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- 87 PFROI User Manual - Copyright (C) 1985-1991, Techserve, Inc.
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- 7 PFROI - Special Situations
- ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-
-
- Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRA's)
- ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Because of their special tax treatment, IRA's and other tax-
- protected retirement accounts should generally be kept in a
- portfolio file separate from investments subject to normal
- taxes.
-
- In general, the first tax rate record in an IRA or tax-free
- retirement portfolio should be dated the account opening
- date, and should have a tax rate of zero. The holding
- period, capital gains rate and loss limit records should
- contain entries, preferably rates in effect at the date of
- the record. Subsequent tax rate records are not needed as
- long as income within the account is tax-free:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr T Hold Prd CG Rate Max Loss Tax Rate Lng/Sht Loc Rate Index
- == == == = ======== ======= ======== ======== ======= ======== ======
- 02/14/82 6.00 0.500 3000 0.000 0.500 0.000 1.0000
- / /
-
- Contributions to IRA's and other retirement accounts are
- classified as "deductible" or "non-deductible" for deter-
- mining taxability upon ultimate withdrawal of funds from the
- account. "Deductible" funds are earnings on which you have
- not yet paid taxes because the I.R.S. has allowed them to be
- deducted from reportable gross earnings (e.g. the $2000/year
- allowed for those below the IRA maximum earnings "cutoff").
-
- "Non-deductible" funds are those on which the I.R.S. requires
- you to pay taxes but which they've allowed you to contribute to
- the retirement account so that earnings thereon may accumulate
- tax-free.
-
- Generally, you should segregate "deductible" and "non-deduc-
- tible" contributions in your retirement portfolio. This may
- be accomplished by assigning a unique symbol to "non-deduct-
- ible" deposit transactions. For example, you contributed
- $2000 to your IRA in 1988, but because of your tax bracket
- the I.R.S. only allows you to deduct half of this amount from
- your gross earnings. Your IRA account transactions would
- appear as follows:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === =============== =========== ============ ========
- 1/02/88 DPF Deductible contr. 1000.00
- 1/02/88 DPF XXXXXX Non-ded. contrib. 1000.00
- 1/02/88 BUY MMF$ Money Mkt Fund 2000 -2000.00
-
- IRA investors may optionally place the notation "=C-" in the
- 88
- description field of "BUY", "BYD" or reinvestment trans-
- actions (DRI, IRI, SGR, CGR) so as to suppress cumulation of
- cost bases. The reasoning for this is that tax-deductible
- contributions have a zero cost basis from a tax standpoint.
- On the other hand, some users may wish to retain cost bases
- for better visibility of investment gains and losses.
- Neither treatment will affect estimated taxes since tax rates
- are set to zero.
-
- Upon retirement, tax-deductible contributions and tax-free
- earnings within the account are taxed at the investor's tax
- rate as the funds are withdrawn from the retirement account.
- The estimated tax liability should be entered in the "Est.
- Tax" field of such withdrawal transactions.
-
- Withdrawal of non-deductible account contributions (funds on
- which you paid taxes before contributing to the retirement
- account) are not taxable and thus are treated as a normal
- withdraw-funds transaction. We suggest that you enter such
- withdrawals with a unique ticker symbol so they may be
- isolated with the "Mask" command and reconciled with the
- initial deposit transactions.
-
- For example, you are past age 59 1/2 (the minimum IRA with-
- drawal age) and you make a quarterly withdrawal of $4000 from
- your IRA, comprised of $225 of non-deductible contributions
- with the remainder from deductible contri-butions and tax-
- free earnings. Your marginal tax rate is 28%. The trans-
- actions would appear as follows:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === =============== =========== ============ ========
- 4/01/91 SLL MMF$ for MMF withdraw -4000 4000.00
- 4/01/91 WDF Taxable IRA dist. -3775.00 1057 m
- 4/01/91 WDF XXXXXX Non taxable IRA dist. -225.00
-
- Since WDF transactions normally do not take symbols or
- estimated taxes, you will have to manuver the cursor into
- these fields vertically from a transaction that does accept
- these fields.
-
- If funds are prematurely withdrawn from the account, manual
- "estimated tax" entrys should be made to cover estimated
- taxes plus early withdrawal penalty.
-
-
- Mutual Funds
- ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- PFROI "reinvestment" transactions DRI, IRI, CGR and SGR simp-
- lify handling of mutual funds which otherwise may be treated
- like any stock.
-
- The BYD and SLW transactions may be used for fund deposits
- and withdrawals, assuming the funds are deposited/withdrawn
- from the portfolio on the same date that shares in the fund
- are bought or sold.
-
- 89
- For simplicity, mutual fund tax treatment should generally be
- "first in, first out" (FIFO) or "running average cost" (see
- Tax Lot Numbers Chapter 6).
-
- PFROI's "running average cost" calculation implements the
- "Average Cost - Single Category" method allowed by the I.R.S.
- for mutual funds. This method will generally result in lower
- taxes than FIFO in a rising market but higher taxes in a
- falling market. Once you select a tax lot method, you must
- continue to use that method until you have closed out your
- position in that fund.
-
- Many mutual funds levy an annual fee by reducing the number
- of shares to your credit. A SLL transaction followed by a
- negative FEE transaction of the same amount should be use to
- enter reduction in shares to cover fund charges:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === =============== =========== ============ ========
- 01/02/90 SLL MUTFND Mutual Fund @10 -2.5 25.00
- 01/02/90 FEE MUTFND Annual Fee $25 -25.00
-
- The "FUI" (Fee-UnInvest) transaction combines the "FEE" and
- "SLL" into a single transaction which may be alternatively
- used as follows:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === =============== =========== ============ ========
- 01/02/90 FUI MUTFND Mutual Fund @10 -2.5 -25.00
-
- Undistributed capital gains declared by mutual fund com-
- panies require the shareholder to pay tax on the undistri-
- buted gain and adjust their cost basis upward. This may be
- accomplished by using the CGR (Capital Gains Reinvestment)
- transaction with a zero share quantity:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === =============== =========== ============ ========
- 12/31/89 CGR MUTFND Undistr. Cap Gain 0 215.29
-
-
- Stock Options (Puts and Calls)
- ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Purchases and sales of put and call options may be treated
- in a similar manner as the purchase and sale of stock.
-
-
- Puts
-
- A "Put" is an option to sell a stock at a fixed price over a
- set period.
-
- A "buy" (BUY) transaction is used when a Put is bought. The
- number of options and the transaction cost are placed in the
- Quantity and Amount fields. For example, you buy a Put on
- 1000 shares Ford Motor at 50, expiration March for a price
- 90
- of 1 1/2 and a $35 commission:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === ================== =========== ============ ========
- 1/ 4/89 BUY F+ 1 Ford @1.5/50 xc Mar 1000 -1535.00
-
- Note that rather than using "10" to indicate ten blocks of
- 100 as per option trading convention, the quantity entry of
- "1000" was used, This is done to ensure that quoted price
- ($1.50) times quantity will equal the total value of the
- option holding.
