Cream of the Crop 1/Cream of the Crop 1.iso/BUSINESS/CGZ30S.ARJ/TOUR.DOC

Text File | 1992-04-11 | 42KB | 896 lines

                        Chapter 4 - Quick Tour


    This chapter  gives you a quick  tour of Capital Gainz  by walking
you through  some representative activities. Features  are not covered
thoroughly  -  the rest  of this  voluminous  manual contains  all the
details you could ever  want. Also, remember  that you can always  use
the F1 key to bring up context-sensitive help screens.

    First,  let me  introduce  you to  the  philosophy behind  Capital
Gainz:  flexible  and   simple  access  to  all  of   your  investment
information. Menus,  forms and  tables  are displayed  in  overlapping
windows, when possible. You'll  use the following types of  screens in
your tour:

Menus - menus are simple: highlight  your choice and hit ENTER, or hit
the indicated  short cut key. Also,  since you never go  more than two
menu levels deep, you'll never get lost.

Entry Forms  - the current field is highlighted. The ENTER key and the
DOWN  ARROW key accept the current field  and advance to the next one,
accepting the form when used on the last field. The ESCAPE key and the
UP  ARROW key move you  back one field, exiting the  form when used on
the first field. When a field requires a value from a known list, such
as  a security symbol, an invalid or blank  entry brings up a table of
valid  values for you  to choose from.  Some fields include  a list of
valid  responses directly on the  form. When entering  values with the
keyboard, you can use the LEFT ARROW, RIGHT ARROW,  DEL, and BACKSPACE
keys  to edit a  field. Also, forms  usually include a  labeled row of
keys for performing additional  functions, such as a short  cut screen
accept key.

Tables - records are presented in tabular form, and the current record
is highlighted. Use the UP ARROW key to move back one record, the DOWN
ARROW key to move ahead one record. Use PGUP  to scroll back one page,
and PGDN to  scroll ahead one  page. Usually, INS  brings up an  Entry
Form to  add a  record, ENTER brings  up an Entry  Form to  change the
highlighted record,  and DEL  removes  the highlighted  record.  Also,
tables  include  a labeled  row  of  keys  for  performing  additional
functions,  such as  recording a  stock split.  If more  functions are
available than can fit on the screen, there is a key labeled 'More' to
show you more functions.

Reports -  you can send reports  to a printer, the screen,  or a file.
Options are available  via labeled  function keys. You  can limit  the
entities  reported  on,  like  only  printing  activity  for  specific
securities.  Or, you  can specify  the begin  and end dates  to report
over. Most reports  are available from the related tables,  as well as

                      Capital Gainz Users Manual                    35





from the Report Menu.

Other -  status screens  keep you  updated  on when  Capital Gainz  is
performing a requested operation,  such as marking shares to  be sold.
Popup  dialogue screens  accept information  such as  date ranges  and
report   destination.   Confirmation   screens   prevent   inadvertent
keystrokes from accidentally writing or deleting records.

    In  this quick  tour, I'll  introduce you  to the  fundamentals of
Capital  Gainz by  actually recording  some investment  activity. This
activity will represent normal  Capital Gainz use. Please type  in all
data  exactly as instructed  - errors are  intentionally introduced to
demonstrate  how  to fix  them. Errors  rarely  occur on  your printed
statements from  brokers and  investment  companies, so  I'm  actually
simulating  data entry errors that occur when you put this information
into Capital Gainz.

    To use Capital  Gainz, you  define certain values  first, such  as
portfolios  and  securities.  Then,  you  repeat  activities  such  as
entering  transactions  and analyzing  information.  You  may need  to
occasionally change  portfolio and security information,  but the bulk
of  your activity  will be  dealing with  buy, sell,  and distribution
information.

    The first thing  you need to  do is start  Capital Gainz with  the
CG.BAT batch file. This batch file  is in the directory you  specified
at installation, and, depending on how you installed Capital Gainz, it
may also be in the '\' directory.

    After hitting any  key at  the Capital Gainz  logo screen,  you're
taken  to the  Main Menu. At  the top,  you see  the current portfolio
you're working in - '<<Default Portfolio>>'. This portfolio is created
when you start up Capital Gainz for the first time. The options in the
menu are split into local and global sections. The local options apply
only to your current  portfolio. The other options are  labeled global
since they apply to all portfolios. For instance, purchasing shares is
local to a single portfolio, but managing broker information is global
to all portfolios.
[[Screen not in online version.]]

    Let's change the name of  your current portfolio. Either highlight
'P) Portfolio' or hit the 'p' key. This brings up the Portfolio Table,
which lists a single portfolio.
[[Screen not in online version.]]

