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TradeLog User Guide

right-click and save to download User Guide in PDF format revised 03/05/2008

This guide provides detailed instructions on every function within TradeLog. We suggest that you first review the Quick Start guide and the Tutorial lessons to get started quickly as possible. Then use this guide to get further details on the individual function you need help with.

Detailed instructions for importing from your particular online broker can be found by clicking on the appropriate broker import guide at the right side of this page.

Index:

Data Files (File Menu) Creating a New Data File Opening an Existing Data File Saving a Data File Creating a Back-Up File Combine Files End Tax Year - for cash basis acctg Begin/End Tax Year - for Mark to Market acctg Adding and Deleting Trades (Edit menu) Adding or Inserting a Record Manually Entering a Trade Manually Entering a Wash Sale Deferral Deleting a Single Trade Deleting Multiple Trades Deleting All Trades "Undo / Redo" Functions Selecting Trades (Edit menu) Selecting a Single Trade for Editing Selecting Multiple Trades Selecting All Trades Editing Trades (Edit menu) Editing a Trade Moving a Single Record Changing Tickers Changing Option Ticker Symbols Changing Stock Descriptions to Ticker Symbols Cutting, Copying and Pasting Trades Using Calendars Saving an Edited Trade Editing Multiple Trades Adjusting Trades (Edit menu) "Fix Trades out of order" Function "Force Match Trades" Function "Renumber Trades" Function "Match Tax Lots" Function "Toggle Long/Short" Function Adjusting for Exercised Options and Stock Assignments Adjusting for Stock Splits Adjusting for Stock Dividends Adjusting for Spinoffs Adjusting for Mergers Setting Your Preferences (Options menu) Default Commission Display Notes Display Time Stamps Display Wash Sale Deferrals Select New Folder for Data Files Check for Updates on Start-Up Show Import Filter Users Guide

Importing Trades (Options menu) Selecting a Broker Import Filter Finding Compatible Trade History Reports Importing your Trade History Report Auto-Assign Shorts Convert Short/Long with One Transaction Finding and Sorting Trades (Find menu) Finding a Ticker Finding a Specific Trade Number Finding Trade Transactions using the Filter Grid dialog Finding Stocks, Options, Futures or Currencies Finding Duplicate Trades Display Open Positions Display Closed Positions Display All Trades Within a Date Range Display Profit and Loss Sorting Trades Using the Column Grid Filter Using the Custom Grid Filter Builder Running Reports (Reports menu) Overview Detail Report Summary Report G&L Report - for filing with Taxes IRS Scheduled D-1 - for filing with Taxes TXF File Export - for importing into poular tax software 1099 Reconciliation report Wash Sales Deferred to Next Tax Year Wash Sale Detail Report Performance Report Chart Report Changing the Report Heading Navigating a Report Printing a Report Saving a Report Copy a Report to the Windows Clipboard Customizing Reports Importing the G/L Report into TurboTax™ Portfolio Management Features (OPEN toolbar button) Using the Open Positions Window Get Current Prices Expire Options Printing Open Positions Support (Help menu) Accessing Online Help Accessing the Online Tutorial Accessing GTT Tax Support Updating Your Version

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How TradeLog™ Works:

There are a few basic concepts and principles fthat each new user should become familiar with:

Concept #1:  Debits and Credits:

TradeLog™ records transactions much like a simple checkbook register would.  Each trade transaction is listed as either a debit or a credit:

• When you purchase an equity, money flows out of your account or is debited. TradeLog™ lists all purchase transactions as a negative amount. 
  
• When you sell an equity, money flows back into your account.  TradeLog™ lists all sales transactions as a positive amount. 
  
• The difference between the sales amount and the purchase amount is your profit or loss.

This simple concept is the basis for all TradeLog™ calculation.

Concept #2:  Open a Trade, Close a Trade:

Each transaction either opens a trade, or closes a trade (or position) in TradeLog™.

Going Long
When you go long in a stock, you buy the stock (with the hope that it will go up in value) and plan to sell the stock at a profit in the future.  As your purchase ("buy") transaction is executed before the sale transaction, TradeLog™ will record the long "buy" transaction as Open, Long and the long "sell" transaction as Close, Long during the import process. Your profit or loss on the trade is the difference between what you sold the stock for, minus what you bought it for (see Concept# 1 above).

Going Short
When you short a stock, you sell the stock (with the hope that it will go down in value) and plan to buy the stock back at a profit in the future.  As your sale ("sell") transaction is executed before the purchase ("buy to cover short") transaction, TradeLog™ will record the initial "sell" transaction as Open, Short and subsequent "buy to cover" as Close, Short during the import process.  Once again, your profit or loss on the trade is the difference between what you sold the stock for minus what you bought it for. 

In reality, it does not matter if you buy first and then sell, or sell first and then buy, your profit or loss is always what you sold the stock for minus what you bought it for. If you sell the stock at a lower price than what you bought it for, you have a loss.

Concept #3:  First In, First Out:

First In, First Out (FIFO) is the default accounting method of the IRS, and therefore is the default accounting method used by TradeLog™.  This method assumes that the first shares purchased are the first shares sold.  For a partial sale of a particular stock, the IRS presumes you sold your oldest shares first—unless you gave different instructions to your broker. 

TradeLog™ adheres to the First In, First Out accounting method when matching transactions.  This makes it critical that all transactions executed in a broker account be added or imported into a data file in strict chronological order to allow for proper trade-matching and tracking.  During the import process, each trade is carefully reviewed for trade date, time of day (if provided), and ticker description.  The FIFO method is then applied to match sells to previous buys for long trades and buys to previous sells for short trades.  Partial fills are automatically accounted for, as well.

The three concepts outlined above are quite simple to apply when you buy and sell an equal number of shares (ie.  buy 100 shares at a cost of $500, sell 100 shares at a price of $600 - your profit is $100).  However, most active traders seldom buy and sell in equal numbers of shares and most active traders seldom get filled in equal numbers of shares.  Active traders may therefore have thousands of partial fills which seldom match share for share when they begin closing these positions. 

Concept #4:  Trade Numbers:

TradeLog™ groups and tracks trade transactions by trade number (TrNum).  To benefit active traders who often execute a large volume of transactions for one particular stock and generate many partial fills, the software has been designed to group multiple opening and multiple closing transactions with the same ticker description in a single trade with a specific trade number.  Each trade number is either short or long (not both) for one specific ticker (not multiple tickers) only. This not only saves the user from having to manually match individual transactions into tax lots, it also allows the user to analyze profit and loss across an entire trade.

Trade numbers are automatically assigned during the import process and during other edit functions which require trades to be re-matched.  

Short sales are imported and matched in a slightly different manner, as they involve a "short sale" and a "buy to cover short."  The sale ("sell") transaction should be imported first, as the opening transaction.  When the "buy to cover short" is subsequently imported, it will be assigned the same trade number and will be recorded as the closing transaction. 

TradeLog™ offers an Auto-Assign Shorts function in the Options menu that can automatically flag and record short sales during the import process. If you import from a broker that generally doesn't indicate whether your trades are long or short on their reports, this function will be activated automatically when you choose the appropriate broker import filter.  For more details regarding this function, please see Auto Assign Shorts. 

Main TradeLog Window:

Each new user should review the basic elements of the main TradeLog window.  It will be difficult for new users to follow instructions in this User Guide effectively if they are not familiar with the window layout.

Let's take a look at each section starting from the top:

Title bar:

The Title Bar provides the following information:

• The version of TradeLog you are using (for example, TradeLog).
• The complete path of your data file on your hard drive
  "c\:documents and settings\user\my documents\tradelog"
• The name of your data file - "2007 sample.tdf"
   

Main Menu bar:

Almost all of the functions outlined in this User Guide can be accessed by selecting the function from the appropriate Main Menu option.
 