-
- A "sell" (SLL) transaction is entered whenever a Put held
- long is sold or expires. The "Amount" of this transaction
- is the sales proceeds if the Put is sold, or zero if the Put
- expired. For example, suppose in the prior example the price
- of Ford stays above 50 and thus the Put expires worthless:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === ================== =========== ============ ========
- 3/30/89 SLL F+ 1 Ford @1.5/50 expired -1000 0.00
-
- If a Put is exercised, the cost of the put should be
- deducted from the sale price of the stock sold using the
- Put. The original Put "buy" transaction should then be
- modified by zeroing the Quantity and Amount entries. For
- future reference, it is also a good idea to place a note in
- the Description field that the Put was exercised. An
- example of the purchase and exercise of a Put is as follows:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === ================== =========== ============ ========
- 2/ 3/88 BUY XYZ+ 1 200 @ 2.25 xc 5/26 0 -0.00
- 5/26/88 SLL XYZ 2 XYZ with 2/3/83 put -200 7475.00
-
-
- Calls
-
- A "Call" is an option to buy a stock at a fixed price over a
- set period.
-
- A "buy" transaction should be used when a Call is purchased
- "long"; a "sell" transaction should be used when it then is
- sold or expires. An example of a Call purchase, followed by
- expiration is as follows:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === ================== =========== ============ ========
- 4/21/88 BUY XYZ- 1 200 @ 1.75 xp 6/30 200 -375.00
- 6/30/88 SLL XYZ- 1 XYZ Call expires -200 0.00
-
- If a Call is exercised, the cost of the Call should be added
- to the cost of the stock bought using the Call. The
- Quantity and Amount entries should then be zeroed in the
- original Call transaction, with a notation added in the
- security field that the Call was exercised.
-
- 91
- "Writing" a Call option is a "Short Sale" transaction
- regardless of whether you hold the underlying security. Such
- sales thus require the SLS transaction code. If the Call
- expires or is excercised by the buyer, a covering BYC TAC
- should be used with an amount of zero.
-
- If a Call you've written reaches the strike price and the
- buyer of the Call exercises his right to buy at the
- specified price, then you must also sell off the underlying
- security. If you already hold the security ("Covered Call")
- this would be a SLL TAC, else it is a SLS TAC to be followed
- by a later covering purchase of the underlying security
- using BYC. The sale and subsequent exercise of a "covered"
- Call would appear as follows:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === ===================== ========== =========== =========
- 01/02/89 BUY XYZ 1 XYZ corp. 1000 -50000.00
- 03/01/89 SLS XYZ- 1 XYZ call, @55 May exp. -1000 2500.00
- 04/21/89 BYC XYZ- 1 XYZ call exercised 1000 0.00
- 04/21/89 SLL XYZ 1 XYZ corp. to fufill call -1000 55000.00
-
- Note in the above examples that a "+" sign is used with the
- stock symbol to indicate a "Put" transaction while a "-"
- sign is used to indicate a "Call" transaction. This is a
- convenient way to differentiate the option symbol from the
- symbol of the underlying stock.
-
- Since the U.S. tax rules for options differ somewhat from
- other securities you should check with your tax advisor to
- be sure you are properly reporting these transactions to the
- I.R.S. You may also need to make separate entries in the
- portfolio tax tables to reflect differing tax treatment for
- Puts and Calls as compared to other securities.
-
-
-
- Employee Stock Options
- ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Employee stock options should be entered into the portfolio
- file only when the options are exercised and converted to
- stock. A normal "buy" transaction is then used. The
- exercise of employee options may incur additional taxes
- under the "Alternative Minimum Tax" provisions of the U.S.
- tax laws and may be subject to a special holding period for
- long term capital gains. Use a "TAX" transaction code or a
- manual "Est. Tax" entry to make appropriate adjustments if
- either of these circumstances apply.
-
-
- Gifts/Inheritance
- ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Property received as a gift or inheritance is subject to
- special U.S. tax rules with regard to determining cost basis
- and holding period. PFROI's automatic "estimated tax"
- calculation may not accurately reflect these rules in all
- 92
- regards. The user should review and understand these tax
- rules or consult their tax advisor before relying upon
- PFROI's results.
-
- The following procedure is valid, however, for most cases:
-
- a) Enter a "receive" (RCV) transaction using the market
- value of the property in the "Amount" field:
-
- 1) Inherited Property - Use the day after the decedent's
- death as the transaction date.
-
- 2) Gift Property - Use the date the property was
- acquired by the donor, unless the market value upon
- receipt was less than the donor's cost basis. In
- this case use the day after the date of receipt as
- the transaction date.
-
- b) Enter a "SLL" transaction upon sale of the property.
- Review the tax rules for special provisions which might
- affect your situation, necessitating a manual tax entry.
-
-
- Wash and Short Sale Tax Rules
- ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- The U.S. federal tax code contains "wash sale" and "short
- sale" rules which prevent an investor from realizing loss
- deductions or long-term capital gain benefits through use of
- "wash" sales or certain "short" sales. A summary of the
- rules and the proper treatment with PFROI are as follows:
-
- 1) Wash Sale Rule - You are a private investor and you
- purchase or buy an option to purchase a security within
- a period extending from 30 days before to 30 days after
- the sale of a substantially identical security. The
- rule disallows deduction of any loss on the original
- "sell" transaction.
-
- Include the notation "=C-" in the description field of
- both the "buy" and "sell" side of the wash transactions
- to suppress cost basis accumulation. Also, manually
- enter "0" in the estimated tax field of the sell
- transaction to suppress capital gains reporting on the
- sale.
-
- 2) Short Sale Rule - You sell a security short while
- holding a "substantially identical security" short-term
- or you acquire a "substantially identical security"
- before covering the short sale. The rule dictates that
- any gain on the short sale is short-term and that the
- holding period is suspended on any "substantially
- identical security" held during the short transaction.
-
- The net effect of the short sale rule is that short-
- sell/cover transactions are considered short-term unless
- the covering shares were already held long-term at the
- 93
- time of the short sale. PFROI's autotax treats all
- short sell/cover transactions as short-term. A manual
- tax entry must be used if your short sale qualifies for
- long-term treatment.
-
-
- Exchanges of Securities (Mergers/Divestitures)
- ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Many corporate mergers are implemented through the exchange
- of securities issued by the buying company for the securi-
- ties of the purchased company.
-
- Occasionally a company will also exchange one class of
- security for another security or will distribute new
- securities in a divested subsidiary. These transactions may
- or may not be tax-free, depending on the circumstances.
