Single letter ticker symbols

George P

I am using Quicken 2017 Rental Property Manager R6. I have four stocks that I can not download prices for in my Morgan Staley account. The ticker symbols are A, C, D, and BRK'B.

To post this question, I looked at my holdings. I found shares for A, C, and BRK'D, but no shares of D.

So my first question, what is it about these stocks that I get error messages when downloading prices?

My second question, is why is Quicken downloading process for a stock that I no longer own?

NotACPA

DO CTRL-Y, and see if the "Download Quotes" box is checked (not checked, as appropriate) for those securities.

BTW, the "single letter" isn't significant.  I download quotes for V 6 days a week.

Rocket J Squirrel

I also have a problem with a one-letter symbol. I haven't held Citigroup (C) stock since 2009, but One Step Update always complains that it can't download C. But I definitely have Quicken set not to try to download C. The download checkbox is unchecked both in this dialog and in the Securities List.

q_lurker

I have seen an ongoing pattern where Quicken reports XX out of YY securities downloaded, then claims that these several (the difference) stocks did not get prices downloaded (RJS's picture).  The problem is that the list (C in his case) is not accurate with respect to the problem securities.  That is, again for his case, the program is say C did not get its prices updated, but instead it is some other security that missed the data.  

In one of my cases, the problem securities turned out to be two bonds which had no ticker (naturally) but were checked to have prices downloaded.  Quicken never pointed to those two bonds; I had to review the Security List and the Download Quotes check boxes to identify the culprits.  

This issue dates back to QW2014 and possibly earlier.

Rocket J Squirrel

q.lurker said:

I have seen an ongoing pattern where Quicken reports XX out of YY securities downloaded, then claims that these several (the difference) stocks did not get prices downloaded (RJS's picture).  The problem is that the list (C in his case) is not accurate with respect to the problem securities.  That is, again for his case, the program is say C did not get its prices updated, but instead it is some other security that missed the data.  

In one of my cases, the problem securities turned out to be two bonds which had no ticker (naturally) but were checked to have prices downloaded.  Quicken never pointed to those two bonds; I had to review the Security List and the Download Quotes check boxes to identify the culprits.  

This issue dates back to QW2014 and possibly earlier.

Thank you, q.lurker! You hit the nail on the head. I found a bond and a CD which were checked to download quotes. Disabling their downloads did indeed squelch the complaint about C stock.

George P

I went looking based on q.lurker's comments and discovered some problems. I had dummy ticker symbols for the Federal Thrift Savings Program funds because I used MoneyThumb to create QFX files from PDFs, which I deleted the ticker symbols. I had incorrect ticker symbols for a Voya 401k, which I corrected. I'm still getting the errors, but few of them. Any suggestions on a view that can help me sort these out? (I don't own any bonds or CDs except in mutual funds.)

q_lurker

George P said:

I went looking based on q.lurker's comments and discovered some problems. I had dummy ticker symbols for the Federal Thrift Savings Program funds because I used MoneyThumb to create QFX files from PDFs, which I deleted the ticker symbols. I had incorrect ticker symbols for a Voya 401k, which I corrected. I'm still getting the errors, but few of them. Any suggestions on a view that can help me sort these out? (I don't own any bonds or CDs except in mutual funds.)

It is OK to have dummy ticker symbols; I have quite a few to a lot.  The problem I spoke of only arises when you also have those securities checked to download quotes.  At that point, when downloading quotes via Quicken's servers, a match will not be found and Quicken will report the discrepancy (XX of YY prices downloaded).  The problem is that Quicken then points to the wrong securities as not finding prices.  
So you should be able to put ticker symbols back in for your TSP funds, just don't tag them to download quotes.  You'll still be able to get pricing through the QFX file.  

I don't know of a helpful 'view' for your case.  In my case, I was able to sort the security list by Type (click the header) to get all bonds together and my error was evident in the Download Quotes column.  

Footnote:  I doubt that MoneyThumb is creating a legally valid QFX file.  A conversion to a QIF file should be legit, though the QIF import is less robust than the QFX import.   

George P

Update:  I looked up BRK'B and that is the correct Ticker Symbol; however, I figured out that Quicken requires it to be shown as BRK.B --- a period instead of an apostrophe! With that correction and changing RDS'A and RDS'B to RDS.A and RDS.B, respectively, I reduced the number of errors. I'm having the dreaded feeling I may have to deselect groups of securities and look for the problems through successive iteration to narrow it down to the offending culprit(s).

George P

George P said:

I went looking based on q.lurker's comments and discovered some problems. I had dummy ticker symbols for the Federal Thrift Savings Program funds because I used MoneyThumb to create QFX files from PDFs, which I deleted the ticker symbols. I had incorrect ticker symbols for a Voya 401k, which I corrected. I'm still getting the errors, but few of them. Any suggestions on a view that can help me sort these out? (I don't own any bonds or CDs except in mutual funds.)

Regrettably, you cannot import a QIF file into an investment account.

q_lurker

George P said:

Update:  I looked up BRK'B and that is the correct Ticker Symbol; however, I figured out that Quicken requires it to be shown as BRK.B --- a period instead of an apostrophe! With that correction and changing RDS'A and RDS'B to RDS.A and RDS.B, respectively, I reduced the number of errors. I'm having the dreaded feeling I may have to deselect groups of securities and look for the problems through successive iteration to narrow it down to the offending culprit(s).

