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS A. FILE STRUCTURE ----------------------------------------------------------------- You will find it helpful to understand how the program stores data. There are two types of files created and maintained by the program. MAIN STOCK FILE - Summary data for each stock in the portfolio is kept in a "main stock file". The main stock file is a single DOS file called "STOCK.DAT". For each stock, the STOCK.DAT file uses 128 bytes. The size of the STOCK.DAT file is 128 bytes times the number of stocks in the portfolio. The STOCK.DAT file is created in the default directory. For those who are interested, appendix 1 contains a detailed description of the contents of a main stock file. Some data is descriptive; some is operational. Most descriptive data is optional and can be omitted. You don't have to keep track - the program prompts you whenever data is required. Some data in the main stock file is generated by the program and stored after a transaction is entered. This means that you cannot directly change some main stock file information. You can only "influence" the data by entering a transaction. For example, the main file contains a variable representing the basis (cost) per share. When you enter a transaction, the basis for that transaction is used to calculate the share basis. Because the main stock file is always named STOCK.DAT, you cannot maintain multiple portfolios in the same directory. The data files for different portfolios MUST be in separate directories or the files will be erased or corrupted. Multiple portfolios are discussed later in Section IV-A. TRANSACTION LOG - The second type of file is a transaction log. For each stock, there is a separate DOS file with the data on the transactions. Each transaction record is 128 bytes long; each transaction file is 128 bytes times the number of transactions for the stock. All transaction logs are created in the default directory. The name of the transaction file is based on the stock "symbol". Each symbol is provided by the user and must have one to four characters. The symbol is used as the name of the DOS file containing the transaction records for that stock. Each symbol must be a lawful DOS file name. For example, if you enter "IBM" as the symbol, the associated transaction records are in a file called "IBM.LOG". Symbols are checked for legal characters and uniqueness automatically. If your stock has a symbol with five or more characters, abbreviate it. The program checks to make sure that a stock symbol does not create a DOS file with a reserved file name. Thus, stock symbols for CON, NUL, LPT1, LPT2, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4, LST, and AUX will be rejected. These file names are reserved in most versions of DOS. If your symbol is rejected, just pick a different one. - 3 - If you have ten stocks in the portfolio, there will be eleven data files on your disk (STOCK.DAT plus ten .LOG files). You may NOT change the name of these files. If you delete any of these files through DOS rather than through the program, all of your data will be irretrievably ruined. The program cannot deal with missing files or renamed files. You may, however, rename the STOCK.EXE file. There is no inherent limit on the number of stocks or transactions that Stock Portfolio Record Manager can track. Some reports and displays use additional memory to sort transactions. Thus, it is conceivable that there is enough memory to handle your portfolio but not enough for these operations. For a machine with 512 K or more, there should be enough memory for sorting an extremely large number of transactions. B. TRANSACTION TYPES ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stock Portfolio Record Manager recognizes eight transaction types. The types and their codes numbers are displayed on screen whenever needed so that you don't have to remember then or write them down. The transactions are: Capital Transactions 1. Buy 2. Sell 3. Receive (e.g, a stock split or gift) 4. Dispose (e.g., reverse split, spin-off, or gift) 5. Increase Basis (e.g., additional costs) 6. Decrease Basis (e.g., return of capital) Other Transactions 7. Enter Data 8. Cash Dividend An explanation of these transactions follows. The BUY and SELL transactions are for normal purchases and sales of shares. Dividend reinvestments are BUY transactions just like any other purchase. The RECEIVE and DISPOSE transactions are for events that change the number of shares but that do not involve cash outlays or receipts. A DISPOSE transaction will not appear on a list of stock sales. These two transactions allow you to track cash flow accurately. You do not have to create fake buy or sell transactions to account for splits or spinoffs. The INCREASE BASIS and DECREASE BASIS transactions are for events that change the basis but not the number of shares. You are never prompted for the number of shares when you increase or decrease the basis. You can only modify the total basis for your holdings. - 4 - For example, if a dividend is accounted for as a return of capital, the dividend is normally not taxable. You would learn this from the dividend notice (IRS Form 1099) that you receive from the company. The normal tax treatment for a return of capital is to reduce the basis for the stock by the amount of the return of capital. This would be a REDUCE BASIS transaction. An INCREASE BASIS transaction might result from a year end notice of unallocated commission costs from a dividend reinvestment plan. Stock Portfolio Record Manager allows the tracking of this information effortlessly by entering an INCREASE BASIS transaction. The ENTER DATA transaction allows the entry of the four general data fields (date, price, certificate number, and notes) without an actual transaction. All data is kept until you give instructions to delete it. This is a powerful feature because it allows you to enter prices as often as you like. Stock Portfolio Record Manager uses the latest price to calculate the value of your portfolio. You also may calculate portfolio value using earlier prices maintained in the file. See the discussion of portfolio reports below. The eighth transaction records CASH DIVIDENDS received. This is intended to track cash dividends. Different uses may be possible for this information. Several printed and screen dividend reports that will summarize dividend information. Please note that different transactions will prompt you to provide different data. For example, you are only prompted for profit/loss information when you sell or dispose of shares. If you change the transaction type after data has been entered, the data not needed for the new transaction is erased on the screen. Most transactions give you the ability to enter price, certificate number, and notes. This allows you to explain what the transaction is, keep track of certificate numbers, and record prices in the file. Dividend transactions are an exception. Certificate numbers cannot be entered in a dividend transaction. C. COMPLEX & HYPOTHETICAL TRANSACTIONS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stock Portfolio Record Manager has the facility to handle all transactions that you are likely to encounter. Use the tools -- the different transactions -- to create any combination of changes to the number of shares and basis that is required. For example, a stock dividend is a capital transaction that should be recorded as a RECEIVE transaction and not as a cash dividend. A stock dividend is not normally taxable as income. - 5 - A more complex event -- like a stock dividend with the sale of a fractional share -- is actually two transactions. First, enter a RECEIVE transaction to accept the new shares. A stock dividend does not change the total basis of your holdings (the basis per share will change). Include the fractional share in the RECEIVE transaction. Then enter a SELL transaction for the fractional share sold. Assign the proper basis to the share sold. The result is that the program recognizes