-
- If an exchange is taxable (generally the case), it is
- implemented in the portfolio by entering a "sell" trans-
- action to close out the old security position. This is
- followed by a "buy" transaction on the same date to open the
- new security position. Typically the "Amount" of both the
- "sell" and "buy" transaction will be identical at the
- transaction's stated price:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === =============== =========== ============ ========
- 1/15/80 BUY XYZ 1 XYZ Corp. 100 -2000.00
- :
- 5/22/87 SLL XYZ 1 XYZ bot by ABC -100 2750.00
- 5/22/87 BUY ABC 1 ABC for XYZ 220 -2750.00
-
- If an exchange is tax-free (infrequent, usually involves
- recapitalization), the portfolio entries are a little more
- complex. The old position is closed out with a DLV trans-
- action on the date of the exchange with a zero manual tax
- entry. The new security position is opened by entering a RCV
- transaction and using the description field to specify the
- original acquisition date and cost base. This approach
- maintains a correct cash valuation and also ensures the
- correct cost base and holding period on capital gains
- reports:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === ================= =========== ============ ========
- 2/12/78 BUY XYZ 1 XYZ Co. (orig buy) 200 -10000.00
- 3/14/88 DLV XYZ 1 XYZ Co. -200 -3500.00 0m
- 3/14/88 RCV RXYZ 1 RXYZ &&2/12/78 $10000 100 3500.00 0m
-
- Security distributions in divestitures are generally treated
- similarly to tax-free exchanges. The only difference is
- that multiple securities are received instead of the single
- security shown in the prior example.
-
-
- 94
- Money Market Funds
- ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Although a money market fund is often used like a bank
- account, per the I.R.S. it is technically a mutual fund
- requiring share accounting treatment. BUY, SLL, (or BYD &
- SLW) and DRI transactions may be used to achieve this as
- follows:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === =============== =========== ============ ========
- 1/05/87 BYD MMF$ Dep/Buy mmf shrs 20000.00 -20000.00
- 2/02/87 DRI MMF$ mmf div reinvest 113.25 113.25
- 3/02/87 SLL MMF$ sell mmf shares -2000.00 2000.00 0m
- 3/02/87 WDF withdraw funds -2000.00
-
- When you perform valuations, the money market shares are of
- course valued at $1/share. Embedding the currency symbol
- (e.g. "$") in the symbol enables PFROI to recognize this and
- thus speed cost basis computations. Note that since the
- money fund doesn't have capital gains, you may omit use of
- the tax lot number without concern for transaction matching.
- A manual tax entry of "0" however should be made for money
- market "SLL" transactions to keep them off the capital gains
- reports.
-
- An alternative to using share accounting for your money
- market fund is to use cash accounting. This merely involves
- depositing funds to the portfolio without "buying" any money
- market fund shares. PFROI then treats these funds as a part
- of the "cash" in your portfolio. When "interest" is paid on
- the fund, simply make an IN+ entry using your money market
- fund symbol in the symbol field.
-
-
-
- The "cash accounting" approach will provide the correct tax
- computation and will also generate a separate interest line
- item in the annual interest report. Technically, this
- income should be reported to the I.R.S. as a dividend. The
- only other disadvantage of this approach is that it does not
- permit a meaningful ROI to be separately computed for the
- money market fund.
-
-
- Certificates of Deposit
- ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- The treatment of certificates of deposits depends on whether
- interest is reinvested until maturity or is credited to
- another account. In the case where a C.D. has interest
- reinvested, the IRI transaction is used as follows:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === =============== =========== ============ ========
- 3/15/88 BYD CD1$ dep/buy CD#1 20000.00 -20000.00
- 4/15/88 IRI CD1$ CD int reinvest 135.45 135.45
- :
- 95
- 3/15/89 IRI CD1$ CD int reinvest 144.10 144.10
- 3/15/89 SLW CD1$ redeem CD -21680.00 21680.00 0m
-
- Note that the last interest payment in the example is
- treated as a reinvestment even though it is redeemed the
- same day.
-
- If the interest on a C.D. is not reinvested but is withdrawn
- in the form of a quarterly check from the bank, the series
- of transactions would appear as follows:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === =============== =========== ============ ========
- 3/15/88 BYD CD1$ dep/buy CD#1 20000.00 -20000.00
- 6/15/88 INW CD1$ CD interest chk 420.00
- 9/15/88 INW CD1$ CD interest chk 420.00
- 12/15/88 INW CD1$ CD interest chk 420.00
- 3/15/89 INW CD1$ CD interest chk 420.00
- 3/15/89 SLW CD1$ redeem CD -20000.00 20000.00 0m
-
- Note that in both examples the base currency symbol "$" was
- embedded in the symbol so as to bypass the cost basis
- calculation. This is possible because it is assumed the
- C.D. is to always be valued at $1/share. Note also that the
- closing "sell" transaction has a zero manual tax entry so as
- to suppress reporting of the sale on the capital gains
- report.
-
-
-
- Zero Coupon Bonds
- ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Zero Coupon Bonds do not pay the holder interest, but are
- instead issued at a price which is at significant discount
- from the bonds' redemption (face) value. For example, a
- five-year $10,000 face value bond might be sold at issue for
- $6211.20. The I.R.S. does not allow the gain from issue to
- redemption to be treated as capital gain income. Instead it
- requires the holder to report a portion of the gain each
- year as ordinary income. This portion is determined by
- computing an imputed interest on the bond.
-
- The PIN or ACR transaction codes must be used to provide
- proper treatment of zero coupon bonds. These transactions
- do not affect the cash balance in the portfolio but are
- recognized in PFROI's income reports and tax computations.
- Treatment of zero coupon bonds using the PIN code is as
- follows:
-
- 1) A BUY transaction is entered upon purchase of the bond.
- For the automatic "Calc" command to work, the original
- BUY (or BYD) transaction for the bond must indicate the
- maturity date in the BUY transaction description field
- using the format "##1/15/94". A maturity price of "100"
- is automatically assumed unless another price is
- indicated by using the format "##1/15/94 $1000". Lot
- 96
- numbers must be assigned to the original purchase
- transaction and subsequent PIN (or ACR) transactions if
- the same issue of a ZCB bond is purchased on several
- different dates.
-
- 2) A PIN (or ACR) transaction is entered for each year the
- bond is held. The imputed interest for the year is
- entered in the Amount field. The bond issuer may
- provide you with this figure, otherwise refer to I.R.S.
- Publication 1212 for computation. Use 12/31 as the
- transaction date, unless the bond was redeemed in the
- current year, in which case use the redemption date.
-
- The "Calc" (Alt+C) command may also be used to calculate
- the amount for the PIN or ACR transactions. To execute
- this command, move the cursor to the start of the Amount
- field of the PIN or ACR transaction and key "Alt+C".
- You should see the proper PIN amount appear there. This
- feature can be a real time-saver at tax time if you have
- a lot of bonds.
-
- 3) A SLL transaction is entered upon sale or redemption of
- the bond. If proceeds do not equal the purchase price
- plus phantom interest earned to date, PFROI treats the
- excess or shortfall as a capital gain or loss.