    There's a check mark  next to this portfolio indicating  that it's
the  current  one,  and it's  highlighted  since  there  are no  other
portfolios. Hit the function key labeled 'Change' at the bottom of the
screen, and  a Portfolio Form pops  up with the current  values filled

                      Capital Gainz Users Manual                    36





in. Use the DOWN ARROW or ENTER key to highlight the 'Name' field, and
enter a name such  as 'The Nest Egg',  followed by the ENTER  key. You
can then enter a description if you'd like.
[[Screen not in online version.]]

    To accept the changes and write the  record, move through the rest
of  the fields  with the ENTER  or DOWN ARROW  key - when  you leave a
description line blank,  or enter all of them,  the record is updated.
Or, use  the short cut  key combination  listed at the  bottom of  the
screen to accept all the fields. This takes you back  to the Portfolio
Table, where you see the new portfolio name.

    While  we're on the Portfolio  Table, let's add another portfolio.
Hit the INS key to insert a new record, and a Portfolio Form with just
the ID filled in  comes up. Portfolio IDs  range from 000 to  999, and
this is a good example of how Capital Gainz 'guesses'  at field values
when  possible.  Maybe you'd  like to  add a  portfolio for  your son,
Junior.  You enter  information as  before, and  give the  portfolio a
descriptive name, such as 'Junior's Portfolio'.  When you complete the
form this  time, the Portfolio Table shows two portfolios. The one you
just added  is highlighted, and has a check mark next to it indicating
that  it is now the current portfolio.  Make 'The Nest Egg' current by
using the UP ARROW key to move the highlight  bar up, and then hitting
the ENTER key to move the check mark. To exit from the Portfolio Table
and return to the Main Menu, hit the ESC key.

    Now that  we have  some portfolios  defined, we  need to  add some
securities. Securities  are divided into local  and global securities.
Global securities can be  accessed by any portfolio, include  a symbol
and name, and are  associated with a  history of price records.  Local
securities contain  purchase, sale, and distribution  information on a
global  security for a particular portfolio. To add a global security,
choose the 'G) Global Security'  option on the Main Menu, or  just hit
the 'g' key.

    You should  now be at  the Global Security  Table, with a  message
indicating  there are  no records  in the  table. While  Capital Gainz
automatically creates  a default portfolio  for you,  it can't  create
securities. To  add a global security, hit the INS key. This brings up
the Global Security  Form. Let's  create a security  for the  tax-free
bond fund you  bought from Bob's Mutual Funds  company. The symbol and
name can be anything you want - we'll use 'BOBTF' and 'Bob's Tax  Free
Bond Fund'.

    We haven't  defined any  brokers  by using  the  Broker/Investment
Company choice on the Main Menu. Leave the broker name field blank and
hit ENTER to bring  up the empty Broker/Investment Company  Table. Use
the INS key  to bring up an empty Broker/Investment Company Form, then
fill in the information for Bob's Mutual Funds:

                      Capital Gainz Users Manual                    37





   Name:Bob's Mutual Funds
   Address:1313 Good Luck Ln.
   City:Podunk
   State:NC
   Zip:27709
   Phone#:[phone]
[[Screen not in online version.]]

After   entering  the   last   field,  you're   taken   back  to   the
Broker/Investment Company  Table,  and  the  new  Bob's  Mutual  Funds
investment company is highlighted.  Hit ENTER to select it  and return
to the Global Security Form.

    Next,  we  come to  the 'Account  Number'  field. As  you progress
through this tour,  you'll notice that  Broker/Investment Company  and
Account  Number  information  can  be  entered  for  global  AND local
securities. This option provides flexibility:

o  For mutual funds, you can associate  an investment company, such  as
   Bob's Mutual Funds,  with a given fund.  Whenever you add  that fund
   to  a  portfolio as  a  local  security,  it  will automatically  be
   associated  with  the  correct   Broker/Investment  Company  record.
   However, the  account number will change  for different holdings  of
   the fund, so leave the number blank for the global security.

o  For stocks,  you  can  set  up  a  default  broker  for  the  global
   security. When  you add a  local security, you  can use the  default
   broker  -  with the  account number  filled in  - or  choose another
   broker.

o  For mutual funds  that you buy through  a broker, you  can associate
   the  investment company  with the  global security  and your  broker
   with the local security.


There are many options in real life for brokers, investment companies,
and account numbers.  For Capital  Gainz, just remember  that you  can
associate a broker/investment company with a global or local security,
and that  you  can assign  an  account number  to  a local  or  global
security. Let's leave the Account Number field blank here.

