How do I stop Quicken from updating investment securities?

BergyBrew

I see there are all kinds of posts about this, but most don't work (like going to Securities>Tools... or Preferences>Startup) because i don't see those options anywhere. The checkbox for Preferences>Connected Services>Downloaded Transactions' "Automaticaly update...every 60 minutes." is unchecked. The Window>Securities' "Download quotes..." checkbox is also unchecked. Also, I never download transactions from anywhere into Quicken and none of my accounts are setup for connection because I manually enter everything. So, why do multiple securities' Price History keep getting daily updates for days I didn't enter a transaction involving that security?

jacobs

I don't have my investment transactions set to download at all; I enter them manually. But Quicken does download daily security price information. This assures I have the correct current market value reported in Quicken when I compare it to my brokerages online or when I print a monthly or quarterly statement. Is there a reason you specifically don't want the price information to remain up-to-date?

BergyBrew said:

I see there are all kinds of posts about this, but most don't work (like going to Securities>Tools... or Preferences>Startup) because i don't see those options anywhere.

If you see "Tools" mentioned, you're looking at information for Quicken Windows, not Quicken Mac. As you've correctly observed, Quicken Mac doesn't have a Toole menu.

BergyBrew said:

The checkbox for Preferences>Connected Services>Downloaded Transactions' "Automatically update...every 60 minutes." is unchecked. 

This means Quicken will update security prices only when you Update All Accounts (the little circle icon at the top of the left sidebar).

BergyBrew said:

The Window>Securities' "Download quotes..." checkbox is also unchecked.

As the text says, unchecking this box will prevent Quicken from downloading updates for any securities in your list of securities which you do not hold. So if there are securities you bought and then sold, Quicken won't keep updating those prices. But it will download prices for the securities you do hold.

So we come back to the question: why don't you want Quicken to download security prices? If you truly don't want any prices to download, you need to change the security Symbol to something non-existent, like ZZZZ01, ZZZZ02, etc. Quicken will warn you for each one you edit that it can't find that symbol and that you will need to update stock prices manually. 

BergyBrew

Thank you. My reasons for not wanting anything updated are my own. Seems Quicken doesn’t know what “Don’t download…” actually means. If I have to alter each security’s symbol to stop it, that’s what I must do.

Chris_QPW

For what it is worth, I once tried to setup my Dad's investment accounts for automatic downloading/quotes, and he hated it.  The reason is simple, each time he got a statement he would enter what is on that statement (positions changes and cash like is in the new Simple investing mode), and that is exactly what he wanted to see whenever he looked at Quicken. He wasn't into knowing what the day-to-day fluctuations were, something that a lot of investors would be better off not knowing.

jacobs

@Chris_QPW I'm a buy-and-hold investor, and I don't pay much attention to day-to-day price fluctuations; most times, I don't even look. But at the end of the month o quarter, when I do enter my dividends and any other transactions, I like that I don't have to manually enter the prices. so I'm happy having Quicken download the prices, with me manually entering the transactions, and only looking at how the two come together every month/quarter. 

Chris_QPW

BTW I do consider it a bug that Quicken Mac doesn't understand "don't download".  It should be the user's choice.  I remember this kind of thing coming up in another Quicken Mac thread.  And in that case, there wasn't a workaround.  The person did want to download transactions, but not prices.  And the change the symbol was suggested, but each time they downloaded Quicken Mac "fixed" the symbol, and then continued to download the prices.

Of course, given the limited number of users that want something like this, it is highly unlikely that it will be changed.

jacobs

@Chris_QPW It's not a bug because there simply is no feature in Quicken Mac to do what you're suggesting. It ain't a bug if it ain't designed to do it. ; ) Is it a missing feature? Perhaps. One that people regularly ask for? Definitely not. 

To recap: 

• If you want Quicken to download everything — transactions and prices — you can do so by connecting your account for downloads and using the correct symbols for securities.

• If you want Quicken Mac to download nothing — neither transactions nor prices — you can do so by not connecting your account for downloads and not using actual symbols for the securities.

• If you want Quicken Mac to download security prices but not transactions, you can do so by not connecting your account for downloads and using the correct symbols for securities.

• If you want Quicken Mac to download transactions but not security prices, you can't do so because there is no feature or setting to do so. I'm guessing such a feature hasn't been built because the developers didn't see a use case where users would want to download transactions but not download prices. 

Chris_QPW

Actually, I agree it isn't a bug, and there are sufficient different ways to handle it.  Those ways are different than in Quicken Windows, but that is fine.

BergyBrew

Thank you. Can this be closed so i don't receive anymore notifications?