-
- In the case of the bond described above, the appropriate
- transactions are as follows:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === =============== =========== ============ ========
- 4/ 1/85 BUY ZCB 1 ZCB ##4/1/90 1 -6211.20
- 12/31/85 PIN ZCB 1 ZCB phant int 465.05 130
- 12/31/86 PIN ZCB 1 ZCB pin 667.70 187
- 12/31/87 PIN ZCB 1 ZCB pin 734.48 206
- 12/31/88 PIN ZCB 1 ZCB pin 807.92 226
- 12/31/89 PIN ZCB 1 ZCB pin 888.72 249
- 4/ 1/90 PIN ZCB 1 ZCB pin 224.93 63
- 4/ 1/90 SLL ZCB 1 Sell ZCB -1 10000.00
-
- If the bond is sold before maturity the transactions look
- somewhat different as follows:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === =============== =========== ============ ========
- 4/ 1/85 BUY ZCB 1 ZCB ##4/1/90 1 -6211.20
- 12/31/85 PIN ZCB 1 ZCB phant int 465.05 130
- 6/30/86 PIN ZCB 1 ZCB pin 333.85 93
- 6/30/86 SLL ZCB 1 ZCB pin -1 7410.10 37
-
- Note in this latter case the bond was sold at a premium over
- the cost basis plus phantom interest. Zero coupon bonds
- should be valued using market prices. If these are not
- readily available, the bond can be valued at its purchase
- price plus "phantom interest" earned to date as indicated by
- the Cost field on the "Position" record display.
-
-
- 97
- Premium Amortization
- ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- I.R.S. rules allow optional amortization over a bond's life
- of a purchase premium paid in acquiring the bond. In the
- case of a bond with taxable interest the amortization amount
- is deductible from current year income, with the bond's cost
- basis reduced accordingly. In the case of a tax-free bond,
- the I.R.S. requires the amortization of the premium
- (reduction cost basis) but does not allow deduction of the
- amortized amount.
-
- AMT transactions may be used to accomplish amortization.
- The amortization amount may be calculated using the Alt+C
- command in the same fashion as for the PIN transaction used
- for zero coupon bonds (see above). If the bond is tax-free,
- enter a zero in the "Est. Tax" field.
-
-
-
- Split Shares Received After Sale
- ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Occasionally a security is sold after a split is declared
- but before the split shares are received. This may be
- handled as follows so as to get correct valuations and cost
- bases for capital gains:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === =============== =========== ============ ========
- 1/01/87 BUY XYZ 1 xyz corp. 200 -4000.00
- 6/02/87 SLL XYZ 1 xyz corp. -100 3000.00
- 6/05/87 SP+ XYZ xyz 3/2 split 50
- 6/05/87 RCV XYZ 2 xyz shrs rec. 50 0.00
- 6/12/87 DLV XYZ 2 xyz shrs ret. -50 -0.00 0m
-
- Split shares received for a security already sold are indi-
- cated by the RCV transaction, their return are indicated by
- the DLV transaction.
-
-
- Depreciable Assets/Real Estate
- ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Five transaction codes, DPR, BRW, RPY, RNT, and EXP
- (depreciate, borrow, repay, rent, expense) support the
- inclusion of depreciable assets in PFROI portfolios. Use of
- these transactions is shown in the following example
- involving the purchase of a building using a mortgage,
- 98
- receipt of rent, incurrance of expenses, and subsequent sale
- of the building:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === =============== =========== ============ ========
- 01/02/80 BRW BLDG 1 Mortgage -85000 85000.00
- 01/02/80 BUY BLDG 2 Buy Bldg 1 -100000.00
- 02/01/80 RNT BLDG rent receipts 800.00
- 02/01/80 EXP BLDG maint. exp. -100.00
- 02/01/80 DPR BLDG Depreciation -550.00
- 02/01/80 RPY BLDG 1 Princ. pmt. 24.75 -24.75
- 02/01/80 IN- BLDG interest pmt. -675.25
- :
- 05/01/85 RNT BLDG rent receipts 950.00
- 05/01/85 EXP BLDG maint. exp. -135.55
- 05/01/85 DPR BLDG Depreciation -550.00
- 05/01/85 RPY BLDG 1 Princ. pmt. 68.75 -24.75
- 05/01/85 IN- BLDG interest pmt. -631.25
- 05/02/85 SLL BLDG 2 Sell Bldg -1 104000.00
- 05/02/85 RPY BLDG 1 Loan Payoff 83028.78 -83028.78
-
- Note that IN- transactions are used to indicate the interest
- portion of mortgage payments.
-
-
- Margin Accounting
- ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Portfolios with margin purchases may be handled in two ways.
- The first is to merely make BUY transactions without full
- matching DPF transactions to compensate for the purchase
- amounts. Margin interest payments are entered using the IN-
- transaction:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === =============== =========== ============ ========
- 01/02/87 DPF Open Mrgn Acct 10000.00
- 01/05/87 BUY IBM 1 Buy IBM on mrgn 100 -15000.00
- 01/31/87 IN- BRKR Broker Mrgn Int. -33.50
-
- This will cause "CASH" in the position records to go
- negative to the extent margined as follows:
-
- 12/31/87 Position : SMITHPF
- Esc Arws Pg ^Pg Alt + Tot Prn Dspl Import Help Bat dLnk
- T Symbol Descrip Position Mkt Price $ Value $ Cost Gains Val %
- = ====== ========= ========== ========= =========== =========== ======= =====
- *CASH* -5033.50 -5033.50 0 -51%
- IBM IBM 100 150.0000 15000.00 15000.00 0 151%
- Gr. Total 9966.50 9966.50 0 100%
-
- 99
- The second method is to use the BRW transaction along with
- "short" IRI transactions:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === =============== =========== ============ ========
- 01/02/86 DPF Open Mrgn Acct 10000.00
- 01/05/86 BRW MRGN$ 1 Borrow frm Broker -5000 5000.00
- 01/05/86 BUY IBM 1 Buy IBM on mrgn 100 -15000.00
- 01/31/86 IRI MRGN$ 1 Broker Mrgn Int. -33.50 -33.50
-
- Automatic sign assignment must be turned "Off" to enter the
- IRI transaction with negative signs. The base currency
- symbol "$" is embedded in the security symbol "MRGN$" so as
- to deactivate cost basis calculations on the margin account.
- This is possible because by definition the unit quantity and
- amounts are always equal. The resulting position screen will
- appear as follows:
-
- 12/31/87 Position : SMITHPF
- Esc Pg ^Pg Alt + Prn Tot Aux Dspl Qprc Sprc dLnk Mst Grph Cxr Xml Inc Hlp
- T Symbol Descrip Position Mkt Price $ Value $ Cost Gains Val %
- = ====== ========= ========== ========= =========== =========== ======= =====
- *CASH* 0.00 0.00 0 0%
- IBM IBM 100 150.0000 15000.00 15000.00 0 151%
- MRGN$ Borrow fr -5033.5000 1.0000 -5033.50 -5033.50 0 -51%
- Gr. Total 9966.50 9966.50 0 100%
-
-
-
- GNMA's/Mortgage Loans
- ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Return of principal on GNMA's (a security consisting of
- pooled home mortgage loans, backed by government insurance)
- and on individual mortgage loans should be treated as
- separate SLL transactions from accompanying interest
- payments. Usage of first-in first-out tax lot accounting is
- recommended.
