Use this screen to enter data for buying an asset or selling short. This information appears on the confirmation that you receive from your broker or financial institution. The fields on the “Buy Assets” window are:
Portfolio - displays the name of the actual or hypothetical portfolio you created.
Symbol — use the official trading symbol and if none exists, create your own. Symbols can contain up to six letters or numbers. No dashes are allowed. Use dollar sign ($) for cash or money market funds (but not CDs.).
For Options (Put or Call) Symbols, enter:
Regular Stock Symbol (for index option 3-letter code)
(one space)
Month (first 3 letters)
(one space)
Strike Price
Example:
• Regular option for Apple Computer = AAPL APR 60.
• For long-term options, symbol must be the actual options symbol for that security. For example:
AAPL JAN 95 40 = AAZ JAN 40.
• Index option for S&P 100 = OEX FEB 400.
Asset - enter name of Asset. If symbol entered is for a stock or mutual fund in the database, the asset name will appear automatically. Bonds do not have this feature in this version.
Asset Notes - enter any additional information, such as dividend amount, target price, etc.
Asset Class - select the class that matches the asset.
Note: CDs sold by brokers are treated like bonds. Put them in class Bonds. This is because these CDs have variable principal determined by market conditions.
Note: Fixed Annuities and GICs are treated like Individual Bonds; Variable Annuities like Mutual Funds; Savings Bonds like Individual Bonds; T-Bills like Individual Bonds.
Trade Date - is the date you place the order.
Settlement Date - is the date your financial institution actually adjusts your account to reflect the transaction. This can be of importance for transactions near year end for financial reporting purposes.
Trade Notes - use this note field to record any transaction information such as transaction number or any other information you desire.
Latest price - from the database or latest updated price.
Purchase price - click on radio button for type. Nearly all transactions will be a Buy. Short is used for short selling, which is a sophisticated investment strategy recommended only for advanced investors.
Note: if you are going to have Buy and Short Sell positions for a given asset, you will get less confusing totals if you put all Buy positions in one portfolio and all Short Sells in another.
Quantity:
For stocks, limited partnerships traded on exchanges, and mutual funds - enter the number of shares.
For bonds, CDs sold by brokers, and limited partnerships not traded on exchanges - enter the face value purchased (for example for three identical bonds of $ 5,000 each, enter $ 15,000).
For options - enter the number of contracts times the quantity multiplier. Most stock options contracts have a quantity multiplier of 100. Some options use a quantity multiplier of 500. Check a financial newspaper or call your broker for this information.
For regular CDs - enter 1.
For cash - enter the total dollar amount.
For precious metals - enter the number of identical units (coins, bars, etc.).
For Futures - enter the result of multiplying the contract bought (or sold short) times the quantity multiplier. For example, you bought 3 futures contracts of crude oil. Each contract equals 1,000 barrels, so the quantity multiplier is 1,000. Therefore, enter quantity of 3,000 = 3 contracts times 1,000 multiplier.
Note: Since futures are highly leveraged, what you are entering is the leveraged cost of the futures purchase. The actual amount you spend depends on the margin requirements of your broker. If you are maintaining a money market asset, you should debit that asset for the amount actually spent, not the full leveraged amount.
Price per Unit:
For stocks, mutual funds, precious metals, or exchange-tradable limited partnerships enter the buy price of each unit.
For bonds, CDs sold by brokers, and limited partnerships not traded on exchanges - enter the buy price expressed as a percentage of 100. Most new issues are priced at 100. A typical price for a heavily discounted bond might be 30. On the other hand, a typical price for a bond bought at a premium might be 103.
For options - enter the price per contract as shown on your confirmation slip.
For regular CDs - enter the price you paid. For example, you bought a regular bank CD for $5,000, enter $5,000 as the price.
For cash - enter 1.
For Futures - enter the price of one contract as shown on your confirmation slip.
Commission - enter total commission. Include all miscellaneous transaction charges. Note that buy commission adds to the total cost of your purchase.
Use the tab key or the mouse to go to any field. Click OK to accept entries. Click Cancel to escape without accepting entries.
If you make a mistake, you can correct it in Edit Open Transaction except for the category, which must be changed in Edit Individual Portfolio.
