How Do You Overview Your Portfolio?

Discussion in 'Stock Market Education' started by Colebra, Mar 5, 2015.

  1. Colebra

    Colebra Well-Known Member

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    What I mean is this:

    - When you have a lot of different stuff in your portfolio, how many times a week, month, or year do you read a balance spreadsheet or something?

    - I guess if you have all of your porfolio in a single account, the broker probably provides some kind of information, but do you extract data yourself? Why?

    - What are the main stuff to be looking at in terms of data?

    - Also, do you have a dedicated bank account to handle your investment money?

    Thansk in advance guys!
     
  2. crimsonghost747

    crimsonghost747 Senior Investor

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    I calculate my total networth (cash in all bank accounts, net value of investments etc) once a month: a simple X + Y + Z = A thing in excel. Of course on top of that I read all the quarterly reports from all companies that I own. That is what I consider to be the mandatory stuff.

    I'm with IB and they have GREAT, though a bit hard to use at first, statistics for your account. All the reports can be customised so they really do give you pretty much everything that you could want.

    Diversification and performance (against certain benchmark indexes) are the main things I take a look at. Also monthly dividend stream but that is more to do with my own goals rather than something that everyone should constantly keep their eyes on.

    With most brokers you have a bank account integrated.
     
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  3. JR Ewing

    JR Ewing Super Moderator Staff Member

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    I have specially designated accounts for taxable accounts, IRA / SEP, etc.

    I do micromanage things in my taxable accounts, but I do this for a living for myself and other people as well, so it's pretty much my life. If you work in construction or healthcare or manufacturing or whatever, you probably won't have time to worry about it much.

    I'd say maybe just take a peek at the end of the day or week if you're curious and have time, and perhaps go in and do a review at the end of the month on the weekend and see if there have been any material changes in any of your companies or other investments. I'd definitely at least review everything after every quarter, and pay attention to companies' quarterly and annual reports.

    If you're like most people and not in a position to micromanage your portfolio, and it is set up in such a way that you could realistically lose a big chunk of money on any given day if any one thing goes wrong with any one company, commodity, industry, sector, or whatever, you'd probably want to re-evaluate things.

    My retirement accounts are mostly mutual funds, and other than adding money into them every week and buying more shares, I rarely fool with them.
     
  4. Colebra

    Colebra Well-Known Member

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    What's the best way to avoid this when starting out?

    Just thank you guys...
     
  5. crimsonghost747

    crimsonghost747 Senior Investor

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    Diversification and choosing strong and stable companies.
     
  6. JR Ewing

    JR Ewing Super Moderator Staff Member

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    As usual, crimson is correct.

    If you're a relatively advanced investor with a fair amount of money and are able to devote lots of time and attention to your investments, you can perhaps be more tactical and aggressive from day to day and beyond.

    If not, you should maintain a more balanced portfolio, limit your overall account activity, and maintain a longterm view.
     

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