Toolbar:

The most commonly-used functions can be quickly accessed by clicking the appropriate button on the TradeLog Toolbar.
 

Profit/Loss bar:

All data contained in the Profit/Loss Bar is based on records currently displayed in the grid.  This Bar provides the following:

• the number of shares and contracts open
• the Total Profit or Loss for the records displayed
• the Total Commission paid for the records displayed
• the last date of the records displayed
• the number of records being displayed

When the ALL button has been selected, the Profit/Loss Bar will display data based on all records in the data file.
 

The Grid display:

The Grid is the main section where users are able to view and interact with their trade transactions. 

• All trades are matched and grouped by trade number (TrNum).  To help the user distinguish one group of trades from another, shading alternates between white and green.  
  
• The current record is indicated by an icon in the small gray box to the far left of the record.  The icon will look similar to a small triangle.
  
• Columns can be resized by the user by positioning the mouse cursor over the line between the columns in the column header row, holding down the left mouse button and dragging the line to the desired location.
  
• Records can be sorted in ascending or descending order by clicking on any column header. For example, to sort by price in ascending order, click on the word Price in the column header once.  To sort in descending order, click on the word twice.
  
• The scroll bar (at far right) can be used to scroll the display up or down.
  
• Keyboard shortcuts also can be used to quickly scroll up or down as follows:
  • <Up Arrow> and <Down Arrow> keys move one record at a time.
  • <PageUp> and <PageDown> keys move one whole page at a time.
  •  <Ctrl-End> moves to the very end of the file.
  • <Ctrl-Home> moves to the very beginning of the file.
    
• Single records may be selected by single-left-clicking with your mouse on any cell in that record (row).  Double-left-clicking on any row will isolate the entire trade number in the grid.

Status bar:

The Status Bar is the bottom section of the main TradeLog window.  This bar provides the following information:

• Registration information - whether the software is fully registered or running in the trial mode.
• Notification of a new software update - see Updating your Version for details.
  

Creating a New Data File

To create a new data file:

1. Click on File, New.
2. A pop-up dialog box will appear as follows:
   
   
3. Select the tax year you are currently working on from the drop down box.
   You may also enter the year in the box.
4. Enter a descriptive name for your brokerage account:
   This name can be any name or description that you like such as: "Schwab - Account 1"
5. If you wish to save this to another location on your hard drive you may do so by clicking the "Select New Folder" button.
   
   Please DO NOT select a removable drive for this as TradeLog will use this location as the default location for all TradeLog data files!
    
6. Click the OK button.
7. If the file you just named already exists, TradeLog will ask:

   A File already exits. 
   Do you want to overwrite this file?
   
   If you answer YES to this, the existing file will be overwritten and previous data will be lost.

   If you answer NO to this, you may start all over and use a different file name description.

8. A panel will appear as follows:
   

   Enter all positions held open from last year using the date and price you paid for them in the grid below.  - Use the ENTER key twice to save. Hit the ESC key to cancel.

9. If you have no open positions, hit the <Esc> (Escape) key on your keyboard twice to exit this routine.  You may then begin importing your trades for the current tax year from your online broker.  
    
10. If you have positions held open from last year, then enter each opening transaction in the grid using the date of execution (trade date) and the actual price you paid for them.  Please see Manually Entering a Trade for detailed instructions on how to enter each open position.  TradeLog will automatically assign the proper trade number for you during the entry process.
    
    NOTE:  Users will only need to manually enter their open positions for the first tax year being reconciled in TradeLog.  Every year thereafter, TradeLog automatically moves any open positions to a file for the following tax year during the End Tax Year procedure.
    
    After entering each open position, hit the <Enter> key twice to save the new trade record to the data file.
     
11. You will be prompted to:
    Enter another position?
    
    Hit YES to enter another, click NO to end the manual entry procedure.
     
12. You will then be prompted to:
    Save your changes?
    
    Hit YES to save your changes. 
    
    Caution, if you click NO to this question, the last entry will not be saved.
     
13. Once all of your open positions are entered, you are ready to begin importing the current tax year's trades from your online broker.
     
14. The default location for tradelog data files is: "my documents\tradelog"
    (unless you have changed this to somewhere else on your PC)
    Data files are identified with the file extension *.tdf.

GTT TradeLog™ users:   As the program needs to know your MTM accounting status with the IRS, when you open a new data file there are a few additional steps to follow.  Please see Mark to Market accounting - GTT TradeLog only for details.
 

Opening an Existing Data File

To open an existing data file:

1. Click on File, Open.
2. The File Open pop-up window will appear.  
3. Click on the desired file to select it.  The file name should now appear in the File Name box.  
4. Click the OPEN button. 
5. You are now ready to use your data file.
   

Saving a Data File

To save a data file:

1. Click on File, Save.
2. A pop-up window will appear, asking you to confirm the number of records to save.  
3. Click OK.
4. Any data previously contained in the data file will be overwritten with the new data.  Both the data file name and location in the user's computer remain the same. 

To save a data file as another name:

1. Click on File, Save As.
2. The Save As pop-up window will appear.  
3. Navigate to the appropriate folder in your computer in which to save the data file.  
4. In the File Name box, type in the new file name.  
5. Click the SAVE button.
6. A new data file will be saved in the location specified.
   

Creating a Back-up File

To create a back-up data file:

1. Click on File, Save As.
2. The Save As pop-up window will appear.  
3. Navigate to the appropriate folder in your computer in which to save the data file.  
4. In the File Name box, type in the new file name.  
5. Click the SAVE button.
6. The word "BACKUP" will be added to the filename. 
   

Combining Files

To combine multiple broker account data files into one account for calculating wash sales between accounts:

1. Click on File, Combine.
2. A popup window will ask you to enter the Tax Year for this combined account file.
3. The next popup window will allow you to enter a descriptive name for your file such as "Combined"
   Note: This will name your data file with the tax year followed by the description entered.
4. The File Open pop-up window will then appear allowing you to select multiple data files.
   Note: Hold the Ctrl key on your keyboard while you click on each desired file.  This will allow you to select multiple files.
5. Click the OPEN button.

Using Calendars

To enter a date, simply type the date in the date field (using the format "mm/dd/yyyy") or click the down arrow to open the drop-down calendar and select the date with your mouse.

Drop down calendar functions are available when adding trades manually and when filtering trades by Date Range.

Selecting a single date: Click on a date to select a single date.	Changing the Month and Year: Use the Left or Right arrow buttons to scroll the month or... Click on the Month name and select from the drop down list.

The drop down calendar window will automatically close after a date has been selected.

Setting a Default Commission Value

NOTE: This option is no longer valid in any import.

The Options, Commission function allows the user to set a default commission value and SEC fee amount.  This value can be overwritten by importing commission amounts or when entering an individual trade transaction.

To set the default commission value: Click Options, Commission. The Commission pop-up window will appear.   In the field provided, enter the commission amount in decimal format. In the field provided, enter the fee amount in decimal format.  Specify "per share", "per total amount", "bought" or "sold". Click OK to save, or CANCEL.

Display Notes

The Display Notes function will open a new Notes column on the grid in which brief notes (up to 200 alpha-numeric characters) may be entered for any trade record.  This may be helpful to the user who wants to:

• keep track of trades that could generate a future wash sale
• identify specific trade records that have been manually adjusted (for stocks splits, for example)
• identify the personal trading strategy/system applied to specific trades and track performance

To activate the Display Notes function, click Options, Display Notes.  The new Notes column will open on the far right of the grid display.