both the proper number of shares that you own and the sale of the fractional interest. Dividend reinvestments are actually two events: payment of a cash dividend and purchase of shares. If you are recording cash dividends, then the dividend reinvestment should be recorded as two separate transactions: 1) a BUY to record the number of shares acquired and the basis; and 2) a CASH DIVIDEND received to record the income. Dividend reinvestment plans that offer a discount from fair market value create complex transactions because the tax basis and the cash basis are different. You may find it easier to use the cash basis for each transaction and to adjust to the tax basis at year end. Do adjustments as an INCREASE BASIS transaction. The warped minds on Wall Street will invent new transactions, and eventually a company that you own will do something really unusual. For example, a company may spin off a subsidiary and give you a fractional share in a new company for each share of the old company that you own. Or a company may split into several different companies, like AT&T did. These transactions can be handled if you think about what has happened. The program gives you the facility to add and subtract shares from your holdings and to increase and decrease your basis. With these tools, you can "create" any transaction that you may need. If a transaction involves shares but no cash, then use the RECEIVE or DISPOSE transactions rather than BUY or SELL. For example, a spin-off requires the transfer of basis to the new shares. Do a REDUCE BASIS transaction for the old stock and enter the new shares as a new stock using a RECEIVE transaction. Explain the activity in the notes that accompany each main stock file and each transaction. If the number of shares in the original company is reduced, use the DISPOSE transaction. If the name of the company changes, use the CHANGE MAIN STOCK FILE facility on the main menu. The main menu also offers the ability to calculate the effect of a hypothetical transaction. This is the fourth selection from the ENTER DATA menu. A hypothetical transaction shows the effect of a proposed buy or sell transaction on an existing stock. No actual transaction is added to the permanent file. This permits you to calculate profit/loss for a sale and the effect on the existing portfolio of a possible buy or sell transaction. Caution: The before and after portfolio percentages that appear on the hypothetical transaction screen are not likely to be comparable. The price for the "before" calculation is the most recent file price. The price for the "after" calculation will likely be different. - 6 - D. INVESTMENTS OTHER THAN STOCKS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Many investments other than traditional stocks can be tracked through the Stock Portfolio Record Manager. Mutual funds require no adjustment; they work just like stocks. Stock options, publicly traded limited partnerships, real estate investment trusts, etc. also work like stocks. The program is not expressly designed for other investments. But you may be able to "translate" your investment into transactions that are recognized by the program. For example, if you want to enter a bond, decide how many "shares" the bond represents. A bond with a face value of $10,000 can be treated as one share of stock, ten shares, or ten thousand shares as you please. Adjust the share price so that the price times the number of shares equals the cost of the bond. Adjust the dividend rate so the dividend times the number of shares equals the annual interest. If a $10,000 bond is treated as one share, the annual interest is the dividend. Multiply the price of the bond (e.g., 100) by 100 when entered so that the "number of shares" times the price equal $10,000. If you want to record accrued interest on bond purchases or sales, use the note fields. Similar creative methods may work for other investments, such as certificates of deposit. It will not be hard to figure out. If you need help, write to Gellman Software. If, however, you invest in short sales, straddles, futures, and the like, Stock Portfolio Record Manager probably is not for you. E. ENTERING DATA, PRICES & DATES ----------------------------------------------------------------- Basic data entry for stocks and transactions is accomplished through a full screen editor. Enter data in the highlighted field and move to the next field by hitting ENTER or by using the UP or DOWN cursor keys. If you try to move in an impermissible direction, nothing happens. When all input is correct, highlight the "ALL DONE" box and hit ENTER. Hit the ESCAPE key anytime to abort the data entry process. At each data field, a box at the bottom of the screen will contain any necessary reference information. This includes transaction numbers, fractional shares in decimals, basis calculations, and current advice. While entering or editing data in a highlighted field, the standard editing keys work. This includes the cursor keys, HOME, END, BACKSPACE, DELETE. The INSERT key toggles the standard insert mode. If you enter too many characters in a data field, the program beeps at you. Some data fields are optional and can be used to hold any information that you like. If data is mandatory and you fail to provide it, you will not be able to continue. There are separate note fields for each stock and each transaction, but you can use other fields (e.g., certificate or CUSIP number) for additional notes. - 7 - A new price for a stock can be entered as a new transaction for an existing stock. Choose an ENTER DATA transaction (number 7). However, if you want to enter a new price for each stock, there is a shortcut available through the ENTER menu. This method will bring up each stock in sequence and prompt you to enter a new price or skip the stock if you prefer. These prices are saved permanently in the transaction files. All prices entered this way must have the same date. If a note is entered, the same note (e.g., YEAR END PRICE) is added to each transaction. This is a convenience if you want to record prices annually, quarterly, monthly, weekly, or whenever. There is also a temporary price feature. Use it when you want to know the value of the portfolio today, but you don't want to keep today's prices forever. This very powerful option is available through the PORTFOLIO REPORTS menu. Temporary prices are also available during the same session when printing a portfolio list. This permits you to enter prices as often as you like and to obtain a printout without actually adding new data to the file. The temporary prices remain available until you make a change in the file that affects the currency of the data. Whenever temporary prices are available for a printed portfolio list, you will be offered the option to use them. The program now tests dates. All dates are assumed to be in the 20th Century (1900-1999). (I plan to solve the problem of the 21st century eventually.) Non-existent dates (e.g., February 30, September 31) are rejected in more recent versions of the program. However, leap years are not tested. February 29 will always be accepted as a transaction date but never as a reference date in the main stock file when dividends are paid. F. DIVIDENDS ----------------------------------------------------------------- There are two different types of dividend information: main file dividend information and transaction dividend information. All dividend data is totally optional. The main file dividend information can be entered when entering or changing a new stock. The program asks for three items of information about dividends: the annual dividend rate per share, the number of dividends per year, and any date (MM/DD) that dividends are paid. All dividend data is optional. The annual dividend rate is used to calculate yields. The other two fields are used only for an expected dividend report on the number, timing, and amount of dividends expected in any calendar year. The report is described in more detail below. When the