Problems with base currency in Portfolio

I have my base currency set to CAD in my account in portfilio (to
match my broker). When I import a statement Money makes a complete
hash of the data. Stocks which I have traded on American exchanges are
automatically converted to CAD, including the purchase/sell price and
the amount and commission. I need this information to remain in USD as
the latest price quoted then screws up all of the gains etc...
Even if I try to enter the transaction manually it insists on me
entering the prices in CAD. I use MSN portfolio and don't have this
problem (and that's free!!). I cannot change the base currency as I
also trade Canadian stocks. Any suggestions? Thanks

Glyn
Wed Aug 18 14:38:46 CDT 2004

I think the best thing to do is firstly work in the base currency in the
country you are. If you're in the US, then use US dollar. What happens when
you download a statement from your broker if you have the base in a
different currency? You shouldn't really need to change the base currency
for the sake of one broker.

--
Glyn Simpson, Microsoft MVP - Money

Check http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-GB;mny
for UK tips and fixes for MS Money. To send Microsoft your wishes or
suggestions, use http://register.microsoft.com/mswish/suggestion.asp
or http://www.microsoft.com/uk/support/money/feedback especially
if it's a UK specific wish.

I do not respond to any unsolicited email regarding Money
"MikeT" <mikeat123@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:a53d40.0408150153.7c230b20@posting.google.com...
>I have my base currency set to CAD in my account in portfilio (to
> match my broker). When I import a statement Money makes a complete
> hash of the data. Stocks which I have traded on American exchanges are
> automatically converted to CAD, including the purchase/sell price and
> the amount and commission. I need this information to remain in USD as
> the latest price quoted then screws up all of the gains etc...
> Even if I try to enter the transaction manually it insists on me
> entering the prices in CAD. I use MSN portfolio and don't have this
> problem (and that's free!!). I cannot change the base currency as I
> also trade Canadian stocks. Any suggestions? Thanks

Andrew
Wed Aug 18 15:06:51 CDT 2004

A couple of suggestions and then a diatribe ....

For each stock, make sure that the country/region is set to US (in the
details section).
Makes sure that the account which that stock is held in is a USD account (it
should not be possible to do otherwise).
The trade within the account is a USD trade. You enter the information
thinking in USD. When it asks you for the exchange rate, it wants this in
order to define the cost basis (see below). It is not asking for the
transaction to be entered in CAD.

If that is done, then the rest is correct. Money does not demand
prices/commission in a currency that is not the currency of the investment
account.

However, there is quirk with the results from an investment account that is
not in the base currency of the money file. This maybe what is creating
your confusion. Deep breath ....

Money setup in currency 1
Investment account currency 2 (anything different from currency 1)

When looking at the account summary of an investment account, there is a
column "Cost Basis".

From the help file: "[Cost Basis is] The total purchase price you paid for
an investment.
For shares, your cost basis is the number of shares multiplied by the price
per share, plus commission and stamp duty."

But, the actual cost basis that we see in Money is:

how much paid in USD (shares x price + charges), divided by the exchange
rate logged at the time of transaction multiplied by the current exchange
rate. So cost basis shows you how much you gained or lost in your base
currency - Not how much you gained or lost on the transaction alone.

What is needed is a column that states the original cost in the account
currency [i.e. a total of all the charges to purchase that stock at the
time(s) the stock was purchased]. That doesn't exist. So one cannot see
the gain/loss in the currency of the account. I've asked the money team for
this data to be presented. Wait and see time.

There is a nasty workaround. If you put in "0" as the exchange rate for the
transaction, it forces Money to take the current rate each time and
therefore giving the appearance of a correct result. It is not clear what
other impacts this workaround has. I haven't seen any impact though.

Andrew.


"MikeT" <mikeat123@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:a53d40.0408150153.7c230b20@posting.google.com...
> I have my base currency set to CAD in my account in portfilio (to
> match my broker). When I import a statement Money makes a complete
> hash of the data. Stocks which I have traded on American exchanges are
> automatically converted to CAD, including the purchase/sell price and
> the amount and commission. I need this information to remain in USD as
> the latest price quoted then screws up all of the gains etc...
> Even if I try to enter the transaction manually it insists on me
> entering the prices in CAD. I use MSN portfolio and don't have this
> problem (and that's free!!). I cannot change the base currency as I
> also trade Canadian stocks. Any suggestions? Thanks