Display Time

The Display Time function will open a column to the right of the Date column on the grid.  This column may be used to record the execution time for each transaction.

TradeLog™ adheres to the IRS "First In, First Out" accounting method. During the import process, the trade date and time of day (if provided) for each trade is carefully reviewed, then trades are grouped and matched according to the FIFO method.

For active traders who trade in and out of the same stock a number of times throughout the day, and whose brokers do not report time of day, the FIFO method may match trades in a manner that is not consistent with their trading.  Entering time stamps in the Time column can be particularly useful in force-matching specific transactions.

To activate the Display Time function, click Options, Display Time.  The new Time column will open on the grid display.

Display Wash Sale Deferrals

The Display Wash Sales function will allow all wash sale adjustment entries to be displayed in the grid.

To activate the Display Wash Sales function, click Options, Display Wash Sales.  Wash sale adjustments are marked with a "W" in the O/C (Open/Closed) column.

Select New Folder for Data Files

The default location in a user's computer for each data file they have created is
"c:\my documents\tradelog"

To change the location data files are saved to:

1. Click Options, Select New Folder for Data Files.
2. The Select folder for your TradeLog data files pop-up window will appear.  
3. Navigate to the location in your computer where you would like to store your TradeLog data files or create a new folder in which to save data files.  
4. Click OK.
5. Data files will now be saved to this new folder.
   

Check for Updates on Start-Up

When this function is activated, TradeLog will automatically try to access the internet and our web site to check for new version updates when the program is loaded. 

To use this auto-function, users must be connected to the internet prior to loading the program.  If a user is not connected to the internet or has high security settings in the computer that inhibit internet access, the software will generate an error message.

• To confirm that this function is currently enabled in your program, click Options, Check for Updates on Start-Up.  If the option has a checkmark to the left, the function is enabled.
  
• To disable this function, click Options, Check for Updates on Start-Up.  If the option does not have a checkmark to the left, the function has been disabled.

Show Import Filter Users Guide

When a user selects a Broker Import Filter prior to importing from trade history reports, TradeLog will automatically run the user's web browser and display our web page containing import guidelines for that particular broker. 

To use this auto-function, users must be connected to the internet prior to selecting a new Import Filter.

• To confirm that this function is currently enabled in your program, click Options, Show Import Filter Users Guide.  If the option has a checkmark to the left, the function is enabled.
  
• To disable this function, click Options, Show Import Filter Users Guide.  If the option does not have a checkmark to the left, the function has been disabled.

Selecting a Broker Import Filter

Prior to importing from a broker trade history report, a user must select the appropriate Online Broker Import Filter in TradeLog.   

Click on Options, Import Filter in the main TradeLog menu bar and the Import Filter dialog box will popup. (new in ver 7.2007.08.15)

Please select the import filter for your online broke along with a Default Import Method. If you wish to select the import method each time you click the import button, please select Select Each Time from the drop down box.

When selecting the Interactive Brokers import filter, there will be one additional option to select your Account Base Currency if not US dollars.

The import speed button on the toolbar should now show the name of your broker.  For example, after a user selects the Fidelity import filter, the import speed button would read Fidelity Imp.

If you are connected to the Internet, your web browser will run and take you to an instruction page that guides you step-by-step through the process of locating compatible trade history reports on your broker's web site.  Depending on which online broker you use, either download a file containing your transaction history or copy your trade history right from your web browser.  See our Broker Import Support page to identify the import method for your online broker.

Occasionally, brokers will change the format of a trade history report.  As each Import Filter is specific to a report format, when changes are made we must revise the appropriate import filter and issue a software update.  If you notice that the format of your trade history reports has been changed by your online broker, please submit an Online Support Request.  We will investigate the change and release a software update, if necessary.

Finding Compatible Trade History Reports

While online brokers generally supply their clients with a variety of transaction history reports, only one or two of these reports will contain all the necessary information required for proper trade matching in TradeLog.  Users must locate and import reports that are compatible with the software.

To find compatible trade history reports:

1. Visit our Broker Import Support page.
2. Locate your online broker in the Broker Import Support Table for Stocks and Options or the Online Broker Import Support Table for Futures.
3. Click on the link for your online broker to access detailed instructions regarding how to find compatible reports on your broker's web site.

If you wish to import your trade history reports from a broker that is not listed on our Broker Import Support page, contact your broker to find out what format your reports can be received in.  TradeLog supports imports from Excel-Text, and Quicken (QIF) file formats.  If you can receive your trade history reports from your broker in one of these formats, you should be able to import your trades.

Many brokerage firms do not generate trade history reports, but provide their clients with direct access to their clearing firm's web site to collect trade data.  For example, CyberTrader sends their clients directly to the Penson Financial web site.  Check with your broker.  If they use one of our supported clearing firms, then there is a very good chance that you will be able to import your trades into TradeLog.

Importing Your Trade History

Once a user has created a new data file, selected the appropriate Import Filter and located a compatible trade history report from the online broker's web site, the user is ready to import trades into TradeLog.

TradeLog currently supports several methods of importing trades:     

• brokerConnect™ - simply enter your user name and password to into your account and TradeLog will automatically go to your online broker's web site and download the appropriate trade history date range.
• copy from web browser - users display a trade history report on a web browser, copy the data to the Windows clipboard and run an import
• download a text file - users download a file containing trade history data from an online broker's web site, save the file to their computer in the default location "c:\my documents\tradelog\import" and run an import

See our Broker Import Support page to identify the import method supported for your online broker.

To import a trade history report from the web browser:

1. Open TradeLog.
2. Create a new data file or open an existing data file that will receive the trades.
3. Verify if you need to activate certain functions prior to importing. See Auto-Assign Shorts or Convert Short/Long with One Transaction.
4. Select the appropriate broker import filter. Click Options, Import Filter and choose your broker from the drop-down menu.  
5. The broker import speed button should now display the name of your broker (for example, Ameritrade Imp).
6. Your web browser will automatically run and direct you to the appropriate Broker Import Procedure page on our web site.  You will need to follow this procedure carefully to find a compatible report and import it into TradeLog.
7. Log on to your online broker's web site and access the appropriate trade history report as shown on the Broker Import Procedure page.
8. Select your report data.  Click Edit, Select All or use the keyboard shortcut <Ctrl-A>.
9. Copy the report data to the Windows clipboard.  Click Edit, Copy or use the keyboard shortcut <Ctrl-C>.
10. Return to TradeLog.
11. Click the broker import speed button (for example, Ameritrade Imp).
12. Your trades will automatically be imported and matched.
13. Verify the accuracy of your import by launching the Open Positions Window. Click the OPEN toolbar button. Compare the list of open positions in this window with the last trade history report imported.  If the positions match, your import was accurate.
    
     

    QUICKTIP

    Selecting a report table with your mouse Certain broker web pages will not allow you to select the entire report using the Edit, Select All command.  If this is the case with your online broker, you will need to manually select the report table. The easiest way to do this is: Left-click anywhere in the header row of the table, drag your mouse down a few rows and then drag all the way off the table to the right.  As soon as you have moved your mouse off the table to the right, you should notice that the entire table has been selected. Let go of your mouse. Now use the Edit, Copy command to copy what you have just selected.

