Thursday, June 19, 2008 at 10:03 AM
Portfolio cash support is one of the most requested features by our users. We listened: you can now add a cash balance to every portfolio you maintain. In the 'Add' section that appears on every portfolio page, you'll see a new 'Cash' tab where you can apply deposits and withdrawals to your cash holdings. Furthermore, your stock transactions -- both existing and new -- can be individually linked to your cash balance, so that a purchase or sale results in a matching debit or credit. All you have to do is click the new 'Cash-linked' checkbox on the 'Edit transactions' tab. No longer will your total portfolio value appear to drop just because you decide to realize your gains on a stock by selling.
Don't want to track cash? Don't worry. If you never enter a cash deposit or link a transaction to your cash balance, you'll never see a cash value in your portfolio.
This is just the beginning, so stay tuned. We've got plenty of ideas to improve our portfolio feature, and we're sure you do too! Please continue to share your ideas with us in the comments below, and if you find any problems, please let us know.
56 comments:
Thanks, Google. Adding cash to the portfolio will definitely help keep track of the whole picture using Google Finance. Now... if only I could import transactions from my brokerage or other account... :)
I want to add portfolio to my blogger. How can I do it?
What about stock-split, for instance VXF?
SUGGESTIONS:
I'm a financial planner, and have used every finance web portal there is. This one is slick, but lacks a few important things.
First, get that auto-refresh working again! That's an extremely useful feature. Heck, even MSN's bulky investment toolbox (bulky, but thorough and accurate) does that.
Secondly, when entering mutual fund transactions, please allow three decimal places instead of rounding to two. All mutual fund transactions are done in three decimals. This obviously doesn't make a huge difference in the dollar amount, but Google is all about precision in statistics right?
Thanks for the work y'all do, I'm looking forward to upcoming changes!
Ok, cash tracking is good, but a quick look reveals some problems.
Ideally when tracking cash, I should be able to track margin interest and dividends as something other than "withdrawal" or "deposit" and I now need to be able to track trades in unsupported symbols (particularly, I sometimes trade options on the Montreal Exchange).
Ideally, I guess, I'd like the cash function to be useful to actually track total return on portfolio, including interest expenses, dividends, and positions that are now closed. Just adding a cash balance doesn't really help me with that.
I'd like to be able to compare my investments against the DJIA. What I currently do is to add one share of DJIA purchased at whatever price it had when I opened my account so I can get the current %gain of the index. I can then compare my portfolio's overall gain against that. Adding it to the same portfolio would skew my own data, and adding it to a different portfolio adds a bit of inconvenience.
Maybe there's already a way to do this that I'm not aware of?
Is there a way to have the dividens automatically come in as cash (or reinvest)? Is there a way to account for dividens in the performance view as well? For example I have PALM and it paid a rather large dividen a while ago. My performance view shows PALM having a huge overall loss because the price is lower (due to the dividen).
I am still unable to add cash - in my existing portfolio, and even when I create a new portfolio, I get a "symbol(s) invalid or unsupported". Is the cash feature still only available to a limited # of users / accounts?
Thanks
HAD A QUESTION.......
CAN ANY ONE TELL ME WHAT STEPS DOES THE RBI TAKE TO HEDGE THE RISKS OF ARBITRAGE BETWEEN THE REPO AND REVERSE REPO RATE? PLZ...
KINDLY POST UR COMMENTS AT gpanigrahy@gmail.com
HAD A QUESTION.......
CAN ANY ONE TELL ME WHAT STEPS DOES THE RBI TAKE TO HEDGE THE RISKS OF ARBITRAGE BETWEEN THE REPO AND REVERSE REPO RATE? PLZ...
KINDLY POST UR COMMENTS AT gpanigrahy@gmail.com
I'd like to see the decimal accuracy of 4 digits for all transactions. (ex. 1.1234).
and I too would love to see some kind of account for Dividends. This really is a great portfolio tracking tool. Me like it.
clsnyder -
here are some instructions for adding cash to your portfolio. are these the steps you're already following? if not, give 'em a try.
otherwise, please let us know, and we may be able to look into it.
cheers,
Ben
I am interested in viewing/tracking my options trades and also list "Non-Symbol" Transactions like Dividend Receipt etc. Overall I am very very excited with the Google Portfolio. I wish some times soon we will be able to trade stocks directly from google account :))
portfolio unreliable real value without dividend posting. we need that google
And another issue. When I close out a position, I want to clear off that security from my list, but when I do that, it clears all the transactions related to that stock, thus losing the cash from the gain.
