GNUCash is making up prices

[ghaverla@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca]

On Mon, 17 Sep 2001, Linas Vepstas wrote:

> On Sun, Sep 16, 2001 at 09:30:41PM -0600, ghaverla@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca was heard to remark:
> > 
> > Most of the mutual funds I buy, the number of shares is always
> > just approximate.  
> 
> It shouldn't be.  If you bought x number of shares yesterday, but
> today they tell you that you have a different number of shares, then
> you are being swindled.  If the deal is honest, then the number of
> shares is exact and unchanging.

The number of shares has to be constant, it doesn't have to be
exact.  It should also be very close to the exact value.

For example, lets say I find a mutual fund which has a
price which is changing in price in a monotone way (either
increasing or decreasing) at a rate fast enough that people won't
get bored waiting for the math to work.  I decide to buy shares
such that I am working with fractional numbers of shares where
the fractional part is a ratio of primes (ignore the integer
part).  So, one time I buy X + 1/2 shares, another time I buy
Y + 5/7 shares, another time I buy Z + 13/41 shares, and so
on.  The total number of shares I have according to the mutual
fund company will almost always be inexact.  They will work with
the closest binary approximation in double precision or something
like that.  And I don't mind, as I am not going to quibble over
a difference in the number of shares between what I purchased
and what they keep track of, that has a value much less than
1 cent.

Gord

Matter Realisations     http://www.materialisations.com/
Gordon Haverland, B.Sc. M.Eng. President
101  9504 182 St. NW    Edmonton, AB, CA  T5T 3A7
780/481-8019            ghaverla @ freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
780/993-1274 (cell)