Fidelity download into Quicken issues

Eagle Eye

My downloads into Quicken from Interactive Brokers work fine, and have for many years. My downloads from Fidelity are a pain. It used to work OK, until some months ago. I can't put a specific date because I have been trying to fix it by calls to Fidelity and Quicken for some time. It's been many months I know. The reps at Quicken have had me run a tool (sorry, forget the exact name) that would 'scrub' my quicken file. This was done several times but the errors remain.
Unfortunately, the errors are numerous.
Let me just mention a couple as a start:
I often receive a downloaded transaction from Fidelity that looks like this:
"Expired Call 5275199CW"
The only option I have in order to match this to an actual 'open' transaction is to search through my history file on Fidelity looking for the cash amount involved. I trade a lot so this history file is large, even for just a month. It takes me hours every week to update my Fidelity account in Quicken, yet I still have numerous errors which just won't go away.
Matching the above 'Expired Call' to an opening transaction is not the end of the problem. I've now discovered what this "Expired Call" refers to, so I just enter the transaction manually and delete the 'Expired Call ...' I received in my Transactions register window.
But then when I close out of the Fidelity account I get a popup window showing that there is a problem reconciling the account:
"Expired Call 5275199CW" "-100 shares reported" "0 shares in Quicken"
My manually entered transaction is not reconciling with the open transaction. The above is confusing itself. I assume this info is coming from Fidelity. But you will not find anything like this 'Expired call' in my Fidelity account.
I've attached a picture below, but note there are other discrepancies than just this Expired Call in there.
Fidelity often labels calls as puts and puts as calls. This is not so bad, at least I have a ticker to match when this happens, but worrisome nonetheless. I cannot understand at all how these things could be happening, hence, no clue where to even start.
I would very much appreciate any help offered.

Sincerely,
S Egley

Sherlock

Eagle Eye said:

Thank you so much Sherlock! I'm getting closer to unraveling this issue.

I saved the OFX log file into notepad++ so I can search within it.
I've determined that this infamous '5275199CW' belongs to a 'GLP $22.50 call'

At the download of this 'GLP $22.50 call' into quicken I must not have been watching carefully enough, and mistakenly said that this call was the same as the "GLP $25 call" (which had been opened and closed months before this "GLP $22.50 call" was opened).

I copy and pasted the securities mismatch output from quicken below and put a red mark next to the securities discussed.

So far, I have unchecked the "Matched with online security" box for "5275199CW".
If I understand you correctly, the next time this "5275199CW" comes in from Fidelity, it will ask me to match it to a security in my Security list, yes? But the correct name should be "GLP $22.50 call" but that is not in my security list at the moment.

I don't really care that the strike price is correct in the register. I guess there is no harm in just indicating that this "5275199CW" points to the option with the wrong name that I can see, is there?

Thanks Sherlock,
Eagle Eye

I suggest you create a new GLP $22.50 Call security in Quicken and correct the misassigned GLP $25 Call transactions.  Alternately, you could rename the GLP $25 Call security GLP $22.50 Call, create a new GLP $25 Call security, and correct the misassigned GLP $22.50 Call transactions.

The only real issue with reusing closed Quicken securities is the subsequent confusion doing so may cause.

Eagle Eye

Thanks so much Sherlock! I believe everything is working correctly. Not absolutely sure yet. I will do another update tomorrow, but even if there is another error I know how to fix it!

Sherlock

To prevent the pop-up, I suggest you uncheck the account register in the Compare Portfolio window:  select Edit > Preferences...



There are a many possible causes for a mismatch.  We find Fidelity Investments doesn't reliably update share holdings until a few days after the transaction is posted.

Eagle Eye

Thanks Sherlock.

I need the popup. I want to know where there are problems, otherwise I will have no faith in what Quicken is telling me for gains/losses and all the other things one would be interested in for an investment account.

Unfortunately, it's not due to Fidelity sending transactions late. Some of those mismatches I showed in the picture are old. I usually close my options out early, I seldom hold to the option expiration date. So those dates shown in there are misleading.

I've been trying to debug this "Expired Call 5275199CW" since back in August which is when I first contacted Quicken for help. I've actually figured out what this referred to and manually closed it out, but it keeps showing up in this pop up. Where in the heck is that coming from? Does that mean that Fidelity is reporting this "Expired Call 5275199CW" as still existing in my account with them, or is this somehow coming from Quicken itself?

Sorry, I know this is a tough one. I appreciate the reply.

Eagle Eye

Sherlock

Eagle Eye said:

Thanks Sherlock.

I need the popup. I want to know where there are problems, otherwise I will have no faith in what Quicken is telling me for gains/losses and all the other things one would be interested in for an investment account.

Unfortunately, it's not due to Fidelity sending transactions late. Some of those mismatches I showed in the picture are old. I usually close my options out early, I seldom hold to the option expiration date. So those dates shown in there are misleading.

I've been trying to debug this "Expired Call 5275199CW" since back in August which is when I first contacted Quicken for help. I've actually figured out what this referred to and manually closed it out, but it keeps showing up in this pop up. Where in the heck is that coming from? Does that mean that Fidelity is reporting this "Expired Call 5275199CW" as still existing in my account with them, or is this somehow coming from Quicken itself?

Sorry, I know this is a tough one. I appreciate the reply.

Eagle Eye

We do not need the pop to know where there are problems.  We may reconcile the shares whenever we want: open the register, press Ctrl + Shift + N and select Reconcile Shares...

I did not say Fidelity sent the transactions late.  It is the reported share balance we find unreliable.