Good work google, you gave me cash now you've taken it away. Will I ever get it back? A lot of people including me spent a good amount of time updating their portfolios with cash and now all of that was for not?
What happened to the cash linked feature?!?! that was an excellent piece of functionality... please bring it back!
thanks for reporting this, nonick and supersmitty. we've made a change that should have resolved the problem. please post back if the issue persists.
thanks again,
google finance guide ben
I'm probably missing how to do this. But how can you have a portfolio view without being able to add paid Dividends?
today is the 4th and Still NO Cash Link anymore, what happened?
Works for me just fine
I don't have the cash link anymore either.
google portfolio needs a lot of improvement.......the best is msn
Could we have some way to track transactions in different currencies? When you buy a stock in a different currency than your default one there doesn't seem to be any conversion that takes place.
Being a financial planner I want to advice you that I have used every finance web portal but this one is slick, but lacks a few important things.
First, get that auto-refresh working again! That's an extremely useful feature. Heck, even MSN's bulky investment toolbox (bulky, but thorough and accurate) does that.
Secondly, when entering mutual fund transactions, please allow three decimal places instead of rounding to two. All mutual fund transactions are done in three decimals. This obviously doesn't make a huge difference in the dollar amount, but Google is all about precision in statistics right?
U can also check the amount of credit in the same way. It is very effective.
google finance do you hear us! We want more accuracy. I would suggest 0.0000 instead of 0.00. My DRIP accounts go down to 4 decimal places.
garufa above is right: We need the ability to track the real value of our portfolios - and without linking cash dividends to individual stocks, we can't do that. Some large percentage (can't recall the exact number) of historical long-term gains in the stock market is due to dividend gains - so this is something that every investor should be tracking. I love the service, but I'm definitely looking forward to being able to post dividend results!
I'm quite pleased with Google Finance so far.
However, after carefully entering my Portfolio I noticed that the summary totals at the bottom were incorrect. They were obviously too low. To confirm that there is indeed an addition bug, I exported my portfolio as an excel file, imported it into excel and did an autosum of the portfolio market value. Sure enough, the Google Finance sum was approximately only 50% of the actual value that Excel calculated from the same information. Anyone else notice that the bold sums displayed at the bottom of the Google Finance Portfolios are significantly off?
@Scott: what currency is your portfolio in? I also discovered this "bug" one day when I entered a transaction and for ages couldn't work it out (also exported to excel to check). Turned out the total had switched to US$ even though my portfolio is in AUD. Go to edit portfolio and check the default currency.
Two suggestions:
1: Have ability to see various performance rates, e.g. YTD, 2yr, overall annual return rate (that accounts for the date of purchase of each stock)
2: Be able to automatically track against any index. Track as if you had purchased the same amount of an index fund for each one of your purchases, and then tell you how you perform against it for your entire portfolio.
Thanks Google!
Is there any problem with "Cost basis" column?
I have 3 transactions for example:
1) buy stock A 1000 shares at $10
2) buy stock A 1000 shares at $20
Now, the "Cost basis" shows $30000 whoch is correct. Bear in mind now the average price is $15/share
3) Sell stock A 1000 shares at $30.
Now, I have 1000 shares left, but somehow "Cost basis" shows $20000.
Shouldn't it be $15000 ?
Thanks for any input!
I've been using Google Portfolios a lot this year. Great job. I appreciate what you guys are doing.
I tend to settle on one or two sources for my financial information. I'm getting to the point where Google can't track my portfolio accurately. When I switch to another financial portal, I will probably stop visiting Google Finance (but not other parts of Google.) If you could address the following items, I will keep using it.
Here's my wish list:
1) I would love to be able to get dividend information automatically for the symbols in my account. Cash deposit transactions are perfect and that's how I currently handle it -- manually.
2) better handling of symbols that are no longer valid. (for example: HIRE, ABX, BVIS). I would like to be able to add transactions back to when these were valid. (This is important because I keep my master portfolio on Google that ties the various brokerage accounts into one place. I use Excel to process the information.) Alternatively, it would be good to have a dummy symbol to use for invalid symbols so that I can keep my portfolio reconciled. Any ideas on this are welcome!
3) better handling of stock splits. I would like to enter historical share and price information as it actually occurred and not manually adjust it to get it to work. NOTE: I can work around this problem.