To import trades from a downloaded text file:

1. Open TradeLog.
2. Create a new data file or open an existing data file that will receive the trades.
3. Verify if you need to activate certain functions prior to importing. See Auto-Assign Shorts or Convert Short/Long with One Transaction.
4. Select the appropriate broker import filter. Click Options, Import Filter and choose your broker from the drop-down menu.  
5. The broker import speed button should now display the name of your broker (for example, Ameritrade Imp).
6. Your web browser will automatically run and direct you to the appropriate Broker Import Procedure page on our web site.  You will need to follow this procedure carefully to find a compatible report and import it into TradeLog.
7. Log on to your online broker's web site and access the appropriate trade history report as shown on the Broker Import Procedure page.
8. Follow the procedure shown on your Broker Import Procedure page to choose a compatible report format and initiate a file download.  (Most brokers offer a "Download Data" button or icon on the web page.)
9. Save the downloaded file to your computer in your "c:\my documents\tradelog\import" folder
   This is a critical step, as TradeLog will automatically look in this folder for import data.
10. Once the downloaded file has been saved to your computer, return to TradeLog.
11. Click the broker import speed button (for example, Ameritrade Imp).
12. Your trades will be automatically imported and matched.
13. Verify the accuracy of your import by launching the Open Positions Window. Click the OPEN toolbar button. Compare the list of open positions in this window with the last trade history report imported.  If the positions match, your import was accurate.

NOTE:  The procedure provided above is a general overview of how to import trades from a downloaded text file.  How each user will locate reports and initiate file downloads will vary depending on the online broker's web site.  Users should always follow carefully the steps outlined on the appropriate Broker Import Procedure page on our web site.

Using the "Auto-Assign Shorts" Function

TradeLog offers a function under the Options main menu that automatically flags and records short sales during the import process.  For short sales, the "sell" (opening transaction) is executed before the "buy to cover short" (closing transaction), so when this function is activated, whenever TradeLog imports a "sell" before a "buy" for a ticker with no shares currently open, the trade will be recorded as short.

When a user imports from a broker report that identifies short sales, TradeLog will record short sales as indicated.  When a user chooses the import filter for a supported broker that doesn't flag short sales on trade history reports, the Auto-Assign Shorts function will be activated automatically.  During the import process, TradeLog will flag short sales and record them as such in the data file.

NOTE:  Users who are importing from *.qif (Quicken) files will need to manually activate this function by clicking Options, Auto-Assign Shorts prior to running the import.

In the event that this function was not activated prior to an import, imported trades can be converted with a single command.  Select the transactions to be edited and click Edit, Toggle Long/Short.  Each selected long position will be converted to short, and vice versa.

Convert Short to Long with One Transaction (and vice versa)

Most online brokerage accounts do not allow the conversion of an open, short position to an open, long position with a single "buy" transaction (and vice versa).  They force the trader to close the short position first before allowing the trader to open a new long position.  However, some brokerages allow certain accounts to do this.

If your brokerage trading account allows this, you can activate the Convert Short/Long with One Transaction function to allow TradeLog to make the necessary adjustments during the import process.  TradeLog will automatically split up the single "buy" transaction into two - one to close the short position, and another to open up a new long position.  (vice-versa for open, long positions)

To activate this function:

1. Click Options, Convert Short/Long with One Transaction.
2. Import your broker trade history report.
3. TradeLog will record two transactions - a "close, short" for the short position, and an "open, long" to open a new long position.
   

Finding a Ticker

To find and display all trades with specific ticker descriptions in the grid:

1. Click Find, Ticker.
2. The Find Ticker pop-up window will appear.  In the field provided, type the ticker description(s) you are searching for (see QuickTips below for guidelines).
3. Click OK.
4. The resulting grid will only display the ticker descriptions specified.
   

The Find menu shortcut key is <Ctrl-F>.  To refresh the grid with all trades in your data file, click the ALL button on the toolbar.

Finding a Specific Trade Number

To find and display all transactions related to a specific trade number in the grid:

1. Click Find, TrNum.
2. The Find Trade Number pop-up window will appear.  In the field provided, type the trade number(s) you are searching for (see QuickTip below for guidelines).
3. Click OK.
4. The resulting grid will only display the trade numbers specified.
   

The Find menu shortcut key is <Ctrl-F>.  To refresh the grid with all trades in your data file, click the ALL button on the toolbar.

Finding Trade Transactions using the Filter Grid dialog

Menu Item: Find, Filter Grid Dialog  - NEW in version 7.2007.09.08

This dialog allows you to combine many different find filters in one concise dialog.

One handy use for this is to find all of your stock sales for the current tax year if you have to compare them to your 1099 to find out why these do not match.

Finding Stocks, Options, Futures or Currency Trades

1. Click Find, using Grid Filter dialog.
2. Select the appropriate instrument type using the INSTRUMENT TYPE radio buttons.
3. Click the OK button and only the selected  instrument such as Options only will be displayed in the grid.

To refresh the grid with all trades in your data file, click the ALL button on the toolbar.

Finding Duplicate Trades

Duplicate trade records in a data file are often caused by corrective adjustments on broker trade history reports, or from users importing the same trade data more than once. As duplicate trade records can conflict with proper trade-matching, cause "negative share" errors and skew your profit and loss totals, they should be deleted from the data file.

To find and display all duplicate trades in the grid:

1. Click Find, Duplicate Trades.
2. The Find Ticker pop-up window will appear.  In the field provided, type in the ticker description to search for duplicates.  
3. Click OK.
4. If your data file does not contain any duplicate trades, a pop-up window will appear, stating "No duplicates found for this ticker".  Click OK.  The grid will now refresh and display all imported trades.
5. If your data file contains duplicates, the resulting grid will display these trades.  Edit as necessary.

The Find menu shortcut key is <Ctrl-F>.  To refresh the grid with all trades in your data file, click the ALL button on the toolbar.

Display Open Positions

For a particular Trade Number, when the number of shares that have been closed/sold do not equal the number of shares that were previously opened/bought, the trade is considered to be an open position.

All trade positions that are currently open in a data file can be viewed in the Open Positions Window.  

• To launch the Open Positions Window, click the OPEN button on the toolbar.
   
• The pop-up window will now display all open positions as of the last date of import. If you have imported January of next tax year, the last date of import will be January 31 of next tax year (or whatever the date was for your last trade in January). 
   
  
   
• Click on any column header to sort by that column.
   
• For your convenience, an Average Price has been calculated for each open position.  This comes in handy when you have purchased shares over a period of time, and need the average cost of all shares.
   
• To view your open positions as of December 31 of the current tax year, click the Year End Open Positions button.
   
• To print your open positions, click the PRINT button.
   
• To close the Open Positions Window, click the CLOSE button.
  

The Open Positions Window offers other portfolio management features such as pricing all open positions to current market prices to see potential unrealized gains and the automatic expiration of options.  Please see Using the Open Positions Window, Get Current Prices and Expire Options for more details.

To refresh the grid with all trades in your data file, click the ALL button on the toolbar.

Display Closed Positions

For a particular Trade Number, when the number of shares that have been closed/sold equals the number of shares that were previously opened/bought, the trade is assumed to be closed, or complete.

All trade positions that are currently closed in a data file can be viewed by clicking the CLOSED button on the toolbar. The grid will now display all closed positions as of the last date of import. 

To refresh the grid with all trades in your data file, click the ALL button on the toolbar.

Display All Trades Within a Date Range

All trade transactions (open or closed, long or short) executed during a specified period of time can be displayed on the grid by clicking the RANGE button on the toolbar.

• The Select Date pop-up window will appear.  
  
  

• To specify the beginning and end date parameters, enter the dates manually in the fields provided or use the calendar functions provided.  
• To specify an entire year, enter the year manually in the field provided or use the drop-down menu provided.  

The date range parameters and year values available are  contingent on the trade records previously imported into the data file.  If the range parameters are incorrect, users will receive a list index out of bounds error message.