Quicken uses a unique value (CUSIP ID) provided by the financial institution to match the security in Quicken.  You should be able to work at the association by examining the OFX Log: select Help > Log Files

Eagle Eye

Thanks very much Sherlock. The 'Reconcile Shares' is a useful thing to know.

I suspect I could straighten my Fidelity account if I knew these CUSIP numbers. Then I could enter a security into the 'Security list' by hand. I cannot find a way to determine what the CUSIP number is for a particular security though. Seems S&P owns these and they don't provide them freely. One suggestion was to look at the company's website, that they often publish these there. But so far I have not found a company which does this, at least the ones I am having issues with in my quicken file.

What do you think of the following idea. I can reconcile these troublesome entries by looking at my history file at Fidelity; create my own security identifier and buy and sell (or close and open for options) in quicken with my made up entry for that security. Does that sound like it would work? It doesn't seem like it is crucial I find the correct CUSIP number. As long as all my securities in the quicken list is unique it wouldn't matter. Is that correct? I could make up really difficult to duplicate CUSIPs so that the chance of generating a duplicate is minimal.

TIA
Eagle Eye

Sherlock

Eagle Eye said:

Thanks very much Sherlock. The 'Reconcile Shares' is a useful thing to know.

I suspect I could straighten my Fidelity account if I knew these CUSIP numbers. Then I could enter a security into the 'Security list' by hand. I cannot find a way to determine what the CUSIP number is for a particular security though. Seems S&P owns these and they don't provide them freely. One suggestion was to look at the company's website, that they often publish these there. But so far I have not found a company which does this, at least the ones I am having issues with in my quicken file.

What do you think of the following idea. I can reconcile these troublesome entries by looking at my history file at Fidelity; create my own security identifier and buy and sell (or close and open for options) in quicken with my made up entry for that security. Does that sound like it would work? It doesn't seem like it is crucial I find the correct CUSIP number. As long as all my securities in the quicken list is unique it wouldn't matter. Is that correct? I could make up really difficult to duplicate CUSIPs so that the chance of generating a duplicate is minimal.

TIA
Eagle Eye

The CUSIP ID field is not necessarily the CUSIP number.  We may determine the CUSIP ID used by the financial institution for a security from the OFX Log.  We may determine the CUSIP ID we have associated with a Quicken security from the Security List window (press Ctrl + Y) or the Additional Security Information window (right-click on the security, select Edit and Other Info).  If the CUSIP ID fields has been mismatched, uncheck Matched with online security on the Edit Security Details window of the securities and Quicken should allow the unmatched securities to be selected when an unassigned CUSIP ID from a financial institution is next processed.

Eagle Eye

Thank you so much Sherlock! I'm getting closer to unraveling this issue.

I saved the OFX log file into notepad++ so I can search within it.
I've determined that this infamous '5275199CW' belongs to a 'GLP $22.50 call'

At the download of this 'GLP $22.50 call' into quicken I must not have been watching carefully enough, and mistakenly said that this call was the same as the "GLP $25 call" (which had been opened and closed months before this "GLP $22.50 call" was opened).

I copy and pasted the securities mismatch output from quicken below and put a red mark next to the securities discussed.

So far, I have unchecked the "Matched with online security" box for "5275199CW".
If I understand you correctly, the next time this "5275199CW" comes in from Fidelity, it will ask me to match it to a security in my Security list, yes? But the correct name should be "GLP $22.50 call" but that is not in my security list at the moment.

I don't really care that the strike price is correct in the register. I guess there is no harm in just indicating that this "5275199CW" points to the option with the wrong name that I can see, is there?

Thanks Sherlock,
Eagle Eye

Sherlock

Eagle Eye said:

Thank you so much Sherlock! I'm getting closer to unraveling this issue.

I saved the OFX log file into notepad++ so I can search within it.
I've determined that this infamous '5275199CW' belongs to a 'GLP $22.50 call'

At the download of this 'GLP $22.50 call' into quicken I must not have been watching carefully enough, and mistakenly said that this call was the same as the "GLP $25 call" (which had been opened and closed months before this "GLP $22.50 call" was opened).

I copy and pasted the securities mismatch output from quicken below and put a red mark next to the securities discussed.

So far, I have unchecked the "Matched with online security" box for "5275199CW".
If I understand you correctly, the next time this "5275199CW" comes in from Fidelity, it will ask me to match it to a security in my Security list, yes? But the correct name should be "GLP $22.50 call" but that is not in my security list at the moment.

I don't really care that the strike price is correct in the register. I guess there is no harm in just indicating that this "5275199CW" points to the option with the wrong name that I can see, is there?

Thanks Sherlock,
Eagle Eye

I suggest you create a new GLP $22.50 Call security in Quicken and correct the misassigned GLP $25 Call transactions.  Alternately, you could rename the GLP $25 Call security GLP $22.50 Call, create a new GLP $25 Call security, and correct the misassigned GLP $22.50 Call transactions.

The only real issue with reusing closed Quicken securities is the subsequent confusion doing so may cause.

Eagle Eye

Thanks so much Sherlock! I believe everything is working correctly. Not absolutely sure yet. I will do another update tomorrow, but even if there is another error I know how to fix it!

antraasa

I sort of solved this for my options account when selling covered call options.
Quicken recorded an open/closed position in the transation register as ShtSell and Added. I changed the ShtSell to "Bought" (when I sold the option) and the Added to "sold" (when it closed) and that deleted the closed positions from the Holdings listing. ONLY do this if you've closed the position of course.
Yes...I had to do that for each transactions in the register. :/
Hope that helps....