-
- For example, you have purchased $10000 of a GNMA consisting
- of 30 year loans averaging 11%. It is held in a brokerage
- account with the proceeds of interest and principal payments
- credited to cash. Your transaction entries would appear as
- follows (figures approximate):
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === =============== =========== ============ ========
- 01/02/90 BYD GNMA 1 Buy GNMA 10000 -10000.00
- :
- 03/31/90 SLL GNMA 1 GNMA Princ. redeemed -3.20 3.20
- 03/31/90 IN+ GNMA 1 GNMA int. pmt. 92.60
- :
-
- Upon receipt of the last mortgage or GNMA payment the
- "quantity" held should go to zero.
-
-
- 100
- Safe Deposit Box Shares
- ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Often investors keep all or part of their investments in the
- form of certificates held in a safe deposit box. You may wish
- to define the "Box" as a separate portfolio from your
- brokerage accounts. In this case you buy and sell securities
- in your brokerage portfolio and use the RCV and DLV trans-
- actions to move shares to and from the "box" portfolio. A RCV
- transaction may be entered in a brokerage portfolio up to one
- month after a sell transaction to signify receipt of a
- security into the portfolio from the safety deposit box.
- Assigning the same lot number to the RCV transaction as the
- SLL transaction will force cost matching.
-
-
- Reverse Splits
- ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Use the SP+ transaction code for reverse splits, but enter a
- negative quantity (use Alt+G to toggle automatic sign
- assignment "Off" for this input, but don't forget to turn
- it back "On"!). See Chapter 6, SP+ transaction code for an
- example of a reverse split.
-
-
-
- Same-Day Trades
- ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Active traders occasionally will buy and sell a security on
- the same date. Even if you are an inactive trader you may
- find yourself selling mutual fund shares on the same date
- that dividends or capital gains are being reinvested.
-
- PFROI calculates the cost basis of same-date purchase (BUY,
- BYD, BYC, DRI, IRI, etc) and sell (SLL, SLW, SLS, etc)
- transactions in the same security in a given lot in the
- order that the transactions occur in the portfolio file.
- Thus to obtain correct cost bases, a SLL transaction must be
- preceded by sufficient BUY transactions to accumulate enough
- shares to facilitate the SLL. However, if in fact a sell
- occurs earlier in the day than the purchase of covering
- shares then SLS and BYC transactions should be used instead.
-
-
- Dividends/Interest/Splits Same Day as Sale
- ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Dividends or splits which occur on the same day of a sale of
- stock, bond or mutual fund should be placed BEFORE the sell
- transaction in the transaction listings.
-
-
- Commodities
- ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Commodities and commodity futures and futures options may be
- handled like any other security. However, the value used in
- the Quantity field of transactions must be consistent with
- the pricing entered in the Mkt Price field on position
- 101
- records. E.g., if corn is to be priced at $2.50/bushel,
- corn future contracts valued at $100,000 must have a
- quantity of 40000 (bushels). For example, a sequence of Buy/
- Sell transactions in corn futures would appear as follows,
- assuming $400 commission per transaction:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === =============== =========== ============ ========
- 10/03/88 BYD CORN5 1 5/89 Corn @2.93 10000 -29700.00
- :
- 01/31/89 SLL CORN5 1 5/89 Corn @2.88 -10000 28400.00
-
- You may need to modify tax rate records to specify different
- tax requirerates for commodities. Consult with your tax
- advisor on these requirements.
-
-
-
- Corporate Dividend Reinvestment
- ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- If you reinvest dividends under a company reinvestment plan,
- you may be liable for tax on trading commissions if these
- are absorbed by the company rather than being passed through
- to you. Ordinarily you will be notified by the company if
- this is the case. If so, use the CBA TAC to reduce the cost
- basis of your shares by the amount specified by the company.
- This will result in your paying the tax on the implied
- commission upon sale of the shares.
-
- For example, you reinvest a $425 dividend from a utility at
- $30/share, with commissions of 0.25% absorbed by the
- company:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== == =============== =========== ============ ========
- 04/15/90 DRI UTIL 1 Util Div Reinv. 14.1667 425.00
- 04/15/90 CBA UTIL 1 Absorbed Commis -1.06
-
-
- Employer Contribution Retirement (401K) Plans
- ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Employee and matching corporate contributions to 401K
- retirement plans and other similar plans are best handled by
- using a BYD transaction for the contribution in which both
- the quantity and amount are identical. You may use separate
- lot numbers to identify your contributions versus your
- employer's contributions. For example, starting in January
- 1990 you contribute $250 per month with an equal amount
- matched by your employer:
-
- Mo/Dy/Yr TAC Symbol Lot Description Quantity Amount Est. Tax
- == == == === ====== === =================== ========== =========== =========
- 01/02/90 BYD 401K 1 401K Plan, My contr. 250 -250.00
- 01/02/90 BYD 401K 2 401K Plan, Their contr. 250 -250.00
- :
-
- 102
- In this example, at the end of the year you and your employer
- have contributed a total of $6000. If the plan trustee
- reports that your holdings in the plan are now worth $6750 on
- 12/31/90. You enter the "6750" in the "$ Value" field on the
- Position screen resulting in the "Mkt Price" being
- automatically calculated as follows:
-
- 12/31/90 Position : MY401K
- Esc Pg ^Pg Alt + Prn Tot Aux Dspl Qprc Sprc dLnk Mst Grph Cxr Xml Inc Hlp
- T Symbol Descrip Position Mkt Price $ Value $ Cost Gains Val %
- = ====== ========= ========== ========= =========== =========== ======= =====
- *CASH* 0.00 0.00 0 0%
-
- 401K 401K Plan 6000 1.1250 6750.00 6750.00 0 100%
-
-
- Undistributed Capital Gains
- ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Occasionally a mutual fund will report an
- "Undistributed Capital Gain". Use a CGR TAC code for
- undistributed capital gains, but specify a very small
- non-zero number for the quantity, e.g. "0.0000001" so
- that the cost bases is correctly calculated for open
- lot reports.
-
-
- Capital Loss Distribution
- ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Occasionally a mutual fund will report a capital loss
- distribution. Use a CGR (or SGR) TAC code,
- temporarily turn "siGn=Off" and enter negative
- quantity and amount. Place the notation "=L+" in the
- description field to force the transaction to be
- treated as a "Long" position transaction rather than
- a "Short" position transaction.
-
- 103
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- 8 PFROI - Understanding ROI & Beta
- ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-
- Return On Investment
-
- Return on investment (ROI) is true measure of investment
- performance. ROI is properly computed using the "internal
- rate of return" method. This method takes into account both
- the timing and the amount of cash flows into and out of an
- investment.
-
- On a layman's level however, it is easiest to think of
- "return on investment" as the effective annual interest rate
- on an investment. The effective annual interest rate you
- receive on a savings account or money market fund is in fact
- the ROI on that account or fund.