dividend rate changes, you must go through the main stock file CHANGE menu to update the rate. The program recognizes one -- and only one -- annual dividend rate for each stock. That rate is used to provide yield information and to produce expected dividend reports. There is no way to account for extra dividends or mid-year changes in dividends. - 8 - The second class of dividend information is transaction data. The CASH DIVIDEND transaction records the receipt of a dividend. This information is used to provide a variety of reports on dividends received. If these reports have no use to you, then there is no reason to enter dividend transactions. Note that a stock dividend is functionally the same as a split and should be entered as a new transaction (OTHER RECEIPT OF SHARES). Whenever a split is recorded, the program will remind you that it may be appropriate to change the dividend rate in the main stock file. - 9 - III. REPORTS AND PRINTERS A. REPORTS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stock Portfolio Record Manager provides many different printed and screen reports. The reports are the most powerful feature of the program. All of the information maintained by the program can be printed. There are three categories of reports that can be selected through the REPORT menu: Transaction, Portfolio, Dividend, and History. In addition, the basic stock and transaction files can be printed through the PRINT menu. Each of the selections on the REPORT menu brings up a submenu listing the different flavors of reports that are available. Use the cursor keys to highlight a report and hit ENTER. Most printed reports provide the user with the ability to specify titles. This allows you to customize reports, differentiate portfolios, or do generally as you please. A default title is proposed for each report. Report titles may be up to seventy characters in length. When printed, titles are automatically centered and capitalized. The title selection screen also offers a reminder of the currently selected printer. If the report is not being directed to the proper file or printer, this provides an opportunity to stop and select a different printer target. Portfolio Reports ------------------------- There are two basic types of portfolio reports, with several varieties. 1) PORTFOLIO SUMMARY - This is a screen only report showing the number of stocks owned, the total value of all stocks, profit/loss at the current prices, total annual dividends, and current yield. If you need this information in print, order a portfolio list. There are three versions of the summary, based upon: a) Latest File Prices The most recent prices in the file will be used for this report. This is the report that likely will be used most often. b) Temporary Prices If you choose this option, you will be prompted to enter a price for each stock. The prices will NOT become part of the permanent file. They will only be used to calculate the portfolio summary during the same session. The temporary prices are also available for a printed portfolio list ordered during the same session. - 10 - c) Historical Prices You may calculate the value of the portfolio based on file prices for any date. The summary uses the first price on or after the date you specify. Prices of $0.00 are ignored. If there is no qualifying price (e.g., the target date is after any existing file price), then the most recent file price is used. This summary has some limitations. It does NOT reflect any changes in the portfolio between the specified date and the current date. Thus, it is most suitable for use in portfolios that are stable. If you have sold a stock or bought another in the intervening period, the summary only includes the value of current holdings. If you have added a stock, the addition will be valued at the current file price in all earlier summaries. Please be careful not to misinterpret the results. After ordering any portfolio summary, you will be offered the opportunity to add the summary information to a screen-only portfolio comparison chart. This allows you to compare the results of different summaries made during the same session. The portfolio comparison chart holds information from eight summaries. If there are more than eight summaries, the oldest summary will be dropped and the new one will replace it. You can add a description to the portfolio comparison chart so that you can easily distinguish different summaries. The program offers a default description that will distinguish the summaries from each other. The description can be modified if you choose. This facility permits you to review the effect of changes in prices or in your portfolio. No need to use paper and pencil. The portfolio comparison chart also can be reviewed directly from the PORTFOLIO REPORTS submenu. Remember that the chart is erased when you exit the program. 2) PORTFOLIO LIST - This is a printed list of all stocks in the portfolio, with the number of shares owned, basis per share, latest price, total value, profit/loss, yield, and the percent of the total portfolio represented by the stock. This report can be printed in alphabetical order by company or in order based on the total value of the investment. This report offers a complete summary of your portfolio, and it is the printed report you are most likely to use. If the temporary price feature (selection 2 from the PORTFOLIO REPORT submenu) was used earlier in the same session, you can print a portfolio report using the temporary prices instead of the latest file prices. This allows you to do periodic printing of prices without adding the prices to the permanent file. You will be offered this option if it is available. - 11 - Transaction Reports ------------------------- Transaction reports only include capital transactions (Buy; Sell; Receive; Dispose; Increase Basis; Decrease Basis). The reports do not include ENTER DATA transactions or CASH DIVIDEND transactions. Dividend transactions can be reviewed by ordering a dividend report. Each transaction report covers a user-specified period. You can select the current year-to-date; the previous year; or any other period you like. There are five types of transaction reports: 1) SUMMARY - This is a screen-only report showing the number of each type of transaction and the total basis for each type. Total proceeds and profit/loss are included for sales. This report appears when a transaction or stock sale (but not a profit/loss) report is requested. This report can be printed on paper, but it is the only report that cannot be printed to a DOS file. 2) LIST - This is a printed list of all transactions for any period. For each transaction, the report shows the name of the company, transaction type, date, number of shares, price, and basis. For a sale, the proceeds and profit/loss are also shown. This report can be printed in either chronological or alphabetic order. 3) SALES REPORT - This printed report is the same as a transaction report, but it includes only SELL transactions. See the discussion of year end reporting procedures for advice on how to handle end-of-year transitions. 4) PROFIT/LOSS REPORT - This printed report includes only SELL transactions segregated based on the reported profits and losses. Profits and losses are listed and subtotaled separately in date order. This is especially useful for tax preparation and planning. 