Investment questions and answers (Q & A) 2001:
These are some of the investment questions and answers that
was sent in 2001. Questions and answers in the forum can be both
about the software program Amateur Invest and about stocks and
investments in general. You can see the other parts of the Q
& A section in the investment forum,
or directly: 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002.
These are some of the questions that have been answered in
2001 (click on item or scroll down the page):
Starting the
program ?
Which exchanges ?
Inputting my own
portfolio ?
How to split stocks ?
Stock sources ?
Norwegian stock prices ?
Windows 2000 / windows XP
?
Cost of selling stocks ?
Australian Stock Exchange
?
Currencies ?
Other stock markets ?
Registering ?
Amateur
investors interested in stocks in other countries ?
Starting the program
?
Investment forum question: yurka - Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2001 10:32:18:
How can I evaluate Amateur Invest? - Sincerely, yurka
Investment forum answer: R. Michael:
Hi Yurka. - Thank you for your interest. - I'm not quite sure
what you mean by your question. - But you can download Amateur Invest from this
address: http://www.amateur-invest.com/us_download.htm - After
downloading it, you must install it on your computer. You do this
by executing the installation file (the one you downloaded). -
After installation there will be a program added to your start
menu. When you run Amateur Invest, it needs a userid and
password. They are both MANAGER - in upper case.
You can the enter your own companies (to the ones that are
already there), enter your own portfolio,
and the download stock prices via the
internet. Regards, R. Michael
Investment forum question yurka:
That was my question: you explain it here, but not in the
program (if you did, it was buried somewhere). - I hope after
that it will work standard 30 days. Sincerely, yurka
Investment forum answer: R. Michael:
Hi Yurka.
I can somewhat relate to your trouble. - The MANAGER/MANAGER
is pointed out on the download internet page, and when the
program is launched for the first time (together with some other
information), and also in the discussion forum, as well as on the
faq internet page.
The program will not expire - you can use it for more than 30
days. - But I hope, you'll find the features - and the few ones
not there, so great that you'll decide to register - or find another way to
promote or advertise the
program - eg. look at:
http://www.amateur-invest.com/advertise/us_advertise.htm -
Regards, R. Michael
Which exchanges ?
Mads, DK - posted 11/29/2001 8:20 AM
---
Please tell me, if stock prices are automatically updated for all
exchange listed stocks in Europe and the US? - - and if historical
stock prices are given upon startup?
R. Michael - posted 11/29/2001 8:31 AM
---
Hi Mads. - - - The stock prices are automatically updated for all
the companies that can be found on Yahoo. - That is (to my
knowledge) all Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, German, English,
French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, and many more stock prices /
quotes. Also all American/Canadian stocks. As well as a number of
south-american countries and Australian/New Zealand. - - - At the
bottom of yahoo.com you can see the many national yahoo's. And on
this page, it is explained how to set
your own companies in Amateur Invest:
http://www.amateur-invest.com/us_howto.htm - - - From the start,
Amateur Invest comes with examples of more than 100 companies
from the above countries. And with historical prices from more
than 2 yrs. back. (Later note: Registered users
can also get historical quotes for any company).
Inputting my
own portfolio ?
Sandy - posted 11/17/2001 12:52 AM
---
Cannot figure out how to list my own portfolio. - - When I try to
'ADD' an item to the stock portfolio, I'm shown a list of stocks
that I did not choose and I am not permitted to type in the
stocks I own. - - Need help!! Sandy.
R. Michael - posted 11/17/2001 12:54 AM
---
Hi Sandy. - - Thank you for your interest in Amateur Invest. - -
The list of companies presented in the portfolio "Add"
function, comes from the company database. - - So what you would
do first, is to go into the company register, and create the
companies, you wish to monitor/have in your portfolio. - - Once
the company is created (look at all the other examples in the
company database for eg. Yahoo automatic price import codes), you
can then enter the company in your portfolio - and all statistics
will be automatically calculated, when you update prices via the
internet.
How to split stocks ?
John, DK - posted 10/31/2001 5:50 PM
---
Hi, In help, I have been looking for information about how to do
a split, because I have some stocks that has been split 4:1. Is
there something I have overlooked?, John.
