Funds Return % N/A with 2005

Go into each security and check the price history. Sound's like you've got insufficient data (in each security showing an N/A) for Quicken to perform the necessary calculations.

You might also try doing a "Historical price update" for each affected security.

Last possibility is that your QPH file experienced some damage somewhere along the line (possibly before the update) and that Q2005 doesn't know how to deal with it. A "File Validation" might be in order.

Adding to the above reply - the problem is not with the Basic version - I've used Basic for the past few years and it does report the returns - given the proper background data.

Validate (and Super-validate) does not validate the QPH file. If the OP has corruption in his QPH file, he may have to just dump it and reload historical prices. Or QIF export the file, manually correct all the errors and then re-import the file - which I think can be done.

I'm confused; how can one have a return on securities in their Watch List? Generally, you don't own the securities in your Watch List (which is what the Watch List is for), how can you have a return on them? (If you happen to have a security in your Watch List that you also own shares of, then *your* return will show in the Watch List as well as in the account where you hold the security).

Perhaps the term "return" was being used loosely, but that is what Quicken calls the columns associated with the mutual fund's (not my account) historic performance over time for: Return (%) YTD Return (%) 1-Year Return (%) 3-Year Return (%) 5-Year

It was a great tool for picking funds to invest in and worked great with

2002 Basic. Now it just shows N/A or blank for funds in the Watch List and also N/A for 5-Year of funds that I own. Historic data is there if I look at the fund's chart or the raw data. At lease with 2002, I'm sure the YTD and 1-5 year "returns" were not using historical data because they displayed even without 5 years of data. Based other postings, I tried validating the files (I have 3 QDFs, all with the same problem) and updated historical data again a couple different ways. I'm not sure how to do a "Super Validate".

Any more thoughts? It sounded like Mike B was suggesting deleting the QPH files and having Quicken rebuild them. Truthfully I don't know enough about Quicken or the relationship of the QDF, QPH, QEL, IDX files (QSD in 2002), so I'm nervous about doing it.

Thanks for everyone's input.

--Gene

John Pollard wrote:

I knew what you were referring to, though I do think the term "return" does get used to cover a lot of situations. (Q2005 also has 1/3/5 year return amounts

I just cranked up my Q2002 deluxe for Windows, US. The above "columns" do not exist in the Q2002 Portfolio View. There are columns for ROI(%) for the periods named above ... but they do not produce any values in the Portfolio View for "Watch List" securities either (and I have securities in the Watch List with price histories). In fact I fiddled with using as many column names as I could think of that might have to do with "returns" and still got nothing for securities in the Watch List.

When I read Intuit's definitions for "return" type fields, it always sounds to me like it refers to *my* portfolio; to securities that I own that Quicken can actually compute returns for.

Also my reading of the help about the Watch List seems to indicate it has limited capability - generally the ability to track the prices of securities you do not own ... as one might expect.

You know what they say about historical returns..

My observation is that Q2002 and Q2005 treat returns for Watch List securities the same: N/A (or for some fields, blank) ... unless you actually own the security. And some views in the Portfolio View do not show the Watch List at all.

Works for me (Q2005 deluxe for Windows, US)

Not sure what your terms mean here; but the way I read the "Glossary", you need to own the securities for the period for which you wish to see the returns ... and that is the way it seems to work for me. (You do not necessarily need prices for every day of the entire period.)

Just like Validate, but before clicking validate, hold down CTRL and SHIFT and keep holding them down until Validate finishes. Make a backup before doing this and check out any report/log produced.

There is no reason to be nervous about this; the QPH file contains all your price history (with the exception, in certain circumstances, of the prices in Quicken investment transactions). Rename the QPH file and let Quicken create a new one (when you next open Quicken); then download price history for 5 years and see what happens. When you are satisfied, just rename the QPH file back and you will be back where you started. (I have done this dozens of times).

(If you're still nervous, make a backup of your Quicken fileset before starting).

If renaming .qph doesn't enlighten, try just creating a New Quicken file, setup a Watch List for one security, download historical prices, and check the Portfolio View.

Personally, I do not think that price history corruption is playing a part in what you are seeing for returns, especially if you have multiple securities you have owned for 5 years but can not get returns for.

