Securities problem for UK shares

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PhilMack
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Joined: 12 September 2013, 19:51

Securities problem for UK shares

Post by PhilMack »

Set up securities, a little difficult to follow from the help manual, you should show the step by step process for an example.

Anyway it works but in the UK, share prices are quoted in pennies not pounds so my share value is 100 times bigger than it should be. The Bloomberg app had this problem for a while as we'll before they fixed it.

Please review and correct as I think this will be a good new feature. Can yo suggest a work around. I tried creating a new currency GBp at 0.1 but it did not work.

Thanks Phil
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Angeman
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Re: Securities problem for UK shares

Post by Angeman »

PhilMack wrote:Please review and correct as I think this will be a good new feature. Can yo suggest a work around. I tried creating a new currency GBp at 0.1 but it did not work.
Yes that was the right thing to do, what exactly didn't work ?
MikeFedeski
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Joined: 26 October 2013, 17:42

Re: Securities problem for UK shares

Post by MikeFedeski »

I am interested to hear that PhilMack has got securities set up for the UK. I have failed. I have reached the Securities page and checked the "Download quotes" in its Settings. Even so, I have been unable to get a response from the search box, using tickers that work fine with Google Finance on a browser. Am I missing something? The iPhone's wifi connection is good.
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Angeman
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Re: Securities problem for UK shares

Post by Angeman »

You have to put the Google Finance symbol in the symbol field. For UK securities, I think it starts with LON:
MikeFedeski
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Re: Securities problem for UK shares

Post by MikeFedeski »

Thanks. I've tried all manner of codes now. I've looked up London Stock Exchange codes, and preceded them with LON: and LSE: and put .L after them. There is no reaction at all. For example, using a laptop, I can see from Google Finance that LON:LLOY is a code for Lloyds Banking Group. On Reuters' site it is listed as LLOY.L, for quotes on the London Stock Exchange. On the London Stock Exchange site, it is just LLOY. None of these work in the app. They all work in Google Finance on the laptop and on the iPhone, as well as LSE:LLOY (using Safari in both cases). From the beginning - I open the Securities window from the main menu; at first, it is blank, but by pulling down on the screen I get the slot for making entries; touching it brings up the keyboard; I put the code in there and press "search" on the keyboard. The cog at the bottom shows that "Download quotes" is checked. There is no reaction of any kind, other than that the keyboard goes.
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Angeman
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Re: Securities problem for UK shares

Post by Angeman »

LON:LLOY is the right code to use. After you validates you will come back to the securities screen. You can touch the "Lloyds" line and you will see all the quotes.
MikeFedeski
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Joined: 26 October 2013, 17:42

Re: Securities problem for UK shares

Post by MikeFedeski »

What kind of thing might be causing this not to work for me? I have tried rebooting the iPhone and restarting my home wifi network. I have also tried re-installing iCompta 3. If it is a network problem, then it has to be something that makes working with iCompta different from working directly in Safari to make the same request. If it helps to diagnose the problem, you should know that another difficulty I have is that I am not able to make the web server connection using the provided URL - I get the message that the server cannot be found; I have tried this with Safari and Firefox. This is not a problem peculiar to your app - I have difficulty with other apps too in this respect. But I don't know whether your code uses this server address when searching for securities.
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Angeman
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Re: Securities problem for UK shares

Post by Angeman »

Can you show me a screenshot of the securities screen and the right panel where you can edit the security fields of the Lloyds security ?
MikeFedeski
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Joined: 26 October 2013, 17:42

Re: Securities problem for UK shares

Post by MikeFedeski »

... "the right panel"! I did not have a right panel. Now I understand. I was ignoring the 'Edit' button, and putting the code into the search window at the top of the Securities page. Here is what seems to be the full procedure, if anyone else is reading.

First, set up the security and get a quote as follows. From the home page for the Document, tap on the Securities line to open the Securities page (it does not always open on first attempt, but you can always swipe it into view from the right). Tap on the cog at the bottom of the page and make sure that "Download quotes" is checked. Then tap on the 'Edit' button at the top right of the screen, and then on "New security". The right screen pans into view. Enter a name, the code (ticker) for the security that Google Finance uses (which begins LON: for the London Stock Exchange in the UK), and the currency (if for the London Stock Exchange, quotations are in pence, so go back to the main Document page, select 'Currencies' and create a new currency for pence as 0.01 pounds). Clear the keyboard away and tap the 'Save' button to return to the Securities screen. There, press 'Done', which returns to the Securities page where you will now find the security listed. Tap on the security, and the right screen should slide into view again but now with a list of daily quotes for the security. Tap the 'Edit' button on this screen and select one of the daily quotes. A window opens displaying that quote; press the 'Save' button, then Done, then Securities. Although there is no confirmation at this stage, that should have grabbed the quote for use in valuing a holding.

Next, set up the holding account, as you would set up any other account, starting in the home page. With the account type set to 'Investment', the transaction page has a field for selecting the security, and fields for "shares in" and "shares out" in which you can buy or sell shares for an amount of cash (independently of the value, of course). This account shows the cash that the holding has cost to acquire (in pounds), whilst if you return to the Securities page, it will show the value of the holding (in pence) on the date of the security quote that you chose. Of course, you can change that date as time marches on, by selecting the security in the Securities page and choosing a new date. Brilliant.

Thanks very much for your help and patience, Angeman.
MikeFedeski
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Joined: 26 October 2013, 17:42

Re: Securities problem for UK shares

Post by MikeFedeski »

Now that I have iCompta working for shares, I move on to the next problem. In fact, most of my investments are mutual funds rather than stocks. Google Finance gives quotations for many of these as well, and the routine is just like the routine for stocks. But I cannot download them to iCompta. For example, if you get a quote in Google Finance for F&C Strategic Bond 1 Acc, you find the code in brackets after the fund name: MUTF_GB:FC_STRA_BOND_17DAQO. This does not get a response when I use it in the app with or without the MUTF_GB: prefix. The symbols for the funds are a lot longer than for stocks, and this may be the problem. The other thing is that where you cannot download a valuation, how can you enter your own by hand? In the User Guide, under Monitoring Your Investments, you say "You can also enter the quotes yourself in the quotes window by selecting the line of the security" but I cannot follow this. Although I have not downloaded the OS-X version yet, it would appear that there is a special button for hand entry in that.
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