Incorrect Negative Stock Balances in Portfolio

Dec 11, 2005 2 Replies

Sometimes, when selling all shares of an individual stock, the portfolio shows a negative balance (generally a whole number) of shares while the transaction record correctly shows a share balance of



  1. This seems to happen when the stock was purchased in more than one block, or there were splits or dividends reinvested.



It occurred with an older version of Quicken. I hoped it would get fixed with a newer version, but when I upgraded to Quicken 2005 the problem recurred, including both old transactions and new transactions since the upgrade.



This is the Mac version under OSX 10.4.


Hi, Alan.

I never used a Mac, so I'm only guessing. But this problem happens often in Windows versions of Quicken because of rounding. Quicken often retains 6 or more decimal places internally, even when showing us only 3 places. So a

4-for-3 split on stock when I hold 200 shares would entitle me to 66 2/3 new shares. Q might show that I now have 266.667 shares, but secretly it knows that I have only 266.6666667. So if I try to sell all 266.667, it will accuse me of trying to sell .000333 more shares than I have. If the sale somehow gets recorded anyhow, Q will show me that I own zero shares, but internally it will be remembering that missing .000333 shares.

Some variation on this little example is what you may be running up against.

The usual fix is to go back through all the transactions in that stock, chronologically. Be sure that the arithmetic on each transaction is done in such a way that the number of shares that Q shows onscreen is the same as the number calculated internally. On reinvested dividends, for example, always enter the total cost in dollars and even pennies and the shares in even thousands (.000). Let Q calculate the price per share, but don't ever let it calculate the number of shares.

If that's not it, post back. Some Mac/Quicken gurus hang out here and can probably help.

RC

The problem isn't round-off error; the negative balances are integral numbers of shares. In one case, I had a balance of 16 shares, sold all of them (actually, there was a merger) and the Portfolio view showed a negative balance of 16 shares, while the share balance when I did a report showed 0 shares (actually, the stock didn't show up, since there was no balance).

For another stock, there's a balance of -1 (m> I never used a Mac, so I'm only guessing. But this problem happens

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