    We  also need to select  a Security Type.  Security types classify
your holdings, as  you'll see  later with the  Allocation Report.  But
what  value do you use? Capital  Gainz has a bunch  of fixed types for
you to  choose from - just leave the Security Type field empty and hit
ENTER.  No need  to remember arcane  codes or  names. Just  use the UP
ARROW, DOWN ARROW, PGUP, and PGDN  keys to move through the list. When
you  find  and  highlight  'Tax  Free Bond  Fund'  in  the  Bond Funds
category, hit ENTER to  return to the Global Security  Form, inserting

                      Capital Gainz Users Manual                    38





the corresponding code. Whenever a security type has 'Tax Free' in its
name,  any  dividends  are  noted  as  non-taxable  when you  generate
Schedule B of the tax form. This fund pays dividends monthly, so enter
12 for 'Number of Dividends' to generate correct yield calculations.
[[Screen not in online version.]]

    Just  like with the portfolios, entering all the fields writes the
record and returns you to the Global Security Table.
[[Screen not in online version.]]

    Now that  we have a global  security defined, let's add  it to our
portfolio. Use the ESC key to return  to the Main Menu, and choose 'S)
Security'. By  now you should know what  to expect: the Local Security
Table comes up, and you hit INS to bring up the Local Security Form to
add  a  record.  Notice  that  Capital  Gainz  displays  your  current
portfolio at the top of the form. On this form, you  need to enter the
local symbol  and link it to a global  symbol. Most of the time you'll
use  the same value  for both the  local and global  symbols. But, the
ability to link multiple local symbols to a single global symbol comes
in handy if  you own  shares of a  mutual fund  both in an  IRA and  a
regular account.  All the  pricing information is  centralized in  the
global security, but  different local securities keep the two accounts
separate.  Of course, you also  could put them  in separate portfolios
and use the same value for the global symbol and both local symbols.

    Let's  use 'BOBTF' for this local security's symbol. Then, link it
to the  global security. You  can either  enter 'BOBTF' as  the global
security, or just leave the field blank and hit ENTER.  Similar to the
Security  Type entry on the Global  Security Form, you're shown a list
of global securities to choose from. Although the single entry in  the
table  makes this somewhat less  than interesting now,  just think how
handy  this  capability  is if  you  have  defined  50  or  so  global
securities. Also, notice there are function key options to add, change
and delete securities. Hit the  INS key, and the Global Security  Form
pops up. Thus,  we didn't have to define the  global security from the
Main  Menu - we  could have  added it while  we were adding  the local
security.   Hit ESC  to exit  from the  Global  Security Form  without
adding  anything, and  choose  the BOBTF  global  security by  hitting
ENTER. This returns you to the Local Security Form.

    Notice  that  the  associated  global  security's  information  is
displayed in the lower half  of the Local Security Form.  However, you
cannot  change  any of  the  values on  this  part of  the  form while
inserting a local security. Later, if  you bring up the Local Security
Form to change this security,  you have the option of flipping  to the
Global Security Form to change global information.

    We already  discussed why there is a field for broker name here as
well as on  the Global Security  Form. As you  can see, Capital  Gainz

                      Capital Gainz Users Manual                    39





retrieved the broker/investment company  associated with the specified
global security and  filled it in  here. Enter an  account number  for
BOBTF, like 123456789.

    Leave the  Sell Method field blank,  and hit the ENTER  key to see
the variety of selling methods supported by Capital Gainz. Even though
you select a  method here, you  can change it  when you actually  sell
shares. The  most commonly used methods  are First-In/First-Out (FIFO)
and Specific Id. For now, select FIFO.

    This fund  is not  in an  IRA or  non-taxable retirement  fund, so
enter NO for Tax Exempt. You can highlight NO or just hit the 'n' key.
Be  sure you differentiate between a non-taxable holding and a holding
that offers tax-free  interest or  dividends, such as  Bob's Tax  Free
Bond fund.  Statements  received from  the  mutual fund  indicate  the
shares and  price precision for each  fund. Bob's Mutual Funds  uses 4
decimal points for  the price per share, and 2  decimal points for the
number of  shares. After entering  these last two fields  in the Local
Security Form, you are returned to the Local Security Table.
[[Screen not in online version.]]