5) CAPITAL GAINS REPORT FOR STOCK SALES - This printed report that will separate SELL transactions by the capital gain holding period. You can designate stock sales as short or long term when the transaction is entered. The program will not determine whether a sale is long or short term. Automatically matching purchases with sales can be very complex and is sometimes impossible. This is the user's responsibility. This data field and report are new with version 3.7. There are some complexities to consider when tracking capital gain holding periods. First, remember that any previously entered SELL transactions have not been characterized. You can add this information through the CHANGE menu. You will have a chance to designate a sale as L (long) or S (short). - 12 - The field for capital gains can be left blank. SELL transactions that are undesignated will be treated as a third category on printouts. This will flag the transactions so that you can designate them (using the CHANGE menu). If no period has been designated, the sale will be listed as "????? Term". Second, the current federal capital gain holding period for stock is currently one year, but it is subject to change. If there is a change, then you may need to alter any SELL transactions for the years affected by the change. This must be done on a case-by-case basis. The IRS will tell you what the current holding period is. Read your tax instructions for the latest information. Third, for some sales, there may be more than one holding period involved. For example, if shares acquired at different times are sold in a single SELL transaction, some gains may be long term and other gains may be short term. To address this, you will have to split a single SELL transaction into several SELL transactions so that each can be separately designated for the holding period. The program will not do this for you automatically. Fourth, while this program does not offer any tax advice, some IRS information is reprinted here to help you determine holding periods. The following comes from IRS Publication 17 for 1991: If you hold investment property more than one year, your gain or loss is a long-term capital gain or loss. If you hold the property one year or less, your gain or loss is a short-term capital gain or loss. To figure how long you held the investment property, begin counting on the date after the day you acquired the property. The same date of each following month is the beginning of a new month regardless of the number of days in the preceding month. The day you disposed of the property is part of your holding period. Example: If you buy investment property on February 1, 1991, you start counting on February 2. The 2nd of each following month is the beginning of a new month. If you sell the property of February 1, 1992, your holding period is not more than one year and you will have a short-term capital gain or loss. If you sell it on February 2, 1992, your holding period is more than one year and you will have a long-term capital gain or loss. For securities traded on an established securities market, your holding period begins the day after the trading date you bought the securities, and ends on the trading date you sold them. Ignore the settlement date for holding period purposes. There is no guarantee that this information is either accurately reproduced or currently correct. - 13 - Cash Dividend Reports ------------------------- There are six different reports that summarize cash dividend transactions. 1) SUMMARY - This is a screen only report. It includes the number of securities in the portfolio, the number of securities paying dividends in the specified period, the number of dividends received, and the total amount of dividends. 2) BY DATE - This printed report lists each dividend received by date, company name, and amount. A running total of dividends received is also included. Dividends are listed in date order. 3) BY COMPANY - This printed report lists each dividend received by date, company name, and amount. The report includes a subtotal by company. 4) TOTAL BY COMPANY - This is a printed report that includes the name of the company and the total amount received in the specified period. This report is provided for those who may wish to use it as an attachment to a tax return. 5) EXPECTED DIVIDENDS BY DATE - This report is a printed list of dividends expected to be received in a year. It reads the information about dividend rate, dividend date, and dividend numbers from the main stock data file. The list of dividends is in date order. This printed report is useful as a check list for dividends or to see how dividends are spread throughout the year. If you have not entered dividend information in the main file, then this report will have no value. The information in this report is NOT based on actual cash dividend transactions. It is calculated from the dividend rate, date, and number of payments. Most stocks pay dividends four times a year, semi-annually, or monthly. The report can calculate payment dates for stocks that pay dividends 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12, 24 (twice a month), 26 (bi-weekly), or 52 times a year. It will not process any other periodic or irregular payments. The year covered by the expected dividend report is a generic year. But weekly and bi-weekly payments must be adjusted for a leap year, and the program asks if it is a leap year. In order for a dividend to appear in the report, there are several prerequisites. First, current holdings must be more than zero shares of the stock. Second, dividend information in the main file (date, rate, and number of payments) must be complete. If some of this data is missing, you will be advised. You will not be warned about holdings of zero shares. - 14 - If a dividend payment is recorded as paid on the last day of a month, then all payments by that company will be assumed to be paid on the last day of the month. Bi-monthly payments are assumed to be paid on the same dates each month (e.g., the first and the sixteenth of the month). The report is based on current holdings. If you buy or sell shares, the report will change and may not be accurate for the earlier or later part of the year. You can track actual payments using the other dividend reports. In some version of the program, dividend dates were not checked to see if the date entered was real (e.g., September 31). Since data entered under the older versions may be incorrect, the program will warn you about non-existent dates. 6) EXPECTED DIVIDENDS BY COMPANY - This report provides a printed list of dividends expected to be received in a year printed by company. The discussion for the previous report is relevant here. History Reports ------------------------- This report shows the capital transaction history for one stock or all stocks. This is a printed report with a one line listing for each capital transaction (transaction numbers 1-6) showing the date, transaction type, price, number of shares, cumulative shares, basis, and cumulative basis. This may be a useful alternative to a printed file listing. The report is new with version 3.7. File Reports ------------------------- All stock and log files can be printed through the PRINT menu. There are two types of printed files. 1) MAIN FILE - This report includes all information in a main stock file. This report is printed five stocks to a page. 2) COMPLETE FILE - This report includes all main file data plus a full list of all transactions. You can print a complete report for one stock or for all stocks. The contents of the main file and the transaction logs can be found in appendix 1. - 15 - B. PRINTING AND VIEWING FILES ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stock Portfolio Record Manager supports two physical printers: the IBM Proprinter (dot matrix) and the HP Laserjet (laser). In addition, all reports that can be printed on paper can be directed to a DOS file and viewed through a file viewer included in the program. These file reports also can be read externally using any text reader. Printing to a DOS file saves paper, allows those with nonconforming printers to use the program, and permits users to import reports into other programs. If you don't select a physical printer, all print requests will be directed to a DOS file. File printing is discussed in more detail later in this section. Physical Printing ------------------------- There are two ways to select a physical printer. First, pick SELECT PRINTERS (option 4) from the PRINT menu. Follow the prompts to make a selection. You can switch printers during a session. The SELECT PRINTERS menu line shows which printer type is the current selection. In addition, an