4) This would be fantastic: the ability to show historical performance of the portfolio. For example, I would like to be able to see YTD performance which includes not just the stocks I currently own, but closed positions. Also: it would be nice to be able to hide closed positions without deleting the data.
Thanks! Dave
Would really like to have the ability to add dividends received to my cash, but have it count as % of return, rather than a deposit of cash.
Just wondering under my performance section, everything from the column Shares and onwards displays no data. The shares are in AUD denomination and my default currency is AUD. Any other reason why Google Finance would not display data here?
Any chance Google will add Forex capabilities to Google Finance? It would be stellar to be able to track currency pairs in my portfolio.
The portolio in Chrome can not setting date ... what's problems...??
The portolio cann't accept any new transaction input for 2 days. What happened?
It shows error:
Server Error
The service you requested is not available yet.
Please try again in 30 seconds.
The portolio cann't accept any new transaction input for 2 days. What happened?
It shows error:
Server Error
The service you requested is not available yet.
Please try again in 30 seconds.
Please include dividend options
Please we need more decimal places, 2 d.p. definitely not enough...
yahoo finance provides 4 or 6 decimal places...
Hey Guys,
I love using Google Finance for research, and you are getting closer to replacing Microsoft's investment toolbox for me, but you aren't quite there yet.
I track 6 accounts and I need a view where I can see what is happening with all of them at the same time. If there were just a view option that aggregates all of my portfolios so I can see the big picture, then I think I could get rid of the cumbersome MS investment toolbox.
I applaud you for adding cash tracking, and I also encourage you to address tracking dividends.
I look forward to seeing how this service evolves. You guys rock.
It is terrible. There is less view of information. There is waisted space. It is harder to see the big picture. Please give users to option of keeping with the old version or modify the new to get better view of information.
HOW DO I PUT REAL MONEY ONTO MY GOOGLE PORTFOLIO???? I DID WHAT U SAID ABOVE... CLICK ON ADD CASH... BUT ITS NOT REAL MONEY IT LETS ME PUT IN 10 MILLION... IS THERE A PLACE U CAN ENTER A VISA NUMBER AND ACTUALLY BUY/SELL WITH REAL CASH????
google i'ts just a lousy way to keep track of your portfolio, try MSN, BUT still U need to open an acct. w/a trading co. like scottrade etc.
Cash in different currencies must be trivial to add. If I have USD, GBP and EUR and my default currency is EUR, then you just fake that I have a stock that is priced 1 in USD and in GBP, so that the position * exRate gives you the value in EUR.
Please do.
Alternatively, I say that now you have quotes for CURRENCY like EURUSD, ect.
Just let add transactions for such symbols and etvoila' you have currencies support...
I like the portfolio tracker, but have a couple of points which when implemented could be much better.
1. Dividend to be linked to the particular stock and not just cash input. This way we could track the real value of our investments.
2. Google is using the first in first out methodology to give the cost basis of stocks, which is not always correct. For eg.
I buy 100 shares of stock XYZ for $10.00
I buy 100 shares of stock XYZ for $8.00
My average now is $9.00
I now sell the second bundle of 100 shares which i bought for $8.00 at $9.00.
Google takes this as a loss for the sell transaction thinking i'm selling the first bundle of 100 shares.
There should be some way to say which bundle of shares i'm selling or something like that.
Hope it gets implemented.
Yes! Adding a "sync" feature from your brokerage would be the ultimate finishing touch!
How do I create multiple lots? I purchased shares a few months ago, now I want to purchase more, but I want to track that transaction separately...Google Finance won't let me add 2 of the same symbols in my portfolio.
I have started using google finance to keep track of my portfolio. But I cannot make any sell transactions even if I do have that particular stock in my portfolio.It shows that it is not a valid transaction.I have checked all the details but still it doesn't work. May be Indian markets are not fully supported yet
How do I upload QFX or OFX files from Zecco? All I get are 6-8 single value fields and then a huge batch of code at the end.
Microsoft is discontinuing Portfolio Manager in Nov. I have used it for many years and generly like it (rely on it).
Will I be able to import my MS portfolio before it's discontinued?
I'm having a problem tracking the portfolio value after selling a stock. I've recorded a sell transaction for the stock and checked the "cash linked" checkbox, but that didn't increase the cash value of the portfolio - so I added a cash deposit for the value of the sale.
Now the cost basis of the stock is null, so my gain and gain% isn't accurate.
What am I doing wrong?
why the cash account automatically change into U.S. dollars? is it possible to see the account balance in europe dollars or japenese yen?
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