    Hit ESC from the Local Security Table to return to  the Main Menu.
Finally, we can record some  activity. Let's say you have a  statement
from  Bob's  Mutual  Funds  (handwritten  by  Bob himself!)  with  the
following information:

























                      Capital Gainz Users Manual                    40





  Date       Transaction            Amount      Price      Shares
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 1/02/91      Share Purchase         50.00     15.1568      3.30
 1/31/91      Dividend Reinvested     0.26     15.1841      0.02
              (0.0788 per share)
 2/03/91      Share Purchase        200.00     15.1704     13.18
 2/28/91      Dividend Reinvested     1.36     15.1636      0.09
              (0.0824 per share)
 3/02/91      Share Purchase        200.00     15.0909     13.25
 3/28/91      Dividend Reinvested     2.40     15.1162      0.16
              (0.0804 per share)
 4/01/91      Share Purchase        100.00     15.2458      6.56
 4/30/91      Dividend Reinvested     2.92     15.2735      0.19
              (0.0799 per share)
 5/01/91      Share Purchase        100.00     15.3519      6.51
 5/31/91      Dividend Reinvested     3.60     15.3506      0.23
              (0.0832 per share)
 6/01/91      Share Purchase        200.00     15.1087     13.74
 6/28/91      Dividend Reinvested     4.19     15.0495      0.28
              (0.0739 per share)
 6/28/91      L.T. Cap Gain Reinv     7.18     15.0495      0.48
              (0.1266 per share)

Total Shares Owned:  57.49

Choose the 'A)  Activity' option on the Main Menu  and 'B) Buy Shares'
from the Activity Menu to bring up the Buy Form and record the initial
purchase. Notice  that Capital Gainz  displays a  fractions-to-decimal
table here  - this is  handy when you  receive confirmations  that use
fractional values.

    As  you  can see,  Capital Gainz  filled  in the  symbol  and date
fields. You  can,  of course,  change these.  Capital Gainz  remembers
certain key values that you  entered, such as the last local  security
symbol, the last global security symbol, and the last date. This saves
a few  steps when you  are performing multiple  activities on a  given
security.

     The symbol field  in the  Buy Form  is for  the local  security's
symbol, since a  share purchase  applies to a  specific portfolio.  At
this point, you  can accept the displayed value of  BOBTF or erase the
field and hit ENTER to bring up the list of local securities. For now,
accept BOBTF. You need to enter the actual purchase date,  1/02/91, in
the date field. The next three fields are Number of Shares, Price, and
Amount. You  actually  only need  to  enter values  for two  of  these
fields, and Capital Gainz  calculates the third one. Leave  the number
of shares  0, and enter  the price (15.1568)  and amount (50.00)  from
your statement. The number  of shares field is calculated,  and should
match the amount on your statement.

                      Capital Gainz Users Manual                    41





    Sometimes rounding may require you to change the calculated value.
If the  calculations are consistently wrong, make  sure you set up the
precisions correctly on the Local Security Form. Also, you may need to
enter  the  most precise  value and  let  Capital Gainz  calculate the
rounded value - as is the case  with BOBTF. Here, the price per  share
is more precise than the number of shares, so it's best to let Capital
Gainz calculate the number of shares.

    This is a no-load fund  and we're buying directly from  the mutual
fund  company (savvy investors that we are!),  so the commission is 0.
The Notes  field lets you  enter a brief  comment. Leave it  blank for
now.
[[Screen not in online version.]]

    After  entering all the fields, the purchase record is written and
you're taken back to the Symbol  field. Capital Gainz assumes that you
want to enter more  purchases until explicitly quitting and  returning
to  the Activity Menu. As you  add shares, a counter  in the top right
corner  of the  form is  incremented.  After you  enter a  symbol, the
current  number of  open shares for  the security is  displayed to the
right of the 'Shares' field.

    The  next  item  on  our  list  is  a dividend.  Even  though  you
reinvested  the dividend,  you  need  to  record  the  amount  of  the
distribution  and  then record  the  purchase. To  begin  entering the
dividend information,  you can  either hit  the  function key  labeled
'Distributions', or  back out of  the Buy  Form with the  ESC key  and
choose  'D) Distributions' on the  Activity Menu. The  symbol field is
filled  in with the last accessed local security's symbol (BOBTF), and
the date is set to the last entered date. Hit ENTER to accept BOBTF as
the symbol, and change the  date to the distribution date  ( 1/31/91).
Capital Gainz guesses  that you want to enter a  dividend, so it fills
in the Type field with  'DIV'. This is what  we want for now, but  you
can erase this field and hit ENTER to bring up a list  of distribution
types.

    Next,  enter  the amount  of the  dividend  (0.26) listed  on your
statement in the Amount field. Capital Gainz divides the amount by the
number of  open shares to come up  with a per share  amount. Since the
actual distribution amount usually  factors in the amount of  time you
held  the shares,  this is  usually just  a very  close approximation.
(However, it should be accurate  for stocks.) If a per share  value is
listed on your statement, be sure to  use it. If no per share value is
given,  the  Capital  Gainz calculation  should  be  close  enough for
reliable yield calculations. Complete the Distribution Form by hitting
ENTER at the Notes field.
[[Screen not in online version.]]