To refresh the grid with all trades in your data file, click the ALL button on the toolbar.

Display Profit and Loss

Since profit or loss is generally realized when a trade is closed, the profit or loss value is displayed in the Profit/Loss column on the grid for each closingtransaction.

The profit or loss value for a single closing trade transaction is displayed in the Profit/Loss column to the far right.  By single left-clicking with the mouse on any cell in that trade record, this value will also be displayed in the Profit/Loss box in the Profit/Loss Bar.

To see profit and loss for all trades, click the ALL toolbar button.  

The year-to-date profit and loss value, along with the number of shares remaining open, will be displayed in the Profit/Loss box in the Profit/Loss Bar.

Sorting Trades

Trade data in the grid can be sorted by clicking on any column header.

• To sort in ascending order, click the column header once.
• To sort in descending order, click the column header twice.

To refresh the grid to the default display (all trades listed by trade number and date of execution), click the ALL button on the toolbar.

Using the Column Grid Filter

Users can activate the Column Grid Filter by clicking the toolbar button shown above.  When the Filter is activated, a down arrow will appear next to each column header in the grid.  Each arrow will open a drop-down selection box when clicked with the mouse.  

For example, to only display trades with a price of $0.50 on the grid, a user would:

1. Click the Column Grid Filter toolbar button.
2. Click the down arrow that appears next to the Price column header.
3. In the drop-down selection box, choose 0.5.

The grid will now only display trades that have a price of $0.50. 

To refresh the grid to the default display (all trades listed by trade number and date of execution), click the ALL button on the toolbar.

Using the Custom Grid Filter Builder

The Filter Builder was designed to give users additional control over the display of trade data on the grid, and to allow them to run Trade, Performance or Gains and Losses reports containing "customized" data.  To demonstrate how this function works, we will consider an example.

James executes a number of trades, each resulting in a profit of less than $20.00.  He wants to run a Performance Report to measure his trading performance, but does not want the "wash" trade data included in the report.  Using the Filter Builder procedure outlined below, James can filter all trades with a profit of less than $20.00 out of the grid and run the "customized" report. 

1. Click the Build Custom Grid Filter button on the toolbar to activate the function.
   (This button contains a red icon that looks like a funnel with a small "c" next to it.) 
   The Filter Builder window will open.
    
2. The default root is "AND".  To change the default root, click AND.  A drop-down menu will appear.  Select the appropriate root from the menu provided.  Roots can be "AND", "OR", "NOT AND" or 'NOT OR".
    
3. Each filter is comprised of one or more "conditions". Click on "press the button to add a new condition".  A new row containing a default filter condition will appear.
    

   	To set the first element, click TrNum.  Select the appropriate value from the drop-down menu provided.  (For example, choose "profit/loss".)
   	To set the second element, click equals.  Select the appropriate value from the drop-down menu provided.  (For example, choose "is greater than".)
   	To set the third element, click on <empty>.  This will clear the field;  enter the desired value.  (For example, enter "$20.00".)

    

4. To run the new custom filter, click either the APPLY or OK button.   The grid will now display the filtered data.
   
5. To run a report based on the filtered data, click on the appropriate report in the Reports option in the main menu.
   

QUICKTIP

To close the Custom Grid Filter Builder without running the new filter, click CANCEL. If you will be using this custom filter in the future, click SAVE AS.  The Save the Active Filter to File pop-up window will appear.  Navigate to and select the appropriate location in your computer to save the filter (the default location is your "tradelogX" folder).  Give the new filter a name and click SAVE.  The new custom filter will be saved as specified. To edit a previously-created custom filter, click the Build Custom Grid Filter button on the toolbar to activate the function.  In the Filter Builder window, click OPEN.  The Open an Existing Filter pop-up window will appear. Navigate to and select the appropriate filter and click OPEN.  The filter will display in the Filter Builder window for editing.

To refresh the grid to the default display (all trades listed by trade number and date of execution), click the ALL button on the toolbar.

Selecting a Single Trade for Editing

To select a single trade record, use the mouse to left-single-click on any cell in the record.  Selected trades are bold and depending on your Windows screen color settings, the entire row will be highlighted in gray.

Note: In the image above, the selected record is outlined in red to clearly indicate which record has been selected.  The red box will not appear on your grid when a trade has been selected.

Selecting Multiple Trades for Editing

To select multiple trade records that are contiguous:

1. Use the mouse to left-single-click on any cell in the first record to be selected.
2. Hold down the <Shift> key.
3. Use the mouse to left-single-click on any cell in the last record to be selected.
4. Each selected record is indicated by a small arrow icon in the gray cell to the far left of each record.

To select multiple trade records that are non-contiguous:

1. Use the mouse to left-single-click on any cell in the first record to be selected.
2. Hold down the <Ctrl> key.
3. Use the mouse to left-single-click on any cell in any additional records to be selected.
4. Each selected record is indicated by a small arrow icon in the gray cell to the far left of each record.

Selecting All Trades

To select all trade records in a data file, click Edit, Select All Records, or use the keyboard shortcut <Ctrl -A>

Adding or Inserting a Record

To manually add a blank trade record at the end of a data file:

1. Click the + button on the toolbar (or use the <F5> keyboard shortcut).
2. A new record will open at the end of the data file:

To manually insert a new trade record before an existing record in a data file:

1. Select the location where you want to insert the new trade.  Use the mouse to left-single-click on any cell in the record just below where the new trade will be inserted.
2. Use the > button on the toolbar (or use the <F6> keyboard shortcut).
3. A new blank record will be inserted into the data file in the specified location. 
   

NOTE:

To save the new record you must hit the <ENTER> key on your keyboard twice, once enters the data into the cell, twice saves the record.

To manually enter trade data into the new record, see Manually Entering Trades.

Manually Entering a Trade

To manually enter trade data into a new record in a data file:

1. Add or insert a new trade record into the data file.  See Adding or Inserting a Record.
   
2. Assign the trade number.  Click on the first cell in the column TrNum to enter the trade number.  Trades start with the number one (1) and increment through infinity.  Any integer number is valid.  (NOTE:  TradeLog will automatically assign the next trade number in sequence.  Edit the number as necessary.)
   
3. Use the <TAB> key to move to the next cell to the right.
   
4. Enter the trade date.  In the Date column, enter the trade date manually (using the mm/dd/yyyy format) or use the drop-down calendar function provided.  If a date is not manually entered, the current date will be recorded.
   
5. Enter the time of day.  In the Time column, enter a time value (optional).  Enter time stamps using the 00:00:00 format.
   
6. Specify if the trade is an open or close.  In the Open/Close column, enter an "O" for open or a "C" for close.  Other acceptable entries are "W" for wash sale adjustments, and "M" for mark-to-market year-end price values (GTT TradeLog only).  Any other entry is invalid.
   
7. Specify if the trade is long or short.  In the Long/Short column, enter an "L" for long or an "S" for short.  Any other entry is invalid.
   
8. Enter the ticker description.  In the Ticker column, enter the appropriate ticker symbol. Up to 40 alpha-numeric characters are accepted.
   
9. Enter the number of shares.  In the Shares column, enter the number of shares bought or sold.  Any decimal number up to 9999999.99999 is valid.  
   
10. Enter the price.  In the Price column, record the price paid for the security.  Any decimal number is acceptable.
    
11. Specify the investment type.  In the Type/Mult (multiplier) column, enter the transaction type.  
         - Use STK-1 for stocks and mutual funds
         - Use OPT-100 for options on stocks
         - Use SSF-100 for Single-Stock-Futures. 
         - Use FUT- for futures. A pop-up box will ask you to enter a multiplier. 
         - Use CUR-1 for currencies.
    