R. Michael - posted 10/31/2001 5:58 PM
---
Hi John. - - Thank you for your interest in Amateur Invest. - -
You can find information about stock
splits at the bottom of this page:
http://www.amateur-invest.com/us_splits.htm
Stock sources ?
Gino - posted 10/31/2001 5:41 PM
---
I was considering downloading amateur invest and had a couple
concerns. What sources does the data for the program get updated
from. How long has the program been running and how long are the
plans to keep it in use for.
R. Michael - posted 10/31/2001 5:43 PM
---
Hi Gino. - - Thank you for your interest in Amateur Invest. - -
Amateur Invest use Yahoo for supplying stock prices. They have
prices from many countries around the world, and usually the
prices are updated at least every 15 minutes (when the exchanges
are open). - - Amateur Invest has been around since early 1999 -
so its more than 2 years old. - you can see the version history here:
http://www.amateur-invest.com/us_version.htm - I have no plans
for discontinuing it - as long as there are people that
registers, and there are new things to develop.
Norwegian stock
prices ?
Martin, N - posted 10/27/2001 7:21 PM
---
Norwegian Stock Prices?
R. Michael - posted 10/28/2001 9:15 AM
---
Hi Martin. Thank you for your interest in Amateur Invest. -
Amateur Invest can be set up to automatically update stock prices
from a large number of countries - also Norway! So the answer is
yes. It is done via yahoo.xxx - so you can look at the finance
pages there, and find the code that has to be entered for each
company. With Amateur Invest there are a number of companies from
many countries set up from the start, like Orkla, Statoil and
Telenor. Look at them and in the help pages in the program - it
is easy to set up.
Windows 2000 /
windows XP ?
Jan, DK - posted 10/1/2001 8:08 AM
---
Does Amateur Invest run under windows 2000?
R. Michael - posted 10/2/2001 7:28 AM
---
Hi, Jan. - Thank you for your interest in Amateur Invest. - It
should run under windows 2000. Make sure you have
"manager" rights in win 2000 - before you install. (Later
note: besides having manager rights in windows 2000 and
windows XP, you also needed to have a printer installed - this
has been fixed in later releases).
Cost of selling
stocks ?
Claes S., DK - posted 9/17/2001 6:54 AM
---
Hi, I have just downloaded Amateur Invest, and looked at it. All
in all, I think it is a good program. - - But when selling stocks, isn't there missing a
possibility to enter the selling costs, in the same way, that you
can enter the buying costs? - -
Another thing I am missing is a "tax" field, so the
calculations of profit-loss
will be right. - - I don't think it is possible in the current
version, but I would like your suggestions.
R. Michael - posted 9/17/2001 7:03 AM
---
Hi Claes, Thank you for your interest in Amateur Invest. - - You
can do something like your idea, in the current version. - - If
you - before you sell stocks, in the field "transaction
costs" add your selling costs, they will be calculated into
your profit/loss calculation. This is also true for the field
"Transaction amounts" where your dividend usually
should be put - so that field you should set to 0 (zero), if you
have already paid tax for your dividend. - - By using those 2
fields - before you sell, you can control the P/L calculation -
the first is deducted, the other is added. (Later note:
when you sell stocks, you can now also enter the selling costs in
the sell stock window).
Australian Stock
Exchange ?
Greg, AUS - posted 8/30/2001 1:26 PM
---
Hello - I am very impressed with this program, But can I use it
with the Australian Stock Exchange ?
R. Michael - posted 8/30/2001 1:27 PM
---
Hi Greg. - - - Thank you for your interest in Amateur Invest. - -
- Yes, you can use the program with Australian Stocks. There are
a few Australian companies delivered with the program from the
start - and you can add all you like, yourself. An explanation
with an example is given in help (push F1 in the program) and on
the Amateur Invest faq page.
Currencies ?
Kristian, DK - posted 8/28/2001 7:30 AM
---
To Amateur Invest. - I'm starting to learn Amateur Invest and
think it is a fine program. - I think there might be a problem
when I have Danish and Swedish stocks in my portfolio. In the
portfolio window, the profit/loss calculation and total sum, are
in the base currency (set to
DKR), which is OK. But if I push the button "Show
Net worth" the value is not correct. Is it me, that does
something wrong? Is it an error or is it supposed to be that way?
