Option securities

Mark256

I trade options on a weekly basis, so now my securities list has grown unwieldy.  If I go through and delete those that have expired how will I know what to record at tax time and  how I am doing gain/loss.

miklk

You need to keep the ones you have used. (It actually will not even let you delete the security if it has any transactions)

Quicken can handle many securities but does have a limit that they list as 2000 trackable stocks even though I have seen files with more than that still working fine.
https://www.quicken.com/support/size-or-capacity-limitations-quicken-data-file

Many of us work around this problem by "reusing" securities. For example if I buy a QQQ Call, I would just use that repeatedly instead of the exact name downloaded with strike and date. It does get a little complicated matching the securities as Quicken is always trying to use the downloaded exact name. Not worth the trouble for most users but an option.

K.O. (Win-Premier)

I trade lots of options and have >4,500 securities in my securities list.  I've never been able to get a definition of "trackable" but for me, hiding them from the security list and unchecking the download quotes once their expiration date has past works quite well w/ no performance problems.

miklk

K.O. (Win-Premier) said:

I trade lots of options and have >4,500 securities in my securities list.  I've never been able to get a definition of "trackable" but for me, hiding them from the security list and unchecking the download quotes once their expiration date has past works quite well w/ no performance problems.

I have never been able to figure out the real limit (if any) either. Good to know that you have a working 4500 security file though.

Mark256

K.O. (Win-Premier) said:

I trade lots of options and have >4,500 securities in my securities list.  I've never been able to get a definition of "trackable" but for me, hiding them from the security list and unchecking the download quotes once their expiration date has past works quite well w/ no performance problems.

KO, it sounds like you have a good solution, but I don't know to "hide" an option from security list.  Also, are you saying you don't download any subsequent downloads for options?  Sorry, maybe you could give an example?  Thanks.

K.O. (Win-Premier)

K.O. (Win-Premier) said:

I trade lots of options and have >4,500 securities in my securities list.  I've never been able to get a definition of "trackable" but for me, hiding them from the security list and unchecking the download quotes once their expiration date has past works quite well w/ no performance problems.

Pull up the security list (Ctrl+Y is the shortcut).  For securities past their expiration date uncheck the Download Quotes and check the Hide box.  Then be sure the Show Hidden Securities box at the bottom is unchecked and you those hidden securities (i.e. options past expiration) will no longer show in transaction boxes.

If an option is past its expiration then is has no more quotes so there is no reason to leave the download quotes checked.