12. Enter broker commissions.  In the Commission column, enter the amount paid for this transaction.  Commissions can be entered independently for each transaction, or a default amount can be set using the Options, Commission function. If left blank, the commission will be calculated from the value in the Amount column (providing the Amount includes commissions and fees).
    
13. Enter the total amount paid for the trade in the Amount column.   To re-calculate the commission value entered, hit the <Enter> key.  If left blank, TradeLog calculates Amount = Shares x Price +/- Commission (depending on Buy or Sell.)    
    
14. Enter your notes for this trade (if you have turned on the Options, Display Notes function and a Notes column is displayed on the grid).  Up to 200 alpha-numeric characters are accepted.
    
15. Save the transaction by hitting the <Enter> key twice on your keyboard. A Save pop-up window will appear, asking you to "Save XX records?"  To save, click YES.  To cancel, click NO.
    

Manually Entering a Wash Sale Deferral

To manually enter a wash sale deferred from last year:

1. Follow the instructions above for Manually Entering a Trade
2. Make sure you enter a date that matches an open transaction either open from last year or open in January of this tax year.
3. Enter a "W" in the open/close column to indicate a wash sale deferral.
4. Enter the number of shares for this wash sale.
   (ie: The wash sale deferral must be less than or equal to the number of shares of the open transaction that this is attached to.)
5. Enter zero for the price and commission.
6. Enter a negative amount in the amount column.
   (This is the actual wash sale loss being deferred.)

In the example above a wash sale loss of $742.17 on 170 sh was being deferred to 2006 due to 330 sh purchased on 01/21/2005 and held open at year end.

Deleting a Single Trade

To delete a single trade record in a data file:

1. Select the trade record by single-left-clicking on any cell in the record.
2. To delete the record:
       - click Edit, Delete Selected Records, or
       - right-click with your mouse to access the Edit menu and choose Delete Selected Records, or
       - hit the <Del> key on your keyboard, or
       - hit the -  (delete) toolbar button
3. A Warning pop-up window appears, asking "Delete selected record(s)?"  Click YES to delete the record, click NO to cancel.

Deleting Multiple Trades

To delete multiple trade records in a data file:

1. Select the trade records you wish to delete.  See Selecting Multiple Trades for Editing.
2. To delete the selected records:
       - click Edit, Delete Selected Records, or
       - right-click with your mouse to access the Edit menu and choose Delete Selected Records, or
       - hit the <Del> key on your keyboard, or
       - hit the -  (delete) toolbar button
3. A Warning pop-up window appears, asking "Delete selected record(s)?"  Click YES to delete the records, click NO to cancel.

Deleting All Trades

To delete all trade records imported into or manually entered in a data file:

1. Click Edit, Delete All Records or use the keyboard shortcut <Shift+Delete>.

2. A Warning pop-up window appears, asking "Delete all records?"  Click YES to delete all records, click NO to cancel.
   

Undo / Redo Functions

TradeLog enables you to undo the last function performed.  To Undo the last function:

1. Click Edit, Undo or click the Undo toolbar button.
2. A Confirm pop-up window will appear, asking if you want to undo the last function performed. 
3. Click YES to undo, click NO to cancel.

There are 9 levels of undo/redo available.
- If the UNDO button is grayed out, then there is nothing to undo at this time. 
- Anything that you Undo you can reverse by clicking the Redo button

Editing a Trade

To manually edit a single trade record in a data file:

1. Select the record to edit by single-left-clicking on any cell in the record.
2. Click Edit, Edit Single Record (or use the <F2> shortcut key).
3. To open a cell in a record for editing, click on the cell.   The current data will be highlighted.
4. Edit the data in the cell as necessary.
5. A calendar function is provided for the Date column.  Drop-down menus are provided for the Time, O/C, L/S, and Type/Mult columns.  If desired, use these features to edit data in cells in these columns.
6. To save all editing changes, hit the <Enter> key twice.
7. A Confirm pop-up window will appear, asking "Save your changes?"  Click YES to save, NO to cancel.
8. If you selected YES, TradeLog will re-sort and re-match your trades.

Moving a Single Record

Please note: This procedure only applies to records that have the same date and have no time stamp that you want to re-order within that day.

1. Position your mouse over the record you want to move.
    
2. Click and drag the record so that a small white box appears.
    
3. Position the box on top of the record you want your moved record to precede.
    
4. Let go of your mouse button to drop the record into position.
    
5. A pop-up window will appear, asking you to "Move Record Here?"
   To move, click YES. To cancel, click NO.
    
6. A Save pop-up window will appear, asking you to "Save XX records?"
   To save, click YES. To cancel, click NO.

Changing Tickers

To change one or more ticker symbols or stock/option/future descriptions:

1. Find all trade records with the ticker you wish to change by using the Find, Ticker command.
2. Select all records you wish to change.  See instructions for selecting a single record or multiple records or select all records.
3. Click Edit, Change Ticker (or use the <F3> keyboard shortcut key).  
4. In the Select Ticker field, enter the current ticker you wish to change, or use the dropdown menu provided to select the current ticker.
5. In the Enter New Ticker field, enter the ticker symbol you wish to change the selected records to.
6. Click the OK button.  
7. A Confirm pop-up window will appear, asking "Rematch and renumber all trades?".
8. Click YES to rematch, NO to cancel.
9. If you selected YES, TradeLog will change the ticker symbol for all selected trades, and re-sort, re-match and re-number your trades using strict FIFO trade matching.
10. A second Confirm pop-up window will appear, asking "Save your changes?"
11. Click YES to save, NO to cancel.

You can also change part of a ticker such as changing part of an option symbol.

Procedure:

1. Select the records you wish to change
    
2. Hit F3 - Edit, Change Ticker
    
3. Insert the text you wish to replace in the select ticker box (ie: 30)
    
4. Insert the new text in the enter new ticker box (ie: 30)
   This will only change the text "30" wherever it appears within the ticker field to "15")

Examples: 
Change "QQQ DEC04 30 PUT" to "QQQQ DEC04 30 PUT" <-- change just the QQQ part to QQQQ
Change "QQQ DEC04 30 PUT" to "QQQ DEC04 15 PUT" <-- change the strike price from 30 to 15
- useful when stock splits.

Changing Option Ticker Symbols

To change all option ticker symbols to TradeLog standardized option format: "MSFT DEC06 30 CALL", use the Edit, Change Option Tickers (Ctrl-F3 keyboard shortcut).

TradeLog will first try to find the appropriate underlying stock ticker, expiration month and year, and strike price for the particular option ticker symbol if you are connected to the Internet. If no Internet connection is found TradeLog will do its best to convert these manually. You may have to change the underlying stock ticker or strike price after TradeLog converts it so it matches the actual option that you traded trade.

A popup dialog box will allow you to verify the new option symbol format and make any changes if necessary.

 

Changing Stock Descriptions for Options to the underlying stock Ticker Symbol

TradeLog has standardized all options trade reporting across all brokerages that we support using what we call the Tradelog long option format.

Example: DELL DEC07 30 CALL - This format identifies this option as an option on DELL and can easily be matched with any DELL stock trades as well as any other DELL options trades for wash sale purposes. It also clearly identifies everything about this option to the user, unlike the cryptic option ticker symbol. See our Gathering Trade History from your online broker tax topic.

A few brokers use stock descriptions when identifying options, and these must be changed to the underlying stock ticker symbol. 

