QMac 2017: Tracking options does not seem to work at all in Quicken

Mike Lane

Ron said:

I am beginning to believe the only solution is to deactivate downloads from you accounts that you trade options with and enter them manually. What a bummer.

Concordman, The download placeholder quantity is different from the quantity in portfolio.  Here is screen of portfolio view of an option showing 400 shares sold short.



So now I click on ADD and the 400 shares has been converted to 4 contracts.



There are several ways to try and resolve.  If you enter 4 shares the price is wrong and portfolio still shows missing shares. You get shares in sync and cost per share is off by 100 fold. This is a QM problem they are working on for a later release.  My workaround is to delete the placeholder and security and start from scratch. The download gives me the symbol used by the broker to the next download matches the entry.   If you get something different from your option trades let me know. I have the issue with two different brokers. But the workaround described only works with TDA. Different workaround for the other. 

Mike Lane

Ron said:

I am beginning to believe the only solution is to deactivate downloads from you accounts that you trade options with and enter them manually. What a bummer.

Lucille, The whole idea of using QM is to reduce manual entry.  If I could only download stock trades and not options I might consider that.  I don't know how to download one without the other.  Please advise how to do that.
 Also option prices are only updated through a broker account download.  Quicken does not track option prices so they are not updated when the stock prices are. 

Concordman

Ron said:

I am beginning to believe the only solution is to deactivate downloads from you accounts that you trade options with and enter them manually. What a bummer.

When I edit the placeholder I use either the # of contracts or # of shares..Doesn't really matter cause the transaction will  need to be edited regardless to make shares & cost correct.

Concordman

Ron said:

I am beginning to believe the only solution is to deactivate downloads from you accounts that you trade options with and enter them manually. What a bummer.

@Lucille, might as well download the option transactions since the editing of the transaction will be the same in either case.

Mike Lane

Ron said:

I am beginning to believe the only solution is to deactivate downloads from you accounts that you trade options with and enter them manually. What a bummer.

Concordman, correct, it doesn't matter # contracts vs # shares. However there is an issue reporting cost after entry.  As suggested I entered the short sale by editing the placeholder.  Refer to earlier comment showing 400 shares in portfolio and 4 in the placeholder.  Follow same transaction below after clicking edit the placeholder. 





When you go to portfolio view the per contract price is filled in as a per share price cost.  The portfolio view converts contracts to shares.  Instead of a cost of 653.83 the cost is 65383.00.


This is the reason for the workaround.  Again that workaround discussed originally applies to TDAmeritrade. The sample shown here is the same problem on a different brokerage account.

Concordman

Ron said:

I am beginning to believe the only solution is to deactivate downloads from you accounts that you trade options with and enter them manually. What a bummer.

Understand fully, My issue has always been that the data in the register must be correct, The info in the PV is always wrong & makes no sense. For me the issue is that the total options transaction when complete is accurate in the Tax Schedule

Rich Cook

Still broken, still ignored by Quicken team.  Apparently having a $50,000 discrepancy in my report is something I am supposed to just accept.  Not important.  

Unknown

I as well am just as frustrated!

Mike Lane

Ron, Rich Cook, I agree on frustration.  FYI: Marcus said the fix would not likely be in a point release because of complexity.  I'm sure I am not telling you something you don't already know, that the problem is multi-faceted.  In summary below are the problems I have found so far with the treatment of options. 

The place holder from down load can be in contracts or shares. Manual entry sometimes either won't let you change shares or multiplies share entry by 100. This behavior changes depending whether it is a manual entry from the start or there was a download prior.  The cost basis is not reported the same in portfolio view as it is in transaction view. Therefore gain or loss is wrong.  The price history can be corrupted with prices by share and by contract. This makes the portfolio graph spike. 

Also the download placeholder and ability to edit it varies between brokers.  I trade options on two broker platforms.  The download placeholders, symbols, and workarounds are different on each.  There isn't a standard.  We might need an option to select by contract or by share for each entry.  

Once downloaded from one broker the security cannot be deleted even if you have removed all the shares and transactions. There is something in the database a user can't see blocking the deletion.  Not being able to delete security forces future manual entries to assume you are entering contracts not shares for that symbol. 

Market values on options update only when getting new download from broker.  Q doesn't track quotes on options to keep that current.  So every time you need updated market value you have to do new download for the account.  I don't expect this fix but could really use the others. 

Rich Cook

Mike Lane said:

Ron, Rich Cook, I agree on frustration.  FYI: Marcus said the fix would not likely be in a point release because of complexity.  I'm sure I am not telling you something you don't already know, that the problem is multi-faceted.  In summary below are the problems I have found so far with the treatment of options. 

The place holder from down load can be in contracts or shares. Manual entry sometimes either won't let you change shares or multiplies share entry by 100. This behavior changes depending whether it is a manual entry from the start or there was a download prior.  The cost basis is not reported the same in portfolio view as it is in transaction view. Therefore gain or loss is wrong.  The price history can be corrupted with prices by share and by contract. This makes the portfolio graph spike. 

Also the download placeholder and ability to edit it varies between brokers.  I trade options on two broker platforms.  The download placeholders, symbols, and workarounds are different on each.  There isn't a standard.  We might need an option to select by contract or by share for each entry.  

Once downloaded from one broker the security cannot be deleted even if you have removed all the shares and transactions. There is something in the database a user can't see blocking the deletion.  Not being able to delete security forces future manual entries to assume you are entering contracts not shares for that symbol. 

Market values on options update only when getting new download from broker.  Q doesn't track quotes on options to keep that current.  So every time you need updated market value you have to do new download for the account.  I don't expect this fix but could really use the others. 

Thanks, actually you are telling me things I don't know.  The conversation I had with Quicken ended with the rep telling me there was nothing wrong.  I gave up because who wants to fight for hours with someone that doesn't see the problem?  I just mentally adjust my balance based on what I know to be true about my account!  Sad.