But Validate does miss some things, and sometimes it is date problems that it misses. You can manually review the price history for one of your securities that you have owned for 5 years, checking especially the oldest prices to see if there is any obvious corruption. You can do the same thing for the transactions for that security using the Investment Transaction report.

One other thing to look for: placeholders. I believe that if you have any placeholder transactions for the securities you own, they will not get correct returns calculated for them. In the account register, a placeholder will have an action code of "Entry" ... likewise in the Investment Transaction report. You will have to at least enter a cost estimate in the placeholder, but most probably, you will have to enter any missing historical transactions that the placeholder is holding a place for.

I meant to add that in the Portfolio View, fields that can not be calculated due to placeholders are marked with an asterisk; which is "explained" at the bottom of the view.

In the Portfolio view (tab), there is a Show function to view data in many different standard ways (Value, Fundamentals, Quotes, Mutual Funds, etc.) plus 7 Custom views. For each of these many views, the columns have a default configuration, but using Options/Customize Current View, there are almost 100 choices for the columns. I use several custom flavors of custom Mutual Funds where I had chosen Return (%) with my version of 2002. Perhaps Return (%) isn't normally in 2005 but since I had it in some of my views, maybe it got imported. I see the default Mutual Fund view in 2005 has Avg. Annual Return (%) which has a different result than Return (%).

After some more experimenting, it looks like I found a way to solve my problem, but I DON'T like it. It seems that sometime between 2002 (my version) and 2005 Quicken changed the way historical performance is treated. It seems to me there is no such thing as a watch list anymore in 2005, because you have to own shares to see how a fund has historically performed.

Since I want to see a funds historic performance in periods out to

5-Years, I need to have a phony entry purchasing one share 5 years ago. While I'm sure Quicken has made many improvements since 2002, this was a BIG step backwards. Mutual Fund portfolios (watch lists) is the only thing I ever use in Quicken. Before I go through the excercise of entering phony transactions in over 200 funds, I may try the Premier version, but it doesn't look like there is much chance of it being the solution. I also saw, somewhere that the limit is 50 funds in a watch list, where I previously had 150 with Quicken 2002 Basic.

I'll post something if Premier solves it or a better trick is found. I still need to try deleting the QPH files as suggested. I did try Ctrl/Validate from the File Operations menu. I never use placeholders and don't see any asterisks. One thing nice about this problem is I'm learning more about Quicken (some bad). It's amazing how much some of you know (especially John Pollard).

--Gene

John Pollard wrote:

Quicken Premier will not change the behaviour you are seeing.

Return (%) *is* in Q2005 (deluxe, US); but not in Q2002 (deluxe, US, anyway).

In Q2002, there is something called ROI(%), which is also present in Q2005.

When the Portfolio View is open, click on "Glossary" (Portfolio View menu item) and read the definitions for each of the fields that you are interested in.

Not so. There is a Watch List; not sure why you came to believe otherwise; still, unless there is some trick I have not discovered, the Q2005 Watch List works like the Q2002 Watch List; no return info for unowned securities. (Well, in Q2005 anyway, you can get Morningstar's return rating - and risk and overall rating as well - for mutual funds you do not own).

If Quicken (any version) only shows returns for owned securities, then your workaround sounds like the only way to get the info you want directly in Quicken. More work than entering a security in the Watch List, but still doable.

And while I am not aware of any limit on number of securities in the Watch List (but would not be surprised if there was one), that is not material to your workaround. You can not own any shares of any security that appears *only* in the Watch List; to implement your workaround, you would need to create a dummy Quicken account (call it My Watch List, if you like) and enter your Buys, or Shares Added, transactions for 1 share of each security you want to "watch". You can "Hide" (and/or deselect) the account (and/or its securities) from reports, the account bar, Portfolio Views, etc. ... except for the specific places you want to see its contents.

Premiere might offer return info from companies like Morningstar or Marketwatch, etc which could give you returns for securities you do not own. When I look at the demo for Q2005 Premiere, I notice that the Investing Center has an additional tab, not available in Q2005 Deluxe, called "Performance", where I see that Morningstar data is shown; perhaps they have the 1/3/5 year returns there.