Procedure:

1. Click Edit, Change Stock Descr to Ticker Symbol
2. A popup box will ask you to confirm that this is what you want to do.
3. Another popup box will ask  if you want to do this for ALL option trades, or just for those isolated in the grid.
4. TradeLog will then go out to the web to try to lookup the stock description to find a matching ticker symbol and the following dialog box will allow you to select the appropriate ticker symbol from a list of potential matches.
   
   
   
5. If none of them match you can edit the stock description in the box and search again, or enter the ticker symbol yourself if you know what it is.
   
   
   
   
    
6. Click the OK button to process your change and the routine will move to the next option that needs to be changed.
7. Please remember to click OK when the box pops up asking you to save your changes to disk.

Editing Multiple Trades

To manually edit multiple trade records in a data file:

1. Select the first record to edit by single-left-clicking on any cell in the record.
2. Click Edit, Edit Single Record (or use the <F2> shortcut key).
3. To open a cell in the record for editing, click on the cell.   The current data will be highlighted.
4. Edit the data in the cell as necessary.  A calendar function is provided for the Date column.  Drop-down menus are provided for the Time, O/C, L/S, and Type/Mult columns.  If desired, use these features to edit data in cells in these columns.
5. When the editing is completed for that record, select the next record to edit by single-left-clicking on any cell in the record.
6. Click on any cell in the record to edit that cell.  Edit as necessary.
7. Follow Steps 5 and 6 for all records that require editing.
8. To save all editing changes, hit the <Enter> key twice.
9. A Confirm pop-up window will appear, asking "Save your changes?"  Click YES to save, NO to cancel.
10. If you selected YES, TradeLog will re-sort and re-match your trades.
    

Saving an Edited Trade

To save all editing changes made to one or more trade records:

1. Hit the <Enter> key twice.
2. A Confirm pop-up window will appear, asking "Save your changes?"  Click YES to save, NO to cancel.
3. If you selected YES, TradeLog will re-sort and re-match your trades.

Cutting, Copying and Pasting Trades

Using the Windows clipboard, TradeLog enables the user to cut or copy multiple trade records from one data file and paste them into another data file or MS Windows program such as Excel, Word, etc.  This can be particularly useful for combining the data from multiple data files.  

To cut and paste trades into a data file or another Windows program:

1. Select the trade record(s) to be cut.  See Selecting a Single Trade for Editing or Selecting Multiple Trades.
2. To cut the selected trade records to the Windows clipboard, click Edit, Cut Selected Records or the shortcut key combination <Ctrl-X>. 
3. To paste the trade records into another data file, open the data file and click Edit, Paste Records or the shortcut key combination <Ctrl-V>.
4. To paste the trade records into a Windows program, open the Windows program, create a new file and click Edit, Paste Records or the shortcut key combination <Ctrl-V>.
   

To copy and paste trades into a data file or another Windows program:

1. Select the trade record(s) to be cut.  See Selecting a Single Trade for Editing or Selecting Multiple Trades.
2. To cut the selected trade records to the Windows clipboard, click Edit, Copy Selected Records or the shortcut key combination <Ctrl-C>. 
3. To paste the trade records into another data file, open the data file and click Edit, Paste Records or the shortcut key combination <Ctrl-V>.
4. To paste trade data into a Windows program, open the Windows program, create a new file and click Edit, Paste Records or the shortcut key combination <Ctrl-V>.

Fix Trades out of order

Certain brokers occasionally get their trade history out of exact order of execution. Many times sells are listed before buys for a specific date, or buys to cover are listed ahead of short sales. This makes it almost impossible to match trades properly.

This function will make sure all buys come before sells and all sell shorts come before buys to cover for a specific day before matching and assigning trade numbers.  This is only for those brokers who do not have a time of day field.

To renumber trades, click Edit, Fix Trades out of order.  TradeLog will put all open transactions before close transactions and then re-match and re-number all trade records.

Renumbering Trades

Trade records can easily be re-matched and re-numbered automatically using strict FIFO (first-in, first-out) trade matching.  This can be particularly useful when users have cut and pasted trade records into proper chronological order within a data file to accommodate errors on broker trade history reports. 

To renumber trades, click Edit, Renumber Trades.  TradeLog will re-match and re-number all trade records.

Matching Specific Tax Lots

TradeLog uses strict "First In, First Out" (FIFO) trade matching, per IRS guidelines.  The Match Tax Lots function enables the user to abandon FIFO trade matching and "force-match" specific trade transactions together into a tax lot. 

Cautions:

• DO NOT use this function to correct trade mismatches or negative share errors.
  - see ERROR: Negative Shares. Trade mismatches must be fixed using the other available Edit functions such as Adjust for Stock Split or Toggle Short/Long Long/Short
   
• If you use this function, be sure that the tax lots in your data file match the trade history data on your broker statements and Form 1099, as the latter is sent to the IRS each year.
   
• Be very careful when using this function as you can "force match" transactions that could possibly unbalance other transactions for the same stock causing a "negative shares" error.
   
• You must also select all of the transactions that you want to match.  Matching a group of 4 transactions and then selecting on or two of these plus another transaction will cause unpredictable results.  If you get your trade matching all screwed up, then simply Edit, Select All transactions and use the Edit, UnMatch Tax Lots.  Then Edit, ReNumber your trades and TradeLog will put everything back in order using first-in first-out trade matching.

To match specific trade records into a tax lot:

1. Select each trade record to be matched into one specific tax lot.  See Selecting Multiple Trades.
2. Click Edit, Match Tax Lots or use the keyboard shortcut <Ctrl-M>.
3. A Warning pop-up window will appear, asking "Match selected records?".  Click YES to match, NO to cancel.
4. If you selected YES, TradeLog will "force-match" every selected record together into a tax lot, and assign a new trade number to the lot.
5. A Confirm pop-up window will appear, asking "Save your changes?".  Click YES to save, NO to cancel.
6. If you need to reverse the matching function, click Edit, Un-Match Tax Lots.
   

Force Match Trades

When your broker trade history is an absolute nightmare to match, this is the one click solution!  The following conditions may warrant the use of this function:

• Your broker trade history data is hopelessly out of proper order of execution and does not include time of day.
  Sells come before buys, buys to cover come before short sales, sales mislabeled as short, etc.
• You have a large number of corrections due to our broker representative "fixing" a trade execution.  Most of the time this manual override does NOT get properly reflected in the trade history report.
• You did simple sum of all your buys and all your sells for a specific stock and you bought and sold the same amount of shares, yet they were not reported in any particular order as described above.

If any or all of these conditions apply, then "force matching" your trades may be the simple solution rather than spending hours trying to move things around.

To force match your entire TradeLog data file, please perform the following steps:

1. Run the Edit, Force Match Trades function.
2. All of your trades are now matched and a proper P&L has been calculated based on what you bought and sold in this data file.

Toggle Trades from Short to Long (and vice versa)

This function is particularly useful when a broker incorrectly records long transactions as "short" on a trade history report.  When this occurs, trades will be imported as indicated on the report, resulting in improper trade matching (and, ultimately, a "Negative Shares" error).

To change one or more trade records from short to long::

1. Select each trade record to be toggled from short to long (or vice versa). 
   See Selecting a Single Trade for Editing or Selecting Multiple Trades.
2. Click Edit, Toggle Short/Long or Long/Short or use the keyboard shortcut <Ctrl-L>.
3. A Confirm pop-up window will appear, asking "This will toggle the selected trades from short/long or long/short.  Is this what you want to do?"
4. Click YES to edit the trades, NO to cancel.
5. If you selected YES, TradeLog will change the transaction to short or long, as indicated.
6. A Confirm pop-up window will appear, asking "Save your changes?".  Click YES to save, NO to cancel.
   