    The  record  is written  and  a popup  form  asks if  you  want to

                      Capital Gainz Users Manual                    42





reinvest the dividend. Most investors let  their mutual fund companies
reinvest distributions  in additional shares,  so enter YES  here. You
are  taken to the Buy  Form, now labeled  'Reinvest Distribution'. You
could  enter  a different  symbol to  redirect  the distribution  to a
different  security, such as sending stock dividends to a money market
fund. Since we're  reinvesting the  amount in the  same security,  hit
ENTER at the Local Symbol field, which should be BOBTF.

    The amount field is set to the dividend amount, the price field is
set to the  last price entered  for this security,  and the number  of
shares is set to 0.  Change the Price field to the value shown on your
statement (15.1841). Hit ENTER at  the rest of the fields to  complete
the Reinvest Distribution form and write the open shares record.

    Now  you're  back  at  the  Distribution  Form. Repeat  the  above
procedures  to enter the rest of the purchases and distributions. Move
between the Buy Form and Distribution Form  by using the function keys
or escaping  to the Activity Menu. Carefully enter all the values - if
Capital Gainz calculates different  values, change them. Watch  as the
total number of open shares  displayed on the Buy Form  increases, and
the counters  at the top  of the  forms are incremented.  Be sure  you
specify  the correct  Type  for the  last  distribution, a  Long  Term
Capital  Gain. When you're  done, ESC back  to the  Activity Menu, and
then ESC back to the Main Menu.

    Let's check  if you  entered everything  correctly.  Bring up  the
Local Security Table, and  you'll see the number of  shares purchased,
the cost of the shares, and your current  gain (or loss) so far. Also,
the last entered price is shown as the current price, and the yield is
calculated by multiplying  the last entered dividend per  share amount
by the number  of dividends per  year, and then  dividing by the  last
recorded price.
[[Screen not in online version.]]

    Compare the number of shares shown in the Local Security  Table to
the value given on your statement, to make sure you entered everything
correctly. If  the values  don't match,  then you  made  a mistake  in
entering the information from your statement. Actually, in this case I
made an intentional  error in the list  of transactions, so the  total
number of  shares is incorrect:  total shares is 57.49,  but the total
shares on the  Local Security Table is 57.99.  Let's see what's wrong.
Hit  ESC  to return  to  the  Main  Menu,  and  then  select  'L)  Log
Maintenance'.  Select 'O)  Open Shares Log',  leaving 'For  All Dates'
set. The Open Shares Log comes up, and Capital Gainz correctly guesses
the local  security symbol you want to view. If you had wanted to view
a different symbol's log, you could either enter the value or blank it
out and  hit ENTER to bring up the list  of local securities to choose
from.


                      Capital Gainz Users Manual                    43





    After you hit ENTER to  accept BOBTF as the symbol, Capital  Gainz
builds  a  table  of purchase  records.  The  record  dated 6/1/91  is
incorrect - the number  of shares should be 13.24,  not 13.74. (Please
don't  call Bob - I  made this mistake in the  list to simulate a data
entry error!) Use the DOWN ARROW key to highlight the erroneous record
and then hit the ENTER key.
[[Screen not in online version.]]

Up pops the Buy Form, with the fields filled in. Use  the ENTER key or
the DOWN ARROW key to move to the number of shares field and change it
from 13.74  to 13.24. The Amount  field is recalculated based  on this
change.  Be sure to  set it correctly.  Upon completing  the form, you
return to the  Open Shares Log.  When we recorded  activity, you  kept
filling in this form until explicitly exiting. However, when you reach
the activity forms from  the activity logs, Capital Gainz  assumes you
are only making a single change or addition.

    Actually,  there  are several  ways for  you  to catch  data entry
errors  at the time you make them.  First, if the values calculated by
Capital  Gainz are  off  significantly -  as  happened here  when  you
recorded this purchase - then you probably entered an incorrect value.
(Either that, or make sure Bob isn't skimming some off the top!) Also,
if  the  calculated per  share amount  is  off considerably,  then the
dividend  amount  may be  getting applied  to  an incorrect  number of
shares.

