How to Monitor Captial Gains/Losses Over Time

[Cricketfan]

Hi,

I've recently decided to invest a small amount in shares and am slowly learning the ropes. I'm with ASB Securities and use the Portfolio page to see how my stocks are doing relative to the price I purchased them. This works fine at the moment because I have only made one purchase of each stock, however I was wondering how this works over time if I make more purchases of the same stocks at different prices - i.e. how do I work out the net gain/loss on a stock if I have bought them at different prices.

Would I need external software to do this?

Chris

[CJ]

Would I need external software to do this?

I use sharesight.co.nz

A bit overkill for just a few shares though. Before that I set up a complex excel spreadsheet to tell me pretty much everything sharesight does - I put a value on my time and went the paid option since it is always upto date and doesn't require me to tinker with it all the time.

Actually - just remember that Sharesight is free for your first 10 shares (and this is what I started with). I only moved to the paid version when I went over 10 shares.

[Banksie]

I use sharesight.co.nz

Thanks CJ - I have signed up for the free version. I like try before you buy software.

(Now I wonder if I can buy shares in sharesight )

[Cricketfan]

I use sharesight.co.nz

A bit overkill for just a few shares though. Before that I set up a complex excel spreadsheet to tell me pretty much everything sharesight does - I put a value on my time and went the paid option since it is always upto date and doesn't require me to tinker with it all the time.

Actually - just remember that Sharesight is free for your first 10 shares (and this is what I started with). I only moved to the paid version when I went over 10 shares.

Thanks, I currently have fewer than 10 shares so I'll try Sharesight for a while.

[bulltrap]

I use sharesight.co.nz

Tried to set up a Sharesight account just now and import my trade history. Big fail - and this is from a DirectBroking trade export, which they claim to support.

Spent over an hour trying to nurse it through (reformatting, dropping old trades, etc, etc), without much success. It keeps asking me to 'correct errors below' but doesn't actually report any errors.

Giving up and going back to my spreadsheets for now...

[Xerof]

I use the paid version of Sharesight, primarily to report on my FIF obligations. It's excellent. (The software, not my FIF obligations......)

EOD prices, from my observations, tend to update 20 minutes after the close of relevant exchange. Fx rates appear to be updated next day.

EOY Fx rates tie in with IRD published EOM data

[Banksie]

I use excel to record all my transactions. I keep the date, purchase price, number of shares and commission paid. With that raw information you should be able to work out capital gains, yield etc. I haven't been investing long (only a few months) but I intend to use it to record dividend payments and/or dividend reinvestment's as well.

This should be fine if you are an investor, but if you are a trader constantly buying and selling a particular share then the admin overhead would be quite large.

[karen1]

Hi Chris,

If you are reasonably familiar with using a spread sheet, try searching Microsoft Excel for "Stock Investment Performance" template and download. You can rearrange it to suit - add/delete columns/rows which would enable you to record more than one tranche of a particular stock. You can also add any other information you wish, date, etc.

And, just as KW has pointed out above, NZX offer a similar service if you want to sign up - free.

Good luck with your investing.

[Cricketfan]

Thanks again for the replies. I've signed up for the Sharesight free account and will see how it goes.

One question I have though. In some cases the current price it's reporting for a stock is different than I see in ASB Sercurities.

For example, on Sharesight, Fisher and Paykel (FPH) is showing as 3.340, on ASB Securities it's 3.270. Both are apparently as at COB yesterday. Why the difference?

[CJ]

For example, on Sharesight, Fisher and Paykel (FPH) is showing as 3.340, on ASB Securities it's 3.270. Both are apparently as at COB yesterday. Why the difference?

Not sure where you got the $3.27 from. $3.34 is correct.

For those that have signed up to Sharesight, note that they only update their prices at close of business so it is always one day behind. I have been using since December (for the paid version and the free version before that) so if you have any questions, let me know.

I also have it integrating into Xero.