I do not know of any standardization on classes for tickers.  Some use apostrophes,  some use periods, some use hyphens.  Quicken's data supplier seems uniform on periods.  And then you have Alphabet with GOOG and GOOGL.  Preferred stocks are another common 'gotcha' for ticker symbols.    

q_lurker

George P said:

I went looking based on q.lurker's comments and discovered some problems. I had dummy ticker symbols for the Federal Thrift Savings Program funds because I used MoneyThumb to create QFX files from PDFs, which I deleted the ticker symbols. I had incorrect ticker symbols for a Voya 401k, which I corrected. I'm still getting the errors, but few of them. Any suggestions on a view that can help me sort these out? (I don't own any bonds or CDs except in mutual funds.)

Regrettably, you cannot import a QIF file into an investment account.

Not true.
See: https://getsatisfaction.com/quickencommunity/topics/faq-is-there-a-way-that-will-allow-you-to-import...

George P

George P said:

I went looking based on q.lurker's comments and discovered some problems. I had dummy ticker symbols for the Federal Thrift Savings Program funds because I used MoneyThumb to create QFX files from PDFs, which I deleted the ticker symbols. I had incorrect ticker symbols for a Voya 401k, which I corrected. I'm still getting the errors, but few of them. Any suggestions on a view that can help me sort these out? (I don't own any bonds or CDs except in mutual funds.)

That is not importing, but using a conversion program. I use MoneyThumb for that purpose.

George P

I got it down to two ticker symbols -- A and C. I started going through each stock one at a time and found several ticker symbols that were no longer valid in the stock names that began with the letter A. I ran an update and received only one error. I jumped ahead to the stock names that began with the letter C and found several more ticker symbols that no longer existed. (In both cases, many of the stocks were from 2009 and 2010 and I no longer hand any holdings.) I ran an update and NO ERRORS!

My conclusion is that the error lists the first stock alphabetically regardless of the stock in error.

George P

Rocket J Squirrel said:

I also have a problem with a one-letter symbol. I haven't held Citigroup (C) stock since 2009, but One Step Update always complains that it can't download C. But I definitely have Quicken set not to try to download C. The download checkbox is unchecked both in this dialog and in the Securities List.

As a test to my theory, go through all the stocks that begin with the letter C and look up the ticker symbol. Delete the ticker symbol if not valid. Run the One Step Update. If you still get an error, check the ticker symbols that begin with the letter C. The Security List tools list lets you sort by name or symbol. Let us know if this works.

q_lurker

George P said:

I went looking based on q.lurker's comments and discovered some problems. I had dummy ticker symbols for the Federal Thrift Savings Program funds because I used MoneyThumb to create QFX files from PDFs, which I deleted the ticker symbols. I had incorrect ticker symbols for a Voya 401k, which I corrected. I'm still getting the errors, but few of them. Any suggestions on a view that can help me sort these out? (I don't own any bonds or CDs except in mutual funds.)

That is not importing, ...

Did you read and understand everything including the links in the cited article?  Absolutely, that reference is about how to import a QIF file into all account types including investment accounts into a Quicken data file.  Yes, there are also conversion programs to move from csv formatted data to QIF formatted data.  That was not the point of my citation.      

UKR

In your Security List, are any of these stocks also marked as "include on Watch List"?
And, are you displaying the Watch List in your Portfolio View and/or tracking the Watch List stocks?

If you don't, remove all Watch List checkmarks. That reduces the amount of download traffic and the errors you are getting.

George P

George P said:

I went looking based on q.lurker's comments and discovered some problems. I had dummy ticker symbols for the Federal Thrift Savings Program funds because I used MoneyThumb to create QFX files from PDFs, which I deleted the ticker symbols. I had incorrect ticker symbols for a Voya 401k, which I corrected. I'm still getting the errors, but few of them. Any suggestions on a view that can help me sort these out? (I don't own any bonds or CDs except in mutual funds.)

I get it, you have to be right.

George P

UKR said:

In your Security List, are any of these stocks also marked as "include on Watch List"?
And, are you displaying the Watch List in your Portfolio View and/or tracking the Watch List stocks?

If you don't, remove all Watch List checkmarks. That reduces the amount of download traffic and the errors you are getting.

I understand the download traffic, but I have items on my watch list and the errors are now gone, so that wasn't it. It were ticker symbols that were probably valid years ago, but have now been probably delisted. It appears to be an alphabetical thing. You get the error for the first ticker symbol beginning with the same letter. Ticker C error, means problem in stocks with name or ticker symbol beginning with C. I've asked another using having the same problem to test my theory.

George P

I confirmed the problem is that the wrong ticker symbol is being returned in the error dialog. I resolved my problem and then a few days ago I received an error message that there was a problem with ticker symbol D, which is Dominion Energy and it is correct. The then when through and looked up all the ticker symbols that begin with D. The problem was DD (E I DU PONT DE NEMOURS & CO) and DOW (Dow Chemical), which merged. I unchecked both of them and the problem went away.

michael darab

George P said:

I confirmed the problem is that the wrong ticker symbol is being returned in the error dialog. I resolved my problem and then a few days ago I received an error message that there was a problem with ticker symbol D, which is Dominion Energy and it is correct. The then when through and looked up all the ticker symbols that begin with D. The problem was DD (E I DU PONT DE NEMOURS & CO) and DOW (Dow Chemical), which merged. I unchecked both of them and the problem went away.

I had the same problem but C was listed 4 times.  I check the stocks that begin with C but still have the problem.  I then  checked all of my stock symbol.  Found many  stocks that symbol could not be found [stock merged or were delisted].  Thanks for the information that the wrong ticker symbol is being returned in the error dialog.  I had this problem with various version of quicken, but now I get an update error free.    Maybe Quicken will fixed this problem in an updated.