4.1  Picking Up The Pace

    Let's add another security  to your portfolio. First, you  need to
add   a   couple  of   broker/investment   companies.   Use  the   'B)
Broker/Investment Company' option  to bring  up the  Broker/Investment
Company Form.  Let's add one with  a name of 'none' and  the leave the
rest of the information blank - this will just be a dummy record:

   none

Then, add:

   Dewey, Cheetham, and Howe
   100 Uptick Dr.
   Churning, NC  27111
   800-234-5678

   For the Global Security, enter:






                      Capital Gainz Users Manual                    44





   Symbol:SCI
   Name:Spatula City, Inc.
   Broker/Inv Co:none
   Account Number:
   Type:Stock
   Dividends/Year:12

Notice that we specified a broker of 'none' here. Unlike mutual funds,
you'll probably buy securities from  different brokers. Thus, it makes
sense to only specify the broker for the local security.

    The Local Security information is:

   Symbol: SCI
   Linked to:SCI
   Broker:Dewey, Cheetham, and Howe
   Account Number:987654321
   Sell Method:FIFO
   Tax Exempt:NO
   Price Precision:3
   Share Precision:4

    When you enter this, the broker information will  be set to 'none'
after  linking the  SCI  local security  symbol  with the  SCI  global
security  symbol. Use the space bar to  erase the field, and hit ENTER
to  bring up the list of defined broker/investment companies to choose
from.

    Finally, here's six months of activity to enter:

  Date       Transaction            Amount      Price      Shares
-----------------------------------------------------------------
 1/02/91      Share Purchase        100.00     46.652      2.1435
 2/01/91      Dividend Reinvested     1.63     45.292      0.0360
              (0.76 per share)
 2/01/91      Share Purchase        100.00     45.292      2.2079
 3/04/91      Share Purchase        100.00     47.242      2.1168
 4/01/91      Share Purchase        100.00     47.807      2.0917
 5/02/91      Dividend Reinvested     6.53     48.058      0.1359
              (0.76 per share)
 5/02/91      Share Purchase        100.00     48.058      2.0808
 6/03/91      Share Purchase        100.00     48.410      2.0657
 6/03/91      Share Purchase        100.00     48.410      2.0657

Total Shares Owned:  12.8783

    Now  bring up the Local Security Table again. The 18.84% yield for
SCI  looks  way too  high.  As  you alert  readers  noticed, SCI  pays
dividends  quarterly, not monthly. If the yield figure looks too high,

                      Capital Gainz Users Manual                    45





then  you probably specified  too high a number  for the dividends per
year.  Likewise, too  low a  figure indicates  that you  specified too
small a number. If SCI isn't highlighted (it should be), use the arrow
keys to highlight it. Hit ENTER to bring up the Local Security Form.

    The information we want  to change, number of dividends  per year,
is  associated  with the  global security.  So,  use the  function key
labeled  'Change Global Security' to bring up the Global Security Form
for the global security linked  to this local security. Use  the ENTER
or DOWN ARROW key to move down to the Dividends/Year field, and change
it  to 4. When you  hit ENTER on this last  field, the global security
record is updated and you  return to the Local Security Form.  Hit ESC
to  return to  the Local Security  Table. The  yield displayed  is now
6.28%, which is more realistic.

    Also,  the number  of open  shares for  SCI is  incorrect. As  you
should have  noticed, the last purchase was erroneously entered twice.
Hit ESC  to return to the Main Menu, then choose 'L) Log Maintenance'.
Select 'O) Open Shares Log', and ALL dates. Hit ENTER at the displayed
SCI symbol  on the Open  Shares Log. Then, use  the DOWN ARROW  key to
highlight the  last record - or,  use CTRL-PGDN to go  directly to the
last  record. Hit  the DEL  key to  delete it.  The Buy Form  pops up,
showing the  record to be  deleted, and you  are asked to  confirm the
deletion. By default, Capital Gainz asks you to confirm deletes  - you
can  change this in the User Settings  Form. Answer YES to confirm the
deletion, and  you return  to the  Open Shares  Log.  Since this  also
deletes the Price History entry for this date, highlight the remaining
record for this date, hit ENTER, then hit CTRL-ENTER to  change it and
re-add the price. Hit ESC three times to return to the Main Menu,  and
then choose 'S) Security' to return to the Local Security Table.

    We see that BOBTF  shows a loss of  $6.71, the difference  between
the  cost ($871.91) and  current market  value ($865.20).  The current
market value is obtained by  multiplying the number of open shares  by
the latest recorded  price: 57.49 *  $15.0495 = $865.20. On  the other
hand, SCI shows a gain  of $15.28. Let's analyze  a bit more. Hit  the
function key labeled  'Allocation Report', and  tell Capital Gainz  to
send the report  to the screen. This gives you  a percentage breakdown
of your portfolio  holdings by security type.  To return to the  local
security table, hit the ESC key.