-
- PFROI computes the return on investment on a portfolio by
- determining the annual interest rate which would generate an
- identical ending value in a savings account with the same
- history of deposit and withdrawal of funds as the portfolio.
-
- The ROI on an individual security is computed in a similar
- fashion except that in lieu of deposits and withdrawals,
- security transactions are reduced to "cash flows" and the
- resulting cash flows (plus starting valuation and ending
- valuation) are used to compute the ROI. One concept that
- some persons have difficulty with is that, for individual
- security ROI's, dividends, interest, return of capital and
- like payments are classified as "removal of funds" on the
- ROI summary. This is because unless the recipient of such
- payments reinvests the payments his or her equity interest
- in the security is effectively reduced. That this is a real
- effect can be seen by observing that on average the price of
- a security drops by the amount of its dividend on the date
- that it sells "ex-dividend.
-
-
- ROI Annualization
-
- On PFROI's performance screen ROI is reported on an
- annualized basis to permit easy comparison between ROI
- results. This means that even if the ROI period is for just
- 3 months the reported result is converted to what it would be
- if the same performance continued over a full 12 months.
- Thus if your portfolio advances 10% over 3 months without any
- deposits or withdrawals the reported ROI will be about 46.4%
- ( (1.1 x 1.1 x 1.1 x 1.1 - 1.0) x 100). In making the
- annualization conversion it is assumed there are 365 and 1/4
- days per year to take into account leap year.
-
- 104
- In reviewing ROI results you should be aware that over short
- periods (e.g. a day, week, or month), seemingly small price
- movements (e.g. $2 on a $20 stock) can result in a large
- absolute ROI values due to annualization. This will be
- particularly evident in the ROI of individuat securities in
- cases where all or the majority of a holding are either sold
- shortly after the beginning of an ROI period or are added to
- a portfolio shortly before the end of an ROI period. The
- effective holding period for a security in these cases is
- short, thus causing normal "small" price movements to have a
- large effect on annualized ROI.
-
- Such ROI's may be suppressed from the ROI by Securities report by
- placing the notation "/*=30" at the end of the ROI by Security
- report customization specification where "30" (or some other
- number) is the maximum negative ROI/Yr which will be reported
- and 100 / (1-.30) is the maximum positive ROI/Yr which will be
- reported for a partial period security. If the limit is exceeded,
- an estimated non-annualized "partial period" ROI will be computed
- and reported with a following asterisk, e.g. "3.5%*". If no
- meaningful non-annualized ROI can be computed "*****" will be
- reported.
-
-
- Short Sale ROI's
-
- A meaningful ROI cannot be computed for individual securities
- involved in short sale transac-tions, and an attempt to do so
- may result in a "Convergence failure" message. This is
- because short-sale transactions have open-ended investment
- risk. Short-sale transactions contained within a larger
- portfolio generally however will not impede the computations
- of ROI for the portfolio as a whole.
-
-
- Time-Weighted ROI's
-
- In reading the investment literature you may also encounter
- the terms "Dollar-Weighted ROI" and "Time-Weighted ROI". The
- "Dollar-Weighted ROI" is the same as the internal rate of
- return computation described above. The "Time-Weighted ROI"
- is the mathematical average of a series of "Dollar-Weighted
- ROI" calculations and can be implemented by setting the
- Twtd switch to "On" on the Configuration menu and on the
- Performance screen.
-
- The "Time-Weighted ROI" tends to be more often used by
- investment professionals quite frankly because it makes
- their record look better. The individual investor is best
- advised to stick with the "Dollar-Weighted ROI.
-
-
- Beta Statistic Calculation
-
- Beta is a statistical measure of the price volatility of a
- security or portfolio of securities versus the price
- volatilty of a market index such as the S&P500 index. Beta is
- 105
- often used by investors as a measure of the market risk of
- their investments. A Beta of "0" indicates an investment with
- no market risk. An example of such an investment is cash or
- short-term Treasury Bills. A beta of "1.0" indicates an
-
- investment of equal risk as compared with the target market
- index. A beta of "2.0" would indicate double the risk.
-
- The Beta statistic is often reported for individual
- securities in reports issued by investment analysis firms
- such as Value Line, Inc. and Standard & Poors, Corp. These
- reported values may be used for input in the Beta field on
- PFROI's Master Security List or on PFROI's Position Screen.
- The value-weighted average of beta reported at the bottom of
- the Position Screen can then be taken as a measure of the
- riskiness of the portfolio as of the date of the position
- record. We call this Beta the "Static" Beta.
-
- If PFROI computes an ROI which spans at least twelve
- valuation periods and the Twtd switch is set to "On", then
- PFROI will also compute and report a Beta for the portfolio
- or securities specified by the ROI mask record. Unlike the
- Beta computed on the position screen which represents a
- single, static point in time, the Beta computed in conjunc-
- tion with the ROI is a dynamic measure of Beta. This measure
- takes into account not only the beta's of the individual
- securities which comprise the portfolio, but the change in
- the portfolio composition and weighting over time as
- securities are bought and sold and increase or decrease in
- value.
-
- The "Dynamic" Beta thus reflects not only the riskiness of the
- individual securities comprising the portfolio, but also
- reflects the risk level contributed to the portfolio due to
- the timing of the portfolio manager's Buy/Sell decisions. In
- general, a portfolio manager who is able to keep his or her
- dynamic Beta below his portfolio's static Beta is reducing
- portfolio risk and increasing portfolio returns due to good
- timing decisions.
-
- PFROI also reports an "Alpha" and "Correlation" in connection
- with the "Beta" reporting. We don't have room to cover these
- here, however we refer the user to a good MBA level financial
- textbook.
- 106
- (page intentionally blank)
- 107
-
-
-
-
- 9 DATALINK Communications
- ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-
-
- DataLink Overview
- ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- The DataLink communication module may be used to download
- security price data into PFROI portfolio and batch valuation
- records and into PFROI Price History records. The DataLink
- module may also be used in its "SmartTerm" mode for manual
- interactive communication with electronic bulletin board
- services.
-
- The DataLink module is designed to be flexible so as to
- allow it to be configured to interface with many different
- data services and so as to allow the user to make minor
- modifications in its communications "script" to accomodate
- data service format changes. As such, the contents of the
- as-shipped DLINK.STD communication script file may differ
- somewhat from some of the examples shown in this chapter. In
- these cases you should treat the script in the "as-shipped"
- DLINK.STD as the most current.
-
- DataLink requires a Hayes-compatible 300/1200/2400 autodial
- type modem. Other modems may be usable provided you modify
- the standard DataLink log-on scripts to conform with your
- modem's command language.
-
-
- DataLink Access
- ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- The DataLink module may be accessed from a PFROI Portfolio
- Position screen, or from a Price History record screen by
- executing the "dLink" command (Alt+L). When entered in this
- manner, the DataLink "Autoquote" command may be used to
- price the record from which it was accessed.