on-screen reminder is provided when choosing titles for reports. Second, there is a command line switch that specifies a physical printer. This switch allows you to select a printer in a batch file without having to remember to select it each time you run the program. To select the HP Laserjet, enter STOCK /HP from the DOS prompt. Enter STOCK /IBM to select the IBM Proprinter. If you don't have a Proprinter or Laserjet, you still may be able to print. Most laser printers emulate the HP codes. If your printer can use HP codes, then you can print reports. Many dot matrix printers use the same codes as the IBM Proprinter. If you have any dot matrix printer, try the IBM selection. When using any dot matrix printer, you must use continuous form paper. You cannot feed single sheets. There are only three printer codes used by the program so there is an excellent chance that your printer is compatible. The IBM Proprinter codes used are CHR$(12) [Form Feed]; CHR$(15) [Condensed Printing - approximately 17 characters per inch]; and CHR$(18) [Regular Printing - 10 characters per inch]. You cannot control the printer using printer switches because most reports use both regular and condensed printing. All physical printing goes through LPT1. If your printer is connected to another parallel port or to a serial port, you must handle printer redirection at the DOS level. If you don't understand this paragraph, don't worry about it unless you can't print. Then you should consult your DOS manual about use of the MODE command. - 16 - When you order a printed report, the program tests to see if printer 1 (LPT1) is on-line. If it isn't, you are warned. This test is not reliable for every type of equipment and configuration so an override is provided. If you try to print and there is no printer, the program will crash. VERY IMPORTANT: Before you do this, exit back to DOS. This writes all data to the disk. Then if the program crashes, you won't lose any data entered during the current session. DOS File Printing ------------------------- The default DOS file name for printing directed to a DOS file is REPORT.RPT. You can specify a different file name using the SELECT PRINTER option under the PRINT menu. You will be prompted to enter an optional path and a required file name. The program will examine the path and file name that you enter, and blatantly illegal choices will be rejected. All target file names MUST have a .RPT extension. Remember that the path and file name are only checked for validity and not for availability. If the drive you select is full or not available (e.g., the drive door is open), the program will crash. If the program crashes, data entered during the current session may be lost and data files can be ruined. To be careful before printing to a disk file, exit the program first to save all new data. Then restart the program and print to the disk file. This precaution is probably unnecessary. If you have entered new data, it may be worth taking care. Data written to a disk file will be appended to an existing file. This permits you to write multiple reports from one or more sessions to the same file. You can change the name and path of the target DOS file as often as you like during a session. Version 3.7 added the facility to erase .RPT files from within the program. It is option 4 on the DELETE menu. This feature is described in more detail below in the section on deleting files. File Viewer ------------------------- The file viewer is available as the third selection from the DISPLAY menu. Only files with an extension of .RPT can be viewed. When the viewer is selected, you will offered the opportunity to view the most recently designated target file. You can specify a different file, but non-existent files and files with the wrong extension will be rejected. Blatantly improper paths also will be rejected. Once a file is selected, the entire file will be scanned. Only the first 16384 lines (a very large number!) in a file can be read. Reading can take a few seconds. You can then navigate through the file using the arrow keys, PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN, HOME, and END keys. Reports wider than eighty columns can be viewed by using the left and right arrow keys to shift the viewing window. If multiple reports are printed to the same file, they will be separated by a line across the screen. - 17 - C. YEAR END REPORTING PROCEDURES ----------------------------------------------------------------- When you have sold all shares of a stock, the stock continues to appear as a holding of zero shares. All transaction records remain in the file. I STRONGLY recommend waiting until the end of the year before deleting the records of any stock that was totally disposed of during the year. Keep the records available for year end reports. This aids in doing taxes. Once you delete a stock, all associated records are gone forever. The only way to recover is to reenter all of the data. My personal practice is to enter all data for a calendar year and then print a complete round of reports. To have a "pure" year end report, I delay entering ANY data for the following year until I am ready to print. I find that I can't finish a year end report until February or March. For example, you never know if a dividend was a return of capital (REDUCE BASIS) until you get the Form 1099 from the company. Limited partnerships also delay reporting basis information. If you need to enter new data before closing out the old year, you may want to maintain two separate portfolios temporarily. It is up to you to make sure that you have entered the right data in the right portfolio (or in both portfolios). Once you have completed one year's transactions, made sure that everything is correct, and printed out all reports that you want, you can then delete records for securities that are no longer owned. I suggest another step first. Before you delete any stocks, copy all the data files (STOCK.DAT and all .LOG files) onto a separate subdirectory or disk. These files will be a year end backup. I take a copy of all year-end data files and place them in a file archive. (I use Phil Katz's PKZIP, but if you don't understand file archives or PKZIP, don't worry about it.) A backup of this sort is useful if you later discover a missing transaction or an error. You can restore the old files and generate corrected reports without reentering all deleted data. If you are not a moderately sophisticated computer user, you may find this to be too complex. The trick here is to make ABSOLUTELY SURE that you NEVER place data files from different time periods or portfolios in the same directory. This will result in lost files and ruined data. Another year-end practice that I follow is to delete all cash dividend transactions for the previous year. I also delete some interim prices (ENTER DATA transactions) that I don't want to preserve in perpetuity. I use the multiple delete facility to accomplish this easily. Of course, if you see a continuing value in retaining this type of data, then you can keep it in the file permanently. As you maintain more data and dividend transactions in the files, the data file will grow longer, the program will run a bit slower, and reports may be longer. All of these effect are relatively minor, and there is no reason to delete data and dividend transactions if they are useful to you. Stock Portfolio Record Manager let you decide what data to save and how long to save it. - 18 - IV. MISCELLANEOUS A. DIRECTORIES AND MULTIPLE PORTFOLIOS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stock Portfolio Record Manager looks for or creates its data files in the current directory. Any marginally adept PC user should already understand directories. If you don't, read the DOS manual or a basic computer book. The program can be run from a floppy or hard disk. The data files MUST be in the current directory when the program is started. The program itself can be kept elsewhere if you like. The program can only manage one portfolio