%change in Portfolio manager

[richard]

Mark,

I'm trying to figure out how the %change field works when I'm using the portfolio editor, which I'm doing for the first time.

1. At some point in time the field gets reset to zero.
2. At other points in time when I update the prices it remains zero, and at other times it gives me the percentage change.

Main precision:

I'm in Europe and I get the prices off of Bloomberg for both the European exchanges and the US exchanges (no problem there). For the European exchanges the %change field seems to work correctly, except for the reset to zero which I don't understand. The major difference between the US and European exchanges is the 6 hour time difference between here and the US. When the New York exchange close at 4 PM (+20 minutes) it's about 10:30 PM here which usually means I wait until the next morning to update the closing prices (8:30 AM my time, 2:30 AM NYC time). It's at that point that the above 2. things happen which I don't understand.

Ideally how should it work (in my mind).

The %change should be calculated from the last price. On the price vs. cost graphs the change (although not a percent change) is calculated this way.

Your thoughts?

[Mark]

Hi richard,

The % Change field is defined as:

"For investments this is the percentage change in price from yesterday to today. For sub-portfolios this is the percentage change in value from yesterday to today."

So, the "today" date is determined by your computer's date. The % Change is not necessarily the last price relative to the prior price. It is today's price/value compared to yesterday's price/value. If you were to look in the Data Register under the "Prices" data type you will see all your recorded prices and the dates.

When updating prices, the date updated is usually specified by the server, and this is often in US EST. You can read about this for Bloomberg, and how you can control it here:

http://www.fundmanagersoftware.com/intr ... #Bloomberg

See the instructions on "bloomberg_hour_offset".