-
-
- DataLink Record
- ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- Upon entering the DataLink module, the default DataLink
- specification file DLINK.STD is loaded. The screen will
- then display the first of a number of DataLink access
- 108
- records. The DataLink record for connection to Dow Jones
- through Tymnet appears as follows:
-
- ╔═══════════════════════════ DLINK.STD Log-On Specs ══════════════════════════╗
- ║ Service Name : Dow Jones NR (Tymnet Access) call: 609-452-1511 ║
- ║ Phone <PH> : Tymnet Phone # ║
- ║ User ID <USR> : ║
- ║ Password <PW> : Your DJNR Password ║
- ║ Com. Specs. : COM2:1200,E,7,1 ║
- ║ Dial Script : ATDT<PH>^R^WCONNECT ║
- ║ Log-On Script : ^P^PA^W: DOW1;;^W?? DJNS^R^W@@ <PW>^R^WQUERY ║
- ║ Log On (contd) : ║
- ║ Log-Off Script : ^PDISC^R^P+++^PATH^R^P ║
- ║ Log Filespec : DJNRS.LOG ║
- ╠═══════════════ Retrieval Specs - DEMOPF 03/31/90 to 04/01/90 ═══════════════╣
- ║ 1) Portfolio Quotes, Cur. Date ║
- ║ 2) Portfolio Quotes, Spec Date ║
- ║ 3) Price Record Quotes, Single Date ║
- ║ 4) Price Record Quotes, Multi-Date ║
- ║ 5) Fundamental Data Retrieval ║
- ╠════ Pg ^Pg Ins Del Alt + File Edit Sterm Aquote Cspecs Range Dup Help ═════╣
- ║ ║
- ║ > ║
- ║ ║
- ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
-
- As previously noted, the above example is just one of several
- communication records in DLINK.STD. Each record contains
- communication "scripts" for a different data source or
- telephone access network. Use the PgDn and PgUp keys to view
- these other records. These records may differ somewhat from
- examples in this chapter. In these cases assume that the
- DLINK.STD disk file record is more current than the example.
-
- The "scripts" in the communication records replace manual
- keystokes. This permits you to flexibly configure modem
- setups, dial-up/log-on scripts, and quote requests to fit the
- online service with which you are working.
-
- Available DataLink record commands operate as follows:
-
- Pg - PgUp and PgDn key move you to preceeding and
- following records respectively.
-
- ^Pg - Ctrl+PgUp moves to first DataLink record. Ctrl+PgDn
- moves to last DataLink record.
-
- Ins - Inserts a blank DataLink record. This may be edited
- to add your own communication scripts.
-
- Del - Deletes the displayed DataLink record.
-
- ^F5 - Ctrl+F5 duplicates existing record. The duplicated
- record may be edited to create a modified script
- without losing the script in the original record.
-
- 109
- ^Home - Ctrl+Home moves the currently displayed DataLink
- record to the head of the DataLink file. This
- record will be the first to appear the next time
- DataLink is accessed.
-
- Alt+E - Initiates "Edit" mode, permitting editing of the
- record scripts (e.g. "Comm. Specs.", "Log-On
- Scripts", etc.).
-
- Alt+S - Initiates "Smart Terminal" communications using the
- scripts in the current record.
-
- Alt+A - Initiates automatic quote retrieval using the
- scripts in the current record. You must have
- accessed DataLink from a Portfolio or Batch
- Position screen or from a Price History record
- screen for this command to be operative.
-
- Alt+C - Accesses communications default parameters. For
- details on how these operate see Communication
- Defaults later in this chapter.
-
- Alt+R - Enables you to reset the "End Date" of the Date
- Range for price history quote downloads, quote
- request type "4".
-
- 1..5 - Accesses data Retrieval Spec. records.
-
- The DLINK.STD file as provided on the distribution diskette
- contains records to allow you to connect with Compuserve, the
- Dow Jones News Retrieval Service, and plus some other
- services. To make operative for current quotes, in most cases
- you should only need to insert the local access phone number
- of the service and your password using the edit (Alt+E)
- function. Some modems may also require a change in the Com.
- Specs.
-
-
- Log-On Specifications
- ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- The first part of the DataLink record contains the Log-On
- specifications. These are used to automatically log onto a
- service when invoking the "Autoquote" (Alt+A) or "SmartTerm"
- (Alt+S) commands.
-
- 110
- An example of the Log-On Specifications is shown below,
- followed by explanations of field contents.
-
-
- ╔═══════════════════════════ DLINK.STD Log-On Specs ══════════════════════════╗
- ║ Service Name : Compuserve Info. Services, Call 614-457-8600 ║
- ║ Phone <PH> : CIS Phone # ║
- ║ User ID <USR> : Your CIS User ID ║
- ║ Password <PW> : Your CIS Password ║
- ║ Com. Specs. : COM2:1200,E,7,1 ║
- ║ Dial Script : ATDT<PH>^R^WCONNECT ║
- ║ Log-On Script : ^P^C^W: <USR>/GO:MQUOTE\<PW>^R^W! ║
- ║ Log On (contd) : ║
- ║ Log-Off Script : ^C^W! /OFF^R^P^P+++^PATH^R ║
- ║ Log Filespec : CIS.LOG ║
- ╠═══════════════ Retrieval Specs - DEMOPF 03/31/90 to 04/01/90 ═══════════════╣
- ║ 1) Portfolio Quotes, Cur. Date ║
- ║ 2) Portfolio Quotes, Spec Date ║
- ║ 3) Price Record Quotes, Single Date ║
- ║ 4) Price Record Quotes, Multi-Date ║
- ║ 5) Fundamental Data Retrieval ║
- ╠═════ Pg ^Pg Ins Del Alt + File Edit Sterm Aquote Cspecs Range Dup Help ════╣
- ║ ║
- ║ > ║
- ║ ║
- ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
-
- Service Name - This field is purely informational.
-
- Phone <PH> - Telephone number to reach the service.
- DataLink substitutes this number where "<PH>" appears in
- the Dial Sequence.
-
- User Ident. <USR> - Some services require both a user
- identification and password for access. This field accepts
- the user identification. DataLink substitutes this
- identification into the Logon Script (below) wherever
- "<USR>" appears in that sequence.
-
- Password - This is the service's logon password. DataLink
- substitutes this password into the logon script (below)
- wherever "<PW>" appears in that sequence.
-
- Com. Specs - This specification is used by DataLink to set
- up the communications port which connects your PC with your
- modem. The same format as DOS's "Mode" command for serial
- ports is adhered to in this field:
-
- COM2: - Indicates serial port #2 is used. You may have to
- change this to COM port #1, #3 or #4 if those
- ports are used by your modem.
-
- 1200 - The baud rate. You may use 300, 1200, or 2400 baud.
-
- E - Parity (N=None, E=Even O=Odd)
-
- 111
- 7 - Data bits per byte (usually 7 or 8 depending on
- the system with which you are communicating)
-
- 1 - Number of stop bits (1 or 2) (Note: if Parity=N &
- Data Bits=7, then stop bits must be 2)
-
- + - If the com. spec. is terminated by a "+", echo is
- set "On". "Echo" can be toggled during
- communications with the Alt+E command.