I hope you can help me, so that I do it correctly. Thank you,
Regards, Kristian.
R. Michael - posted 8/28/2001 7:42 AM
---
Hi Kristian. - Thank you for your mail. - You are not doing
anything wrong. It is an error. - The Net worth window should take
differences in currencies into account, so that it doesn't sum up
"apples and bananas". - This will be fixed in the next
version. - The next beta version can be
found here: http://www.amateur-invest.com/us_beta.htm - and it
will be fixed in beta 2002+, during september.
Other stock markets ?
John, Philippines - posted 8/17/2001 6:17 AM
---
hi there, can i use amateur investment software to monitor Stock
Quotes from the PSE (Philippine Stock Exchange). with price
updates at "www.pse.org.ph"
and"http://finance.yehey.com/stocs.asp"thanks, john.
R. Michael - posted 8/17/2001 6:19 AM
---
Hello John. ---- Thank you for your interest in Amateur Invest.
---- A-Invest has been made to be able to download stock prices
via the internet. ---- This has been made to work for the Yahoo
sites, around the world. ---- In principle A-Invest can download
from other sites, if they can deliver the same spreadsheet
format, that Yahoo does. Unfortunately neither of the 2 places
you mention, gives the user the possibility to see stock prices
in spreadsheet format. ---- You can still use Amateur Invest, and
update the prices manually. This has been made easy, with the
"Prices & Info / Group Add" function. When you add
new (Philippine) companies, you eg. assign a group number of 5.
Then use the group add function, and select group 5. - It will
then show all the Philippine companies, and you just have to enter
the prices for each - name and date is set already.
Registering ?
Tim B., DK - posted 8/14/2001 7:31 AM
---
Hi, - I have tried your program for about a week, and it looks
quite good. - I have a question: What are the
"graph's", etc., you get by registrering? - Regards,
Tim.
R. Michael - posted 8/14/2001 7:42 AM
---
Hi Tim. - Thank you for your interest in Amateur Invest. - A
number of places in the program, you'll find certain functions
"greyed-out". Eg. in the portfolio window, the icon to
the right, registered users can use a pie-chart to show how much
each investment weigh in the total portfolio. - Also to mention
some further points - off the top of my head: - In the registered
version you can: - change the userid from MANAGER to what ever
you want. - in reports there will be no "UNREGISTERED"
notices at the bottom. - you can have your own logo in reports. -
You get access to more technical analysis'. - You can add more
currencies. - You can see the historical movement of currencies
in a graph. - in "what-if" calculations you can do a
reverse calculation. - and many other things to come in new
versions.
Amateur
investors interested in stocks in other countries ?
B. Ung, NZ - posted 8/6/2001 7:56 AM
---
I am looking around for a package that includes both a good
portfolio management facility and time series analysis. I've
tried putting my own portfolio into your product and i like the
simplicity you have built into your program. However there are
some difficulties with database management. Amateur investors in
new zealand are normally not interested in investing in Finland
or Denmark and vice versa. So if i need to purge those company
data i'm not interested in - what do i do?- it's definitely a
good product and i am spending more time trying it out against
other products. Thank you for making this available to the small
investors.
R. Michael - posted 8/6/2001 8:46 AM
---
First I would like to thank you for your friendly comments about
Amateur Invest! - I somewhat agree with you - amateur investors
usually invest in companies in their own country. - That is also
what I have written in my book "make money on stocks"
(at the moment only available in danish). - But the program is
made for the global market, and therefore I have included
examples from many countries - so that it can be used in Denmark,
US, NZ, Germany, and many more. - - - If you are not interested
in companies in other countries you are right - you should delete
them. In the current version it is only possible to do that one
at a time - in the company window. - - - - In the next version -
as a result of your suggestion, it will be possible to select
several companies and delete them as one. (Later note:
It is now possible to filter companies in the company database,
so that only one country is shown at a time. Also you can multi
select and delete companies).
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