How to retrieve Security Price History that has disappeared (possible from a validation?)

jrm

Win 10
Q R35.31 Build 27.1.35.31

I have multiple accounts that I have identified as "keep this account separate" in the account details page: banking, investing and retirement. As they are at the bottom of the account list, I often don't seem them unless I am intentionally working with them.

Today, I was going to update data and noticed three of the retirement accounts are showing with a $0 value -- they all have the same single underlying investment. The banking accounts reflect their value, as do the investment accounts and the single retirement account that has different investments.

When I dig further:
-the transactions for each of these three accounts remain, and are accurate
-the transactions are a mix of cash into the account and buys (which do reflect cost per share and number of share)
-when viewing any of the three retirement investment registers, the market value = $0

Two differences with the retirement accounts that do not reflect a value and the one that does
-the one that does is much more recent, but still have data for about a year
-the one that does has underlying investments with ticker symbols, the three that do not show value does not have an investment with a ticker symbol

An automated back up from 9/22 has the data reflected accurately, as well as a manual backup on 9/28 that was done pre repair/validation on the 28th. All backups after the 28th are missing that price history data.

After I did my validation/repair (and I don't recall what my issue was that I used it, though I did so after reading info on the community), I didn't see this problem (doesn't mean it wasn't there, just that I didn't notice it). I did a bunch of checking of data and all seemed fine.

Long details, but I'm hoping someone has an idea to retrieve price history so I don't need to reenter. In this case, if necessary, it is better for me to manually enter then recreate a month's worth of data.

Thanks all!

Sherlock

I suggest exporting the security price history from an appropriate backup Quicken file and importing the QIF into the current Quicken file: Select File > File Export > QIF file...  and only check Security list

jrm

@Sherlock Thanks for the quick reply. That makes perfect sense. I'm doing an export now, with Q taking its time. Follow up: does it append the information to the existing list or recreate the list on import? (I'll try on a copy and figure it out.) But, I'm thinking if it appends, I could just import from one of the accounts as I updated them all at the same time, and therefore I won't lose the price history from the last month for other securities.

Also, I notice I can import price history from, from a CSV, which I might be able to get a different way, too.

Thanks.

jrm

@Sherlock I just tried the Security List export/import as you suggested. Unfortunately, that doesn't solve the issue. I opened the QIF file in Excel and it doesn't include any price information.

I'm going to see if I can determine the import format for a CVS file of price history. My concern is I do have other securities that also do not have tickers so I might add one temporarily to be able to only affect the one security. (Though as I say that, I haven't looked at the others, which are historical data, to see if they lost their price history as well. Hmm.)

Sherlock

jrm said:

@Sherlock I just tried the Security List export/import as you suggested. Unfortunately, that doesn't solve the issue. I opened the QIF file in Excel and it doesn't include any price information.

I'm going to see if I can determine the import format for a CVS file of price history. My concern is I do have other securities that also do not have tickers so I might add one temporarily to be able to only affect the one security. (Though as I say that, I haven't looked at the others, which are historical data, to see if they lost their price history as well. Hmm.)

Sounds like a temporary symbol may be required for the export.

The import of the CSV (not CVS) file definitely requires a symbol.

jrm

@Sherlock
Dang autocorrect
Before I saw your answer, I found another community response about importing security information, which mentioned needing to have a tickler symbol. So, I went ahead and tested that out. Added the ticker to a copy of my good (backup) file then exporting the security list. Then went into a copy of my current file (missing the data), gave the security the same ticker and imported the QIF. Lo and behold, I now have security values again. Thanks!

Though, I will say, I can't quite figure out what the account selection is used for in the import/export as I decided to try that and selecting one of my accounts for both import and export, but it still had over 20,000 entries in handled.

I've do some proofing before I do in my real files, to make sure that I haven' screwed something else up. But, what a great saver of time.

Appreciate the help.

jrm

To come full circle in case others experience my issue.

The import at identified by @sherlock about works, if the securities with missing values have ticker symbols associated with them, which I learned on my first attempt, when I still had missing values. I also learned that while I noticed it because of one particular security making up the sole value of three investment accounts, in fact any security that had a blank ticker symbol no longer had its price history.

To rectify this, I went into the security list and sorted by ticker. Of those with blank ticker symbols, I had 26 that were missing their price history. (I am not certain why the history remained for some accounts.) In order to make the import work, I needed to add ticker symbols to those securities. I used SECx where x was an incremental number.
--- the symbol had to be added into the data file that I was going to use for the security list import (in my case a month old backup)
--- the same symbol needed to be added to the securities in my "real" current file before I did the import
--- bonds and securities that were added when created (historic) retirement accounts, and were created as SECURITY NAME - 401k, did not allow the ability to add a ticker symbol
-----for these, when in the Quicken file with good price history, I when to each of these securities, edited the price history, to pull up the price history list, and printed it for each security
-----once the GIF import was done to get as much data imported as possible, then, while in my "real" current file, I added each of these remaining securities price history and using my printer reports manually entered that historical data

Now, I am back to clean data. I'm 95% sure, based on my backups, that the history disappeared when I performed a validate/repair. I'm not sure what caused the loss, but I will think carefully before do it again in the future. (And, I also now know there is value having a ticker symbol even if it is a security that does not truly have one.)

q_lurker

Thanks for posting your complete report.  The disappearance of the data is certainly odd.

There is a third-party program that can be used to extract price history information and it too requires a ticker symbol to get at the data.  Because of that, I maintain all securities with a ticker.  A delisted (or acquired) security may get '(old)' appended to its ticker.  I don't know what sort of marker Quicken uses internally when a ticker is not applied, but that seems to be the error that your file developed.  

For a bond, I might use the CUSIP or other info to make it unique and unlikely to be used on an exchange.  You can add a ticker to a Bond by first changing its Type to something else, add the desired ticker, then change Type back to Bond.

FWIW, for the bonds, etc., you could have printed the price history to a PRN file, manipulated that in Excel, and then imported the data as a csv file.  Line format = ticker, price, date (among other options).

jrm

@q_lurker Thanks for the additional information that you provided. Interesting to note the ability to extract the price history with a 3rd party. In fact, particularly after having done this, that it would be interesting to maintain that price history for some of my securities in a non quicken file; but alas, the only option for the export within Quicken is the QIF.

Re CUSIP, when I first added individual bonds to our portfolio, that hadn't occurred to me. After have a handful very similarly named and I was getting frustrated ensuring that I was attributing information appropriately to the correct one, I decided to see if the ticker field would take CUSIP. I was pleasantly surprised it wasn't limited, and now, for those that have CUSIP, I can more easily work with them. I might try you tip about changing the security type to something else, adding the CUSIP then reverting back to bond, because it would be useful.

What's interesting is the other securities that wouldn't let me add a ticker, that I noted with the 401k addendum from being added within a 401k creation many years ago, those are in fact mutual funds. But, all my other mutual funds to have tickers, so I don't know if it something specific in these that caused me the inability to add the ticker.

I was going to manipulate the price history and import when I saw you can import a csv, but, because I couldn't export the same, so to speak, I wasn't certain what data format I would need. I've just been through that with a completely different program, and spent many hours troubling shooting my import, but definitely in that case, it saved me from significantly longer if I had to rekey thousands of records.

Cheers.

Quicken Alyssa

Hello all,

Please make sure you all accept the latest update that was just released over the weekend and let us know if your issues are still present. 

Thank you!


Quicken Alyssa