-
- The baud rate, parity, data bits and stop bits must be
- compatible with both your modem and the system with which
- you are communicating. If you hear no dialing when
- attempting the Alt+S or Alt+A commands, try changing the
- port specification to "COM2:" (or vice versa from COM2 to
- COM1). If dialing occurs but "gibberish" appears on the
- screen upon making the connection, try changing baud rate,
- parity, data bit and stop bit parameters ("1200,E,7,1" or
- "1200,N,8,1" suggested).
-
- Dial Script - DataLink uses this script to send characters
- to your modem to cause it to dial-up and establish a link
- prior to trying to log onto an on-line service. The numbers
- specified in the Phone field are substituted for <PH>. The
- exact characters to use prior to <PH> depend upon your
- modem, the ones shown work for a Hayes compatible modem.
- The character sequence ^WCONNECT indicate that PFROI should
- "wait" to receive the message "CONNECT" before proceeding.
- (Note: Some modems, particularly in non-English speaking
- countries are set to respond with the character "1" in lieu
- of the word "CONNECT". Change your modem settings to
- generate "CONNECT" or modify the script to replace "CONNECT"
- with "1".)
-
- IMPORTANT: If you have an "MNP" type modem you may have to
- modify the Dial Script to put the modem in the "normal"
- mode. Try the following: AT\N DT<PH>^R^WCONNECT
-
- Log-On Script - This character sequence is transmitted as
- soon as your modem indicates a successful connect with the
- service. The exact sequence used depends upon the log-on
- protocall of the data service you are using, however the
- sequence will usually require "^W" and "^P" flow control
- characters as discussed in the next section.
-
- Log-Off Script - This sequence is transmitted on the
- termination of an autoquote session. It should contain the
- service log-off command, (e.g. DISC, OFF or BYE), a command
- to return to the modem command level (e.g. ^P+++^P) and a
- command to tell the modem to hang-up (e.g. ATH^R).
-
- Log Filespec - This is the filename to which communications
- are saved if the "Record" or "Save" functions are activated.
-
- The DataLink Log-on Specifications may be edited by execut-
- ing the the Alt+E (Edit) command.
-
-
- 112
- Script "Flow Control" Characters
- ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- In general, in the DataLink Log-On and Retrieval Specifi-
- cations characters preceeded by a '^' are converted to ASCII
- control characters before being sent (e.g. "^^"=ASCII 30 &
- "^Q"=ASCII 17 in the preceding script example).
-
- Exceptions are the ^P, ^R, and ^W characters, which are used
- for communication "flow control" as follows:
-
- ^P - Causes a pause for the number of seconds specified in
- the DataLink Communication Parameters (Alt+C cmd).
-
- ^R - Transmits a "carriage return" character (ASCII 13).
-
- ^W - Initiates a "wait" until the character sequence
- following the ^W is received. This sequence must be
- ended by a "space" character, for example, the
- sequence "^WENTER: 1^R" means "wait for the prompt
- "ENTER:" then send the character "1" followed by a
- carriage return.
-
- If the specified character sequence following ^W is
- not detected after the "Wait Time" specified in the
- DataLink communication specifications (i.e. it "times
- out"), then DataLink proceeds with the remainder of
- the communication string.
-
- HINT: If you find that DataLink "times-out" too quickly at
- specified "wait" points, try increasing "Receive Wait" and/or
- "Connect Wait" on the Communication Parameters (Alt+C).
-
- If you wish to enter the actual ^P, ^R or ^W in scripts
- without them being interpreted as a flow control character,
- enter the ASCII values on the number pad by keying in the
- ASCII value (^P=16, ^R=18, ^W=23) while holding down the Alt
- key. The icon representing the ASCII value will appear on
- the screen.
-
-
- Retrieval Spec. Records
- ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
- The second part of the DataLink record provides access to
- DataLink's quote retrieval specification records. These
- records contain specifications and scripts which are used to
- 113
- retrieve price quotes and other data whenever the AutoQuote
- command is invoked.
-
- ╠══════════════ Retrieval Specs - DEMOPF 03/31/90 to 04/01/90 ═══════════════╣
- ║ 1) Portfolio Quotes, Cur. Date ║
- ║ 2) Portfolio Quotes, Spec Date ║
- ║ 3) Price Record Quotes, Single Date ║
- ║ 4) Price Record Quotes, Multi-Date ║
- ║ 5) Fundamental Data Retrieval ║
- ╠════ Pg ^Pg Ins Del Alt + File Edit Sterm Aquote Cspecs Range Dup Help ════╣
- ║ ║
- ║ > ║
- ║ ║
- ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
-
- Note that the filename and dates of the records from which
- DataLink was accessed are indicated on the DataLink record.
- The second date may be modified by using the Alt+R command
- if this record was accessed from the Price History records.
-
- Separate retrieval specifications are provided for each data
- destination as follows:
-
- Portfolio Quotes, Current Date - Used for retrieving
- "current" quotes into PFROI portfolio or batch position
- records. Use this selection whenever you want to retrieve
- the latest market quotes into current position records,
- irrespective of the date of the position records.
-
- Portfolio Quotes, Spec. Date - Used for retrieving quotes
- for a specified date into PFROI portfolio or batch position
- records. Use this selection whenever you want to retrieve
- market quotes into prior-dated position records. The date
- of the position record will automatically be used in lieu
- of "<DT1>" in the quote retrieval spec. when the date of
- the quote is requested by the quote service.
-
- Price Record Quotes, Single Date - Used for retrieving
- quotes into Price History records for a single record date.
- The date used is the same as the first date shown following
- the destination record filename. See Price Quote Retrieval
- later in this chapter for more detail on retrieving price
- quotes.
-
- Price Record Quotes, Multi-Date - Used for retrieving quotes
- into Price History records for multiple record dates. The
- "start" date used is the same as the first date shown
- following the destination record filename. The "end" date is
- the second date shown. Upon entering DataLink this second
- date is initialized to be the same as the start date, but
- may be edited to another value by executing the "Range"
- command. See Price Quote Retrieval later in this chapter for
- more detail on retrieving price quotes.
-
- Fundamental Data Retrieval - This selection is currently
- active in CAPTOOL for downloading fundamental financial
- 114
- data (revenues, earnings, etc.) from Compuserve into
- CAPTOOL's Stockpar records.
-
- Although most users should have no need to do so (existing
- records as provided in DLINK.STD should be adequate),
- retrieval specification records may be viewed and edited by
- selecting the applicable record type (1..5) at the DataLink
- prompt.
-
- Example specifications for Portfolio Position quotes and
- Price History quotes from Compuserve are as follows:
-
- Current Date Portfolio Quotes
-
- 1) Retrieving 03/07/91
- Esc Pg Ins Del Alt+ Prn Aquote Cspecs Range Help
- R T Specification
- = = =======================================================
- ! Compuserve Portfolio Current Date Quotes
- 1 * go mqint^R^Wce: 100^R^W:
- 2 * <SYM>^R^W:
- 3 * <SYM>^R^W:
-