A.I.M. Users Bulletin Board

[SFSecurity]

RE: N=Portfolio Control...

You've lost me somewhat Allen. You only need Portfolio Control, # Shares and cash reserve (and safe, minimum trade size, vealie-at if you use different values for different holdings).

Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear enough. I'm trying to get the spreadsheet to be the same as the online calculator, which has stock value.

After that I'm going to figure out how to do the vealie-at in the calculator so that it can be all in one place. I have a general handle on the way to do it but it is clumsy. I want to refine it a bit.

I like paper and pencil but it takes me more time than I have given that I have to administer two trusts and my own money. The other thing about playing with a spreadsheet, for me at least, is that I gain a better understanding of how it all works.

I've been doing paper trades since March and am up almost 7% and while I know it won't always be smooth sailing, I feel like my understanding has improved to the point that I will soon take over control of the stock and EFT portfolios as I'm doing much better than the broker my mother used. He really isn't keeping up with inflation and brokerage fees much less generating income for my disabled brother or my daughter who is in college.

My mother was most concerned about generating income and so she was trading growth/preservation of capital for income. Real, net income, once you figure in portfolio loss in value, was only about 1-2%. But she was a tough old bird and had done well overall so I don't think she was wrong for the last 5 years of her life after my father died. However, I was not prepared enough for what I am responsible for because she had a hard time taking me into her confidence. Great Depression, being the one child of the eight and not the oldest, she had to, at age 13, get her family on welfare. Her older brothers and sisters wouldn't tackle the welfare office but she did and succeeded when her mother was pregnant with the last of the eight. By that time her stepfather had died as well as her father so she became the responsible adult in the family.

Anyway, Happy Labor Day and enjoy the weather. I just had tacos for lunch at a fundraiser for the local kids soccer team and it is sunny and not too hot.

Allen