Steps and spikes in value graph

[red_puppy]

For several investments when I make a value graph they exhibit steps or spikes. The first seems to be an effect of incomplete (over time) price data and the second by occasional incorrect price data. I have attached two screen grabs to illustrate. I don't seem to be able to fix these problems by using Internet Retrieve of Historical Prices even when I set the retrieval range to bracket the problematic time period. I suspect FM does not update price data it thinks it already retrieved. Is there a way to flush previously retrieved price data for a particular investment and try to obtain historical prices again hoping for more complete or corrected prices?
The first one (fm_steps.jpg) is from a portfolio I rarely look at in Fund Manager and I think the steps correspond to when I Iooked at it and retrieved prices. I would like to fill in the missing price data so the graph looks smoother over time.
The second (fm_spikes.jpg) is from a portfolio I look at more frequently and retrieve transactions and historical prices. In this case the spikes in the graph correspond to large fluctuations in the apparent price - from $1 - $169 when the actual price in that time period is about $40. I guess I could manually go in and correct the prices for those dates but I am more interested in knowing if this is a common problem or if there is another way to fix this other than manually one date/price at a time.
Thanks for any help you can offer!

[Mark]

Hi red_puppy,

When you retrieve historical prices, that will overwrite any already recorded closing price data. In your "fm_steps" screen shot it looks like you don't have any historical pricing, and only pricing on days where you recorded a transaction. Check the symbol property of this investment, and also check "Investment Properties... / Internet Retrieve" to make sure it is set to retrieve, and from the expected quote server. Make sure the symbol is available on the quote server you're using, like Yahoo. Try retrieving just selected historical prices for that investment.

On your 2nd screen shot (fm_spikes), it looks like you have transactions recorded at widely varying prices, anywhere from $1 to $160. Those seem questionable. I would verify your transactions are recorded correctly. Also, take a look at the "Prices" data type to see your recorded closing prices.

FYI, when you record a transaction on a date where there is no closing price, the closing price in FM is updated with that transaction's price.

[red_puppy]

Thanks for the ideas Mark. I guess I should have known that the ticker would be important to receive historical price data. Unfortunately some of the funds available in 401Ks are not publicly available funds. Some don't appear to have tickers at all but instead a fund number - would a fund number work for a price retrieval? And to further complicate things some of the funds initially available in the 401K are no longer available so I can't even get a fund number for them. I guess I shouldn't worry about the funds that no longer exist - that money just went into another fund and all that is lost is some history of the account growth over time.

[Mark]

Hi red_puppy,

I don't think a fund number would normally be adequate. It has to be a symbol as used on whatever quote server you're retrieving from. If you're not sure, use your web browser to visit the quote servers and look up the symbol for your fund. We have links to all the supported quote servers here:

https://www.fundmanagersoftware.com/intrtv.html

[red_puppy]

Hi Mark -
I cleared up the step problem by switching to the Yahoo Historical server from the Google Historical server that it was initially. Now its nice and noisy!
I did an end-run on the step problem by wiping the portfolio then re-downloading available data for the 401K from Vanguard. That only went back about 18 months but the accounts are reconciled and there are no spikes. In this taxable account I don't really need the full history but this wouldn't be a good method for a taxable account where I do need that information.