Splits and historical pnl/stacked value

[darrell]

Hi.

One of the stocks in which I've occasionally had a historical position has just undergone a 1 for 2 split.

I current don't have a position in that stock, but have noticed when I graph and export using File>Export>Other>Graph Data Points, to get the portfolio historical pnl or stacked value as CSV, the value of the historical positions and return in those files, for that stock, reflect the new (post-split) price, not the price on the day as it was, which is what I need -- hence throwing out my ability to rerun historical charts and get the same on the day return values as I did at previous month ends. Is there a way to graph/export 'investment value' and 'stacked value' to reflect on the day rather than current prices? Taken me all morning to spot why my month end reports had different curves from previously... Thanks

D

[Mark]

Hi darrell,

It sounds like you have some inconsistency between your recorded prices and splits. When a split happens (it doesn't matter the ratio), you can either:

1) Record all prices as they actually were on the date, and also record a split transaction.

or

2) Record all prices split-adjusted, and do not record a split transaction.

A simple example: Let's say the price was $100 before a split, and $50 after a 2:1 split. You would either have the prices recorded at $100 before the split, and $50 on/after the split date with a 2:1 split transaction recorded, or record all prices at the $50 range.

To view what you have recorded, turn off "View / Split Adjusted", and look in the Data Register. Under the "Prices" data type you can see all the prices. Under the "Splits" data type you can see your split transactions. It is best to turn off "View / Split Adjusted" when debugging this, because if you don't, FM will display prices for dates prior to splits, adjusted for any recorded split transactions, and not how they were actually recorded. You probably want this option turned back on when displaying a price based graph though, so as to not see a big change on the date of the split.

There are different ways to get historical data, and depending on whether your recorded historical pricing data is already split adjusted, determines whether or not you should record a split transaction.

[darrell]

ok -- so I'm getting historical prices from Yahoo -- when i pull them down now they are indeed split adjusted. My transactions themselves, show in the register with the correct on-the-day prices and transactions sizes.

Changing the View->Split Adjusted doesn't seem to change what I'm seeing where it matters for my purposes. For example if I chart the stock in question -- FAST as it happens -- I see the historical price line at the split adjusted level, with my transaction points hovering above it at their on-the-day buy/sell prices. Same problem remains for the pnl and stacked value.

Is the 'simplest' answer to find a historical data source that isn't split adjusted? Is there such which covers the US markets?

The only other 'simple' solution I can think of is to manually adjust all the historical buy/sell transactions to use the split adjusted price to match the prices from Yahoo, which seems a very bad hack. Suggestions welcomed.

[Mark]

Hi darrell,

If you're using the Personal version, record all the split transactions first, and then retrieve historical prices from Yahoo (Historical). This will result in you getting actual end of day prices for that date.