on its own. You can still maintain many separate portfolios if you undertake to keep the data files from different portfolios in separate directories. One method is to maintain a copy of the program in each data directories. There is a more efficient way. You can use the program for multiple portfolios without maintaining more than one copy of STOCK.EXE. For example, suppose that you have a portfolio for mutual funds and one for other shares. Establish two subdirectories named FUND and SHARE. Put STOCK.EXE in the FUND portfolio. To access the mutual fund portfolio, change to the FUND subdirectory and enter STOCK at the DOS prompt. To access the other portfolio, change to the SHARE subdirectory and execute a command like this: C:\FUND\STOCK. Since the program looks in the current directory for its data files, this enables you to access the portfolio in the current (SHARE) directory. To simplify matters, you can create a batch file containing the proper address of STOCK.EXE. If the SHARE and FUND subdirectories are part of a directory called FINANCE, a batch file for the SHARE portfolio would have these commands: CD\FINANCE\SHARE C:\FINANCE\FUND\STOCK.EXE You have keep the program anywhere. If you put it in a directory on your path, then you can have as many portfolios as you like if each is in a separate portfolio. Just change to the directory with the portfolio you want and execute STOCK. B. BASIS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Basis is the cost of shares. You can use the cash basis, tax basis, or any other basis you like. I recommend using the tax basis, but it is up to you. BE CONSISTENT. Tax basis and cash basis are frequently the same, but not always. For example, utility shares purchased through dividend reinvestment programs for several years in the 1980s may have a tax basis of zero. Use the note fields in each transaction to remind yourself of any unusual basis elements or aspects. - 19 - When you are prompted to enter the basis for a purchase or sale (or the profit/loss for a sale), the program proposes a number based on available information. To accept the proposed number, just hit ENTER. Be careful, however, when entering transactions with fractional shares such as dividend reinvestments. Rounding errors may produce small variations from the actual amounts. Verify the numbers. The program cannot always calculate with certainty the basis for shares you have sold. If you bought shares at one time and then sell them all at another time, the calculation is easy. But if you bought shares at different times, the calculation is not as simple. There are at least three different ways to account for basis (average cost; first-in first- out; last-in first-out). The program always assumes that all shares in the current portfolio have an equal basis. If there have been multiple purchases or sales, then this assumption is almost certain to be wrong. When the program calculates a basis, it explains how it was done. If the calculation is wrong, enter the correct number. If you return to the basis field again during the data entry process, the calculation is not redone. You can, however, hit the TAB key to redo the basis calculation. There is a screen prompt to remind you of this recalculation feature when it is available. The basis of shares sold is a very important number for tax purposes. If the basis is too low, then you will pay too much in taxes. If the basis is too high, then your tax bill will be too low. Either extreme is to be avoided. Don't rely blindly on the program's calculations. Please make sure that the basis calculations are correct. C. CHANGING AND DELETING RECORDS ----------------------------------------------------------------- CHANGING RECORDS - Any data element that can be entered by the user can be altered through the CHANGE menu. Both main file information and transaction information can be modified. In each case, the change screen is similar in form and process to the original data entry screen. Be especially careful when changing transaction records. This is a principal way that incorrect information can enter the files inadvertently. Automatic calculations of basis and profit/loss may be incorrect on the change screen. Please note also that basis and profit/loss are not changed automatically if the underlying numbers are changed through the CHANGE menu. If you change the price of a transaction, you will have to change the basis and profit/loss on your own. The automatic recalculations will work but may not be correct, especially for sales. The calculations are based on assumptions that are rarely correct when a change to a sale is being entered. - 20 - DELETING RECORDS - You can delete an individual transaction or an entire main stock file through the DELETE menu. Whenever a main stock file is deleted, all associated transactions logs are also deleted. You are warned several times before any records are deleted. The only safe way to delete files is through the program. If you delete a transaction log file through DOS, the main stock file will still be in STOCK.DAT. Serious problems will arise because there are no underlying transactions. The program cannot recover from a missing .LOG file. The only hope is to delete the main stock entry and start again. See the discussion about the year-end reporting procedure in this document for advice about deleting files. If you want to delete a group of CASH DIVIDEND transactions or RECORD DATA transactions, the multiple delete option may be useful. It is the third choice on the DELETE menu. For any period, you can delete all dividend transactions for a single stock or for all stocks. The idea here is that you may not want to maintain cash dividend records beyond the end of the year. The multiple delete option allows all of the records to be removed with a few keystrokes. Similarly, you can delete multiple RECORD DATA transactions at once. Version 3.7 added the ability to delete .RPT files that may have been created by the program. This is option 4 on the DELETE menu. The program will delete files with a .RPT extension that appear in the specified directory. If you keep .RPT files elsewhere, you can designate a path. If the program finds a .RPT file created by another program, that file WILL be deleted. You have been warned. You may direct the program to delete all .RPT files that it finds in the specified directory. Alternatively, the program will identify each .RPT file that it finds and ask if it should be deleted. If no .RPT files are found, the program will beep. D. BACKUPS ----------------------------------------------------------------- I STRONGLY recommend that you back up all data. I keep multiple copies of my data files in case of disaster and printed copies of data as well. Finally, I keep all original statements and buy/sell slips so that I can recreate the data files if necessary. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you rely exclusively on the program as the only source of data. There is a possibility that an undiscovered error or computer failure will ruin all data. Always be able to recreate essential records. The legal gobbledygook below disclaims all responsibility for program failures. Paper provides an additional type of backup. I print out a copy of all files and all reports once a year. I also keep a copy of data "off site" just in case of disaster. You can't be too careful. - 21 - E. DATES AND DOLLARS ----------------------------------------------------------------- For some reports, the program needs to know today's date. If your computer doesn't have a permanent calendar, enter the date through DOS before starting the program. The program can easily handle transactions up to a million dollars. With larger transactions, rounding errors may occur (a few cents). There are no guarantees that transactions or total holdings that involve dollars or shares in excess of 5 million will work. Very large numbers may cause the program to crash. When entering the number of shares and the basis for a transaction, numbers that are too large for the program to accept will be rejected. Problems can also arise when several legal transactions create totals that are beyond the program's capacity. There is nothing to worry about unless you have several millions invested. If you have millions invested in the market, you probably don't need this program. - 22 - V. PROGRAM SUPPORT AND LEGAL FORMALITIES A. PROBLEMS ----------------------------------------------------------------- I have made limited attempts to make Stock Portfolio Record Manager idiot-proof. Nevertheless, if you want are intent on screwing up the data, you can find a way to do it. The program will not protect you against all contingencies. Things will go well if you follow instructions and enter good numbers. There is some error checking done by the program. Stock symbols are reviewed for legal characters and for uniqueness. Improper dates are rejected. You are warned if you try to sell more shares than you own. But there is no internal check of profit/loss. You can enter a $1000 profit on a $10 transaction. There are other similar gaps. Be especially careful when changing transaction data. This is when inconsistent information can most easily be entered. The program will not fully protect you against your mistakes. In general, remember the famous computer acronym of long ago: GIGO - Garbage in, garbage out. Your data should be safe unless you take steps to erase it. Data is vulnerable right after it is entered. The program does not always write new data to disk immediately. The best precaution after entering new data is to exit the program. This flushes the buffers and writes data to disk. If you ever have an abnormal termination to the program in a session when you have entered data, there is a chance that the data will be incorrect. Any abnormal end to the program can result in the loss of newly entered data. ALWAYS exit through the menu. An abnormal termination may also result in the retention of temporary working files. If you find files in the default directory with a .XXX extension, these files can (and should) be deleted. If the transaction logs for a stock show a different number of transactions than the main stock file, then you have a problem. If you find that data in a main stock file is irretrievably incorrect or inconsistent, you may have to delete the stock and start over. There is no direct way to recover from this problem other than to delete the stock. REGISTERED USERS SHOULD CONTACT THE AUTHOR TO EXPLORE LESS DRASTIC REMEDIES. There is a good chance that a simple custom program can save your data. If the program can't find the STOCK.DAT data file when it starts, you are warned. When you run the program for the first time, this warning should be ignored. If you see this warning at any other time, check it out before you enter any new data. Note that a missing .LOG file produces no warning. You are responsible for maintaining the existence and integrity of the data files except when the program is running. The program has not been known to trash its own files. - 23 - The program has been tested in a reasonably thorough manner over several years. Of course, it is likely that there are still a few bugs somewhere, and new features may create new difficulties. Please write to me if you encounter an error or a difficulty of any type. Be specific about: the problem; your system's operating system and configuration; and exactly what you did that resulted in the problem. B. LICENSE AGREEMENT AND DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIS PROGRAM AND ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTATION ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS ASSUMED BY THE USER. The entire liability of Gellman Software and Robert Gellman shall be limited to a return of the registration price or replacement of the program at the option of Gellman Software and Robert Gellman. GELLMAN SOFTWARE AND ROBERT GELLMAN DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE WITH RESPECT TO THE PROGRAM AND WRITTEN MATERIALS. IN NO EVENT SHALL GELLMAN SOFTWARE OR ROBERT GELLMAN BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, OR SIMILAR DAMAGES) DUE TO LOSS OF DATA OR ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THIS PROGRAM EVEN IF GELLMAN SOFTWARE OR ROBERT GELLMAN HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. Anyone may use the program for a thirty day trial period. At the conclusion of the trial period, you must stop using the program or pay a $25.00 registration fee. To register, send $25.00 with your name, address, and version number you are using to: Robert Gellman 431 Fifth Street, S.E. Washington, DC 20003 All payments must be in US dollars. Canadian postal money orders in US dollars have been a convenient payment method for Canadians. International money orders in US dollars may be an alternative for those in other countries. I will respond to all who register to let you know if you are using the latest version. Copies of later versions will only be provided in accordance with the update policies set out below. There is no restriction on personal use of the program by a registered user or a member of their immediate household. Registered users may not license others to use the program or transfer their license to others. The program and its documentation are copyrighted. No one is authorized to change the program or the documentation. - 24 - C. DISTRIBUTION BY VENDORS AND BULLETIN BOARDS ---------------------------------------------------------------- Anyone may give a copy of the program with all accompanying documentation to any other person. The program together with its documentation may be distributed by computer bulletin boards, software clubs, shareware libraries, shareware vendors, and similar organizations at a standard charge for media and distribution. The maximum charge permitted without specific written permission from Gellman Software is $6.00. No other forms of distribution for money are authorized. D. UPDATE POLICIES ---------------------------------------------------------------- I plan to fix errors, make changes and improvements, and add new features from time to time. I WELCOME SUGGESTIONS FROM USERS. I am not, however, making any binding commitments to issue updates or corrections. While I expect to issue occasional updates, I am not anxious to get into the disk distribution business. Stock Portfolio Record Manager is available from the Public Software Library, P.O. Box 35705, Houston, TX 77235. I provide updates to PSL as soon as they are released. Last time I looked, disks were available from PSL for $5.00 plus a $4.00 shipping charge. A 3.5 inch disk costs an extra dollar. I encourage everyone to use PSL. It offers good service, and its monthly shareware catalog is excellent. Second, the program is available on some computer bulletin boards. The program may also be available on Compuserve or GEnie, but I cannot guarantee this because I do not have access to either service. Third, a Washington D.C. computer bulletin board has agreed to serve as "home base" for Gellman Software shareware programs. Sysop Rob Richmond of the CPA's BBS has graciously agreed to make the programs available to all. The phone number of the BBS is 202-882-9067. The file names will be SPRMxx.ZIP and HBRMxx.ZIP. The xx stands for the current version number. Interested users may find it worth their while to visit the CPA's BBS and to read the bulletin about these programs. I can be reached through the CPA's BBS under the name Bob Gellman. Information about the phone number and availability of the BBS is current as of the file date. It is, of course, subject to change at any time. Finally, I will make updates directly available to registered users in two ways. Any registered user who sends me a self-addressed, stamped disk mailer and a disk can receive a copy of the latest version at no cost. If a user wants me to provide the disk and mailer, the cost is $10.00 ($12.00 for 3.5 inch disks). I reserve the right to revoke this