Adjusting for Exercised Options and Stock Assignments

New in TradeLog ver 7.2007.09.08 is a simple Exercise/Assign edit function that allows you to exercise a single option contract and make all the necessary adjustments to the assigned stock position.

NOTE:  This is our first attempt at handling the complex adjustments required and admittedly we still come up quite short in handling all the possible combinations when options get exercised. Currently this function will work ONLY for option trades where only one option transaction gets exercised and an equal number of shares of stock are assigned in one transaction. So if you bought or sold multiple blocks of options and they were exercised in multiple stock assignments, then this function WILL NOT work for you. You can either do all the adjustments yourself by manually editing the stock and option trades (not recommended in our opinion), or simply ignore the problem as most other software programs. Please see our Option Exercises and Stock Assignments tax topic for a detailed explanation of the IRS rules for options that get exercised. Also please see our blog article entitled: "Selling Puts Creates a Potential Tax Prep Nightmare"

Procedure:

1. Use the Find Ticker command to find all of your stock and option trades for a particular stock. Use the * wildcard character to find both stocks and options which start with the same stock ticker symbol. (ie: DELL* will find both DELL stock trades as well as DELL option trades.)
2. Select both the option open and close transactions as well as the stock open and close transactions with your mouse.  Holding the CTRL key on your keyboard while left-clicking with your mouse allows you to select non-contiguous transactions.
   
   Please make sure you select the appropriate number of opening and closing stock shares to match with the number of option contracts x 100.
   
   Also, make sure that the option trade has a corresponding close transaction at zero price. If not, you need to manually add a closing transaction for the option before you run this procedure..
3. Select Exercise / Assign from the drop-down TradeLog Edit menu.
4. A popup box will ask if this is what you want to do. Click OK to complete the process.
5. The TradeLog Matched Lots column will display "Ex-N" where N is the Exercise/Assignment number. This number starts with 1 and increments each time you exercise an option.
6. Repeat the above steps for each exercised option / stock assignment combination.
7. You can easily find all of your exercised and assigned positions by using menu item: Find, Exercises / Assigns.

Adjusting for Stock Splits

When you hold a position open through a stock split, your number of shares and price per share will change for that position. For example, if you bought 1000 shares of MSFT pre-split at $50 per share and carried the position through a 2-for-1 split, you now hold 2000 shares of MSFT at $25 per share (half the initial cost)..  

In order for TradeLog to correctly match your (pre-split) opening transactions to the subsequent closing transactions, the pre-split transactions must be adjusted for number of shares and price.  The Edit, Adjust for Stock Split function enables a user to make the necessary adjustments in a few easy steps.

1. Find the ticker that needs to be adjusted for a split using the Find, Ticker command.
2. Find and select the record showing the last trade made before the split. 
   The light blue profit bar will show the number of shares open going into the split - These are the shares that need to be adjusted.
3. Click Edit, Adjust for Stock Split or the keyboard shortcut <Ctrl-S>.
4. The Adjust for Stock Split pop-up window will appear.
5. In the fields provided, enter the ticker description and split ratio. The split date will be the date of the last trade before the split. DO NOT change this date to the actual split date as you may have trades on this date which are post-split.
6. Click OK.   TradeLog will adjust the number of shares and price in all selected records. (If the resulting number of shares is not a whole number, some manual editing may be necessary. See Note on Manually Editing Fractional Shares below.)
7. To ensure proper trade matching, you may need to use Edit, Renumber Trades.  The program will re-sort, re-match and re-number your trades using strict FIFO trade matching.
   
   
   
    

Example:
On 10/04/2005, John bought 500 shares of AMCC.  A "2 for 1" stock split occurred on 10/15/2005.  On 11/02/2000, he sold 1000 "post-split" shares.  This caused a negative shares condition in TradeLog, as more shares have been sold than were previously bought.

To correct this, the "pre-split" opening transaction must be adjusted.  John finds and selects the opening transaction, clicks Edit, Adjust for Stock Split, enters the appropriate ticker (AMCC), split ratio ("2" for "1") and leaves the split date set at 10/04/2005) and clicks OK.  The "pre-split" transaction is adjusted accordingly:  the number of "pre-split" shares are doubled and the price is halved (see below).

The "negative share" error has been resolved and the trades are matched correctly.  

Notes:

Splitting Option trades:
When an option splits the option ticker symbol or option strike price changes as well.  The Adjust for Stock Split function tries it's best to change the TradeLog ticker symbol, including the strike price, but sometimes further editing is necessary.  Please be aware that the ticker symbol of the pre-split shares MUST match with the post split shares so TradeLog can properly match them.

Split Date:
In some cases you may need to change your actual split date slightly. TradeLog uses the split date entered in the Adjust for Stock Split window to determine how many shares were still open at that point in time. If you had post-split trades for the ticker you’re working with on the date of the split, you will need to use the previous day’s date in the Adjustment window.

If you do not, TradeLog will assume that the only shares that need adjustment were the ones still open at the end of the day on the split date. If there were closing records on the split date there may be no shares open at the end of the day, in which case TradeLog will not adjust any of the records. If there were opening records on the split date these will be adjusted for the split even though this is not necessary since they are already post-split.

For example, take a look at the trades below. On 1/18/2005, John bought 325 shares of CRDN. A "3 for 2" stock split occurred on 1/19/2005. Also on 1/19/2005, he sold 487 "post-split" shares so at the end of 1/19/2005 he did not have any shares of CRDN still open. If he ran the Adjust for Stock Split function and put in his actual split date of 1/19/2005, no adjustment would be made. However, if he made the adjustment using a split date of 1/18/2005, his pre-split shares would be adjusted for the split.

Manually Editing  Fractional Shares Created Due to a Stock Split Adjustment:

In the example above you will notice that CRDN underwent a “3 for 2” split. At the time the split occurred, John held 325 shares open. Since this is a 3 for 2 stock split, the buy of 325 shares cannot be divided by 2 and multiplied by 3 equally. It comes up one-half share too high. The resulting number of shares is 487.5. Most likely the .5 share was distributed via cash in lieu of fractional shares in which case the .5 share needs to be removed from the Buy record and the Price needs to be adjusted so that the total Amount does not change.

To make the adjustment you should:

1. Select the Buy (open, long) record and use the Edit, Edit Single Record function (Function Key F2) to get rid of the .5 shares and change it to 487.

2. Change the price by subtracting the Commission from the Amount and dividing by the number of shares: $15,643.27 - $7.52 Commission = 15,635.75/ 487sh = 32.10626 (If you are adjusting an Open Short position you would add the commission amount before dividing by the number of shares.)

Note, the Amount should not change, only the Price.

Adjusting for Stock Dividends

Stock dividends are the same as stock splits and need to be adjusted for manually in TradeLog. Please see the Adjust for stock split function for details.

NOTE:
TradeLog primarily handles trade accounting for all transactions that are required to be reported on IRS Schedule D.  It does not support cash distributions or cash dividends, as these are reported on your Form 1040 - please see our Tax Topic on Cash Dividends.  In addition, brokers will include cash dividends on your Form 1099 but generally will not report these on your trade history reports.  For these reasons, if you have received a cash dividend we suggest that you account for this cash independently of your TradeLog software.  

Adjusting for Spinoffs

A spinoff is a stock dividend issued in a new or different (child) company and not in the original (parent) company.  As no money changes hands, the spinoff distribution is generally a non-taxable event.  

Brokers vary widely as to how (and if) they report spinoffs on their statements.  This makes it virtually impossible to automate the importing of these transactions in a software program, so manual adjustment is required by the user to account for the new stock.  

Since you have received new stock, you should manually