Unable to execute intial download from TD Ameritrade

[Ashmo]

I've installed the Personal version of Fund Manager for evaluation. In the portfolio wizard, I specified TD Ameritrade as the broker, and provided my user name and password. I specified that all transactions and positions should be downloaded. Multiple attempts to retrieve the information failed. The message was always the same. Appears to be generic Windows message text:
Post HttpSendRequest
WinInet error code: 12057
Message: It was not possible to connect to the revocation server or a definitive response could not be obtained.

I am connected to the Internet; that is the connection I am using to post this message.
Any suggestions?
Do I need to do something in the TDA account to explicitly enable downloading transactions?

Thanks for your help.

[Mark]

Hi Ashmo,

I'm not sure, but it may be that you have a firewall program blocking Fund Manager's ability to connect to the internet. If you choose "Help / Fund Manager on the Web / Check for Updates..." does that show you the update status okay, or do you get any error? This is just another test of Fund Manager connecting to the internet. Alternatively, if you create a test investment, and attempt to do a price retrieve (Edit / Internet Retrieve / Prices), does that work okay without error?

I don't believe you generally need to do anything to enable the TDA download. Even if you weren't enabled, you would get a different error than this I believe, as this sounds like it is failing to even make a connection.

[Ashmo]

Mark,
Both the check for updates and the retrieval of price work.
Because this is a Windows machine, I'm going to reboot and try again. For extra luck, I'll do the rain dance around the desk while the reboot is under way....

[Ashmo]

Reboot did it.
Retrieved all my transactions and positions.
Now a new issue.
I owned stock in a company that was purchased by another company.
The transaction was a stock swap.
The shares in the original company were set to zero by TDA, and shares in the acquiring company were credited to the account.
Two separate investments are shown in the portfolio.
I want the software to treat all these transactions as part of a single investment, so that I can see the return on investment.
Is there a way to do that?

[Mark]

Hi Ashmo,

Glad you got the first problem solved. Yes, you can close the 2nd investment, and record a split and do a name change. Delete the transfer out in the first investment, and record a split with a ratio of <new shares> for <old shares>. Go to the "Investment Properties..." dialog, and change the name/symbol/CUSIP. (You might want to write down the CUSIP from the 2nd investment, before you close it.) Future transaction retrieves are based off CUSIP, so you want that to be set to the new/2nd investment.

[Ashmo]

I'll try this later, or over the weekend. Right now, time to drive the Miata in the hills with the wife. I'll let you know how it turns out. Happy 4th. Thanks for your help.

[Ashmo]

That wasn't too bad.
I followed your instructions:
Deleted the final forced transfer out of the original investment.
Executed a stock split, 0.975 new shares per old share.
Changed the investment name, ticker, CUSIP.
Downloaded transactions from broker; transactions pertaining to new owner were correctly applied to investment.
I deleted the first entry for the new owner--the forced transfer in.
I also had to add a manual Sell entry to get rid of the fractional share of stock and to get the correct final value. That was easy in this case because I sold the new company yesterday, so final value is 0.00.

I compared the process in FM to the one in Investment Account Manager. As I read the IAM documentation, your process is much easier to work with. In FM, I can enter the split even if there are some transactions already in the record that happened after the split. The specified date puts the split entry at the correct position in the entry stream, so that the later entries (already in the record) include the effect of the split. The IAM documentation says that the split must be entered at the time it happens; no entries after the split can be in the database when the split is entered.

So far I like what I see.