    Next, let's take a look  at the price history of  BOBTF. Highlight
BOBTF,  and hit the function key labeled  'Price History'. Look at all
dates by hitting  the 'All Dates' function key on  the Dates Form. The
table displayed shows price and distribution information for the local
security's  related global security. The entries are in most recent to
least recent  order, the  high and  low  prices are  flagged, and  the
simple average price is calculated. Capital Gainz constructs the price
history as  you make activity  entries. Of  course, you also  can add,

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change,  or delete entries in this table. The distributions are listed
to explain price dips caused by payouts.

    Return  to the  Main Menu  by hitting  ESC from the  Price History
Table  and the  Local Security  Table. By  now, you're  impressed with
Capital Gainz and  want to sell some  shares to pay for  registration.
You  also decide  that  you should  register some  of the  other great
shareware  that  is an  essential part  of  your computing  needs. You
decide to sell some of  your BOBTF shares, so, through the  miracle of
modern  documentation, let's  say you  called up  Bob at  Bob's Mutual
Funds,  sold $100 worth of  shares (after considerable  cajoling - Bob
really wants to keep his few customers), and Bob reluctantly confirmed
the sale at $15.25 per share at the end of the day.

    From the Main Menu, choose 'A) Activity', and then choose 'S) Sell
Shares from  the Activity Menu.  At the  Sell Form, enter  the symbol,
BOBTF.  Capital  Gainz fills  in the  sell  method you  specified when
defining the  security, sets the number of shares to sell to the total
number of open  shares, and displays the last  entered date. Enter the
date of the sale, say 7/1/91. According  to the IRS, to sell shares of
a  mutual fund using  a method other  than FIFO, you  must specify the
exact shares  in writing at the  time of the  sale. We didn't  do that
here, so we'll use the FIFO selling method.

    Enter 0  for the number of  shares, 15.25 for the  price, and $100
for the amount.  Capital Gainz calculates the  number of shares  to be
6.56. There was no commission or back-end load charged, so enter 0 for
the commission.
[[Screen not in online version.]]

After entering the last  two fields, Capital Gainz scans  through your
open shares  and creates a  list of  shares to be  sold. You  can then
choose to display or  print the list. Let's send it  to the screen for
now. When you're done viewing the list, hit ESC. Capital Gainz asks if
you want to confirm the sale.

    A brief note about confirmations. Capital Gainz lets you determine
if you want confirmation screens to popup whenever you add, change, or
delete a record. However, you don't have a choice when an action, such
as selling shares, affects multiple records. Capital Gainz always asks
for confirmation in those cases.

    Answer YES to  the confirm question,  and Capital Gainz  processes
the sale.  Processing involves converting the open shares records into
closed shares records. When  processing is complete, hit ESC  twice to
return to the Main Menu. From there, choose 'L) Log Maintenance', then
choose 'C)  Closed Shares Log'  and view ALL  dates. Hit ENTER  at the
symbol  field, which  shows BOBTF,  and you'll  see the result  of the
sale. Since you only executed a single sale, this table looks like the

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table displayed when you executed the sale.

    A nifty feature of  Capital Gainz is that after  deleting a record
from the  Closed Shares  Log, you have  the option of  'unselling' it.
This means Capital Gainz will add it  back to the Open Shares Log,  as
if you never sold it.

    As  you  may  have wondered,  the  confirmation  check  point when
selling  shares with Capital Gainz makes an excellent 'what if?' tool.
For  instance, you  could  have chosen  the  Max Gain/Min  Loss  (MAX)
selling  method for  your  sale, to  see what  shares  you could  have
specified to achieve the greatest  gain on the sale. Then, just  don't
confirm  the  sale (until  it's  actually executed).  This  feature is
useful  if  you   need  to   maximize  or  minimize   gains  for   tax
considerations.

4.2  Analysis

    Hit ESC three times to  return to the Main Menu, and bring  up the
Local  Security Table.  Make sure  BOBTF is  highlighted, and  hit the
function key labeled 'Activity Summary'. You'll have to scroll through
the  list of  function keys with  the key  labeled 'More'  to find the
Activity Summary. Choose all dates, and send the output to the screen.
There's  a  lot  of  good   information  here.  Purchase,  sale,   and
distribution information is totalled over the period. The total return
over  the period  is calculated,  as is  the return you  achieved. The
difference  between the two is  that total return  assumes a 'buy-and-
hold' strategy. As  your investments build  up, it's interesting,  and
sometimes surprising, to see the difference between 'buy-and-hold' and
'dollar-cost averaging' strategies.

