Forum Discussion
Portfolio tracking in Excel
Hi again,
Thank you for your reply. I am sorry for the very delayed response.
I have been using the built in Excel functions for pricing data because for me, it is the easiest way since I am just an amateur investor. I am trying to create a simple spreadsheet that can track the basics on my investments and past trades because I could not find a software that I liked to track everything for me. And, Excel has greater potential for customization and more complex functions can be built in later. I am impressed by the spreadsheet that you attached and maybe if I need more powerful features in the future, I can implement them.
I am definitely open on re-designing the spreadsheet I have made thus far. I think that adding another sheet would make things easier to track for sure. I have attached my spreadsheet again but have input a few more rows of stock trades. I am open to whatever changes you suggest.
Lastly, I have heard of The Motley Fool but have never spent much time on their site. I recently started investing just to learn more about the stock market and will read up on The Motley Fool as they sound like a valuable resource.
Thanks again for all your help.
Short of a total change to things, I'm suggesting in the attached revision that you track any one position as a single row, the purchase and the sale on the same line. This would get tricky only when you start selling off positions in quantities that differ from the quantities you purchased. If, for example, you had purchased 10 of BABA one one day and then sold 6, retaining 4. There are various ways that could still be handled, which we can leave for the future. So long as you just keep acquiring and selling in the same quantities, this will work.
I then track current prices only for those that are active; the holdings that have been sold are marked as "Closed" with final profit or loss figures calculated and locked in. No need to keep looking at current price (unless you want to; but I'm assuming you make your decisions to purchase based on other inputs).