offer any time. I really want to discourage people from asking me to provide disks and mailers. That's the reason for the high price. I don't have the time or the facilities. I will, however, accommodate my users and provide updates at no cost if you provide the disk, the mailer, and the postage. - 25 - If you like, I can include my other programs along with any update. If you like the stock program and you own a home, please consider trying my Home Basis Record Manager. I have also published several freeware games. All of the programs are described in Appendix I. Tell me if you can handle ZIP archives, and I will send everything squeezed on one disk. All of my programs will not fit on a single 360 K floppy. It takes two regular floppies or one 1.2 Meg floppy. Home Basis Record Manager and Stock Market Record Manager will fit on a single disk, however. I will try to respond to any correspondence from registered users so let me know if you need help, find problems, or have complaints. Alas, I cannot promise to notify registered users of new versions. The Public Software Library monthly catalog will contain update notices. E. PROGRAMMING NOTES AND HISTORY ----------------------------------------------------------------- The current version is written and compiled in Microsoft's QuickBASIC 4.5 under DOS 3.1. The source code is not public. The program uses the PROBAS Professional BASIC Programming Library. PROBAS used to be a product of Hammerly Computer Services of Laurel, Maryland. I originally wrote this program solely to meet my needs. Version 1.4 was released publicly as freeware on a limited basis in April 1988. Because of lack of interest and some problems, the program was withdrawn a month later. Version 2.1 was released in May 1989 to a few selected users. It contained the pulldown and lightbar menus and many other improvements. With version 3.0, the program became shareware. Detailed information about the changes made in versions 2.3 and thereafter is included in a separate file named STOCKNEW.DOC. Acknowledgement: Some program features rely on algorithms and BASIC code fragments that were released into the public domain by other, mostly anonymous, programmers. Thanks to all who have provided source code for others to use. - 26 - APPENDIX I: FILE STRUCTURE INFORMATION MAIN STOCK FILE Name: 25 characters provided by the user. This is the name of the stock. Some name must be specified. Symbol: 4 characters provided by the user. No spaces or special characters will be accepted. Reserved DOS file names will be rejected. Each symbol must be unique. Exchange: 4 characters provided by the user. This is an optional field for the exchange where the stock is traded. CUSIP: 20 characters provided by the user. This is an optional field. Each stock/bond is assigned a unique identification number by the securities industry. The CUSIP number is on certificates and buy/sell slips. Shares: The total number of shares owned. This number is calculated by the program from transactions. It cannot be changed directly by the user. Total Basis: The total cost of shares owned. This number is calculated by the program from transactions. It cannot be changed directly by the user. Share Basis: The total basis divided by the number of shares. This number is calculated by the program from transactions. It cannot be changed directly by the user. Price: The most recent price available to the program. The price is taken from transactions that reported a price. Price Date: The date of the latest transaction reporting a price. Dividend Rate: Number field provided by the user representing the annual dividend rate per share. Dividend Date: 5 character field provided by the user. This is the month and year when any dividend is paid. It is an optional field. If dividends are paid on the first day of each calendar quarter, then a proper entry would be any ONE of the following: 1/1 or 4/1 or 7/1 or 10/1. Dividend Number: Integer field provided by the user. This is the number of times that dividends are paid annually. Log Number: The number of transactions in the file for a stock. Notes: 30 character field provided by the user. Other information provided with the main stock file is calculated as needed. This includes yield, percentage gain/loss, current value, and profit/loss. This information is not maintained in the data files. - 27 - TRANSACTION LOGS All information maintained in the transaction logs is user provided. Date: Integer variable. The date of the transaction is entered in the form MM/DD/YY. All transactions must have a valid date. The program does limited verification of dates. Mandatory for all transactions. Transaction Number: Integer variable. There are eight transaction types, which are identified by number. Mandatory for all transactions. Number of Shares: Double precision variable. Fractional shares can be entered. Price: Double precision variable. The price is in dollars and must be decimal. Decimals of more than two places are supported. Commission: Single precision variable. The broker's commission is included in the basis for the stock. Other Costs: Single precision variable. This field is for transaction costs other than the broker's commission. Other costs are included in the basis for the stock. Basis: Double precision variable. This is the basis for a transaction. Not all transactions have a basis. Profit/Loss: Double precision variable. This information is maintained only for SELL transactions. Certificate Number: 26 character field. The field can be used to store a stock certificate number or any other data. Notes: 40 character field. The field can be used to store any information. Capital Gain: 1 character field. Used only for SELL transactions. Only "S" (for short term) or "L" (for long term) will be accepted. The field may be left blank. - 28 - APPENDIX II: GELLMAN SOFTWARE PROGRAMS SPRM37 STOCK PORTFOLIO RECORD MANAGER (shareware) Stock Portfolio Record Manager maintains the basic records that stock and bond market investors need. It tracks purchases and sales, accounts for stock splits and basis changes, and handles multiple transactions, dividend reinvestments, fractional shares, and hypothetical transactions. The program totally replaces or supplements paper records. It provides powerful reports about your portfolio, transactions, and dividends. Both laser and dot matrix printers are supported. Anyone who has investments in the stock or bond markets should consider using this program. HBRM13 HOME BASIS RECORD MANAGER (shareware) If you own a house, condominium, cooperative, house trailer, or any type of residence, you need HOME BASIS RECORD MANAGER. This program will help you keep track of the basis (or cost) of your home. This information is vital when you sell your home. By using the HOME BASIS RECORD MANAGER, you can be certain that you will have all the information necessary to minimize the taxes due on the profits from the sale of your home. POKER57 Head to Head Draw Poker (freeware) 1POKER14 Poker Solitaire (freeware) CALC15 Calculation Solitaire (freeware) LABELLE4 La Belle Lucie Solitaire (public domain) SIXLTR41 Six Letter Word Game (freeware) The last two programs were coauthored by other programmers. These programs are available from the Public Software Library, P.O. Box 35705, Houston, TX 77235. The latest versions are normally sent to PSL when released. I recommend PSL to anyone interested in shareware or freeware. Gellman Software programs are also available on finer computer bulletin boards in the Washington, DC area and elsewhere. Copies of all programs are available from Gellman Software. Send a self-addressed, stamped mailer and disk to the address on the first page. State which programs you want. IMPORTANT: Please state if you know how to handle ZIP archives. If you want all programs, send one 1.2 Meg disk, two 360K disks if you can unZIP, or three 360K disks if you do not understand ZIP archives. There is no charge if you supply the disk, the mailer, and the postage. ****End of STOCK.DOC**** - 29 -