    Let's take a look at what  reports are available. Hit ESC twice to
return to  the Main Menu, then choose 'R) Reports'. The Report Menu is
split  into  three  sections:  one  for  reports  that  apply  to  all
portfolios,  one  for  reports  that  apply  to  all  or  the  current
portfolio,  and one that applies  to the current  portfolio and all or
selected securities. Function keys  let you choose all or  the current
portfolio, all or selected securities, and all or a range of dates.

    You've probably noticed  that most of these reports look familiar,
as they are the same ones you were using for analysis, or that you saw
at  the bottom  of  various  tables. The  Report  Menu puts  them  all
together, and adds more options. Let's print out the activity logs for
SCI. Notice that reports are set  to print for 'All Securities'. Since
we  only  want  a  report  for  SCI,  hit   the  key  labeled  'Select
Securities'. A list of  the local securities in the  current portfolio
is displayed. Highlight  SCI and hit the ENTER  key to tag it  for the
report.  Hit  ESC to  return to  the Report  Menu.  Now, you  see that
Capital Gainz is set to print 'Selected Securities'. You could specify

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a range of  dates with the 'Select  Date Range' key, but this  is more
valuable if  you have a  few years worth  of transactions and  want to
segment out a single year. For now, stick with all dates.

    Highlight 'A) Activity  Detail', or hit the 'a' key.  A short form
gives you  a couple more options  here. Choose to print  ALL logs, use
the LONG  format, and group the  report by LOGTYPE. You  return to the
Report Menu,  at the  Print To  field. Let's send  this report  to the
Printer.  As you  may have  noticed, 'mini'  menus,  like the  list of
devices  to print  to here,  work a  lot like  other menus  in Capital
Gainz. Highlight  your choice  and hit  ENTER, or  just hit  the first
letter in  your  desired choice    - 'p'  for Printer.  Capital  Gainz
flashes  some messages indicating what  it's doing -  again, these are
more valuable when many records are being processed.

    If your printed  report has some  funny characters separating  the
headings, or does  not have any  sort of  lines separating them,  your
printer  probably  does  not  understand  the  default  line   drawing
characters  used by Capital Gainz. You could flip through your printer
manual and set  the dip switches or change the  settings in the little
LCD menu. But,  let's be lazy. Hit ESC to return to the Main Menu, and
then  choose 'U)  User Settings'.  This form  allows you  to customize
Capital Gainz. Use the ENTER or DOWN ARROW key to go  to the Line Draw
Chars  field, and choose  NO. Hit the  screen accept short  cut key or
ENTER on the rest of the fields, and you return to the Main Menu. Now,
your reports  will substitute standard  ASCII characters for  the ones
your printer didn't understand.

    Changes you make  to the User Settings apply from  that point on -
these settings persist since  they are actually  saved in a file.  You
can try out some of  the options and go back and change  them later if
you want.  In particular,  you may  want to  try out different  screen
colors with the Colors option, available via a function key labeled at
the bottom of the form.

4.3  Finishing Up

    Let's close our  tour by updating the prices of  the securities in
your  Nest Egg portfolio. Choose  'S) Security', hit  the function key
labeled  'Price Update',  and then  choose to  update prices  from the
SCREEN.  A  form  cycles  through   the  securities  in  your  current
portfolio, letting  you update  the prices  and dates. It  was a  good
week, with  BOBTF finishing  at $15.50  and SCI  at $50.00. After  you
enter  the last  security's price,  you return  to the  Local Security
Table, which is recalculated to  reflect the new prices. You also  can
update prices  with an ASCII file.  In fact, you can  even specify (in
the User  Settings Form) that  Capital Gainz  automatically read  this
file every time you start it up.


                      Capital Gainz Users Manual                    49





    Well, that's it for our brief tour. To clean up, just bring up the
Portfolio   Table  and   delete  the   two  portfolios   you  created.
Demonstrating  all  the features  of  Capital  Gainz  would have  been
tedious.  Instead, you are now  familiar enough with  Capital Gainz to
start maintaining your  portfolio. With your bearings  set, you should
be able to  find answers to most of your questions  in the rest of the
users manual or on the Help screens.

    For  problems that you  can't find answers  to, drop us  a line or
call us. The  same goes  for software bugs.  And just as  importantly,
send us your ideas.  Some of the best features in Capital  Gainz are a
direct  result of user  feedback. We are  constantly improving Capital
Gainz, and registered users  are notified of new versions  and receive
at  least one free update. Registered users also get the Capital Gainz
Utility Program, whose  main purpose is to massage your data files for
any changes required  by new  versions of Capital  Gainz. However,  it
also includes some features like: import/export data files,  copy/move
securities, and  copy/move portfolios.  Finally, you  can get  a great
looking, perfect-bound users manual with your registration.































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