Portfolio list page

The portfolio list page provides a quick summary of all portfolios within your stockworm account:

The portfolio list table contains the following items:

• portfolio - the name of the portfolio
• (date) - the closing value of the portfolio as of the given date (determined by the date span)
• $ gain - the dollar gain between the current value and the previous date (adjusted for cash deposits and/or withdrawals)
• % gain - the percent gain between the current value and the previous date (adjusted for cash deposits and/or withdrawals)
• last close - the previous closing value of the portfolio
• $ gain - the dollar gain between the current value and the last close (adjusted for cash deposits and/or withdrawals)
• % gain - the percent gain between the current value and the last close (adjusted for cash deposits and/or withdrawals)
• current - the current value of the portfolio (using delayed quotes)

Clicking on any of the column headings (e.g. date, gains, etc.) the first time will sort the corresponding column in ascending order. Clicking a second time will sort the corresponding column in descending order.

The date span selector is used for the longer term gain calculation in the portfolio list table. Several pre-assigned date ranges are available (year-to-date, month-to-date, etc.). A custom-to-date option is also available if you wish to more precisely specify the beginning date for the gain calculation.

Creating a new portfolio

Creating a new portfolio is easy. Simply click on the "create new portfolio" quick link when you are on any portfolio page and you will be taken to the "create new portfolio" page. You will be asked to provide a name for the portfolio and a starting dollar cash balance in the portfolio. You can then optionally select an autoinvestor strategy to manage the portfolio (this will enable you to received automated recommendations each day for your portfolio):

Portfolio sections

Once you've created a new portfolio, you will note that portfolios have four sections:

• Holdings - provides a summary of current portfolio holdings including current quotes and per stock gain/loss figures.
• Performance - provides a table and plot for displaying portfolio performance over time with or without a comparison with market index data.
• Transactions - lists individual stock and cash transactions for editing or deleting.
• Autoinvestor - provides the necessary settings to associate a strategy with the current portfolio and to run the autoinvestor.

To navigate between these sections, simply click on the link for the sections of interest (left panel).

At the top of each section is a snapshot summary of your portfolio, showing a six month performance plot along with other helpful information such as the stock value, cash value, and total value of the account and the autoinvestor strategy managing the account:

Of course, viewing an empty portfolio isn't very interesting, so the next step is to populate your new portfolio with stock and cash transactions. The sections below describe how to create and edit portfolio transactions.

Stock purchases and sales

To purchase or sell a stock, click on the appropriate link in any individual portfolio page (e.g. holdings, performance, etc.). The stock purchase page is shown below, along with an explanation of the relevant terms:

• type - This pulldown allows you to select the type of stock transaction (purchase or sale). The option is automatically selected for you by clicking the appropriate link ('stock purchase' or 'stock sale'), so the pulldown is only provided as a convenience if you wish to override your original choice.
• use cash - This check box determines whether or not the cash which results from the transaction is drawn from the portfolio cash balance. For example, a stock purchase with 'use cash' checked will decrease the portfolio cash balance while a stock purchase without 'use cash' will add an asset to the portfolio without a resultant cash decrease. The default option is to have 'use cash' checked.
• symbol - The stock symbol for the transaction.
• shares - The number of shares purchased or sold.
• price - The stock price for the transaction.
• commission - The dollar amount of commission paid, if any (this field is optional).
• date - The date of the transaction. The default date setting is the current date.
• submit - Press 'submit' to add the transaction to your portfolio.

Cash Deposits and Withdrawals

To deposit or withdraw cash, click on the appropriate link in the 'new transactions' box on the left of the page. The deposit page is shown below, along with an explanation of the relevant terms:

• type - This pulldown allows you to select the type of cash transaction (deposit or withdrawal). The option is automatically selected for you by clicking the appropriate link ('deposit cash' or 'withdraw cash'), so the pulldown is only provided as a convenience if you wish to override your original choice.
• amount - The amount of the cash transaction in dollars and cents.
• date - The date of the transaction. The default date setting is the current date.
• submit - Press 'submit' to add the transaction to your portfolio.

Stock Dividends

To record a stock dividend, click on the appropriate link in any individual portfolio page. The stock dividend page is shown below, along with an explanation of the relevant terms:

• symbol - The stock symbol for the transaction.
• shares - The number of shares received as a dividend.
• date - The date of the transaction. The default date setting is the current date.
• submit - Press 'submit' to add the transaction to your portfolio.

Cash Dividends

To record a cash dividend, click on the appropriate link in any individual portfolio page. The cash dividend page is shown below, along with an explanation of the relevant terms:

• symbol - The stock symbol for the transaction.
• amount - The dollar amount of the dividend.
• date - The date of the transaction. The default date setting is the current date.
• submit - Press 'submit' to add the transaction to your portfolio.

Account Income

To record account income such as interest or dividends, click on the appropriate link in any individual portfolio page. The account income page is shown below, along with an explanation of the relevant terms:

• amount - The dollar amount of the income.
• source - The source income (interest, dividend, other).
• date - The date of the transaction. The default date setting is the current date.
• submit - Press 'submit' to add the transaction to your portfolio.

Account Fees

To record an account fee such as margin interest, click on the appropriate link in any individual portfolio page. The account fee page is shown below, along with an explanation of the relevant terms:

• amount - The dollar amount of the fee.
• source - The source of the fee (foreign tax, management fee, margin interest, other).
• date - The date of the transaction. The default date setting is the current date.
• submit - Press 'submit' to add the transaction to your portfolio.

Hiding and deleting portfolios

Portfolios are an important part of your investment approach and therefore the Stockworm system provides two mechanisms for removing portfolios from your account. If you hide a portfolio, the portfolio and all associated transactions will be saved should you decide to show the portfolio again in the future. Deleting a portfolio is a permanent action, removing the portfolio and all associated transactions from the Stockworm system.

The visibility status of each portfolio can be seen by clicking on the 'hide/delete portfolios' link in the quick links section to the left of each portfolio page. This will bring up a management page from which you can toggle portfolios being shown or hidden or you can opt to permanently delete a portfolio:

If you opt to delete a portfolio, either by selecting the hide/delete quick link when viewing an individual portfolio or from the hide/delete management page, you will be presented with a page requesting confirmation of your desire to delete the portfolio. You can opt to cancel and return to the portfolio list page, hide the portfolio, or permanently delete the portfolio:

Renaming portfolios

If you would like to rename your portfolio, simply select the appropriate link from the 'this portfolio' box on the left of the page and enter the new name in the popup text box.