What information is available on the portfolio tool?

Stock Splits

The portfolio tool intelligently handles stock splits, and will automatically adjust a holding using the split ratio. The transactions tab will show the original number of shares purchased and the split ratio, while the performance tab will show the new ‘adjusted’ amount.

Currency

When dealing with global portfolios, currency calculations can be complicated. Securities within the FT symbol set all have a currency in which it is valued. For example, MS is priced in pence whereas IBM is priced in dollars. It is important to note that in this case FT uses the base currency of the primary stock exchange on which the security is traded.

You have the option to specify a portfolio currency. This can be done by clicking into a portfolio and changing the settings to reflect this. When the security values, such as gain or market value, are rolled up for all the companies, each is first converted from its own currency to the portfolio currency, using today’s exchange rate. Then all the summary values will be displaced in the portfolio currency.

Cash in your portfolio

When a transaction is first created, the initial cash value is set to $0. Any “Buy” transaction that is created will debit the cash line. If no “Cash” transaction is created to offset your holding’s cost basis, the cash line shows a negative value. To balance the cash line, a new “Cash” transaction must be created. This “Cash” transaction should at least equal the cost basis of all current holdings.

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