Stocks and basis

[Ross Boylan]

I've seen a number of wishes for easier handling of stock (at
http://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/WishList#Easier_Setup_of_Stocks and below,
and also on this list).  However, it seems to me a deeper fix than
"druids" is required.

To handle many assets properly, one needs to view one's holdings as a
collection of items, each of which has (among other things) a quantity,
an acquisition date, and a basis (original cost/value).  Although
gnucash can record the transactions that led to the current holdings, my
impression is that it treats the holdings as an undifferentiated
aggregate.

One reason I think this is that when one sells shares, one isn't asked
which shares are to be sold, and one has to provide the basis manually.

Tracking acquisitions would also raise the issue of selling designated
shares (I sold x shares acquired on date d with basis b), and of
allowing people automatic selection of the lowest or highest basis
shares to fill a sale.  Oldest or newest shares would be another method.

(At least in the US, there are more wrinkles because of the tax
distinction between short and long term holdings.  One might want to
confine the choices to long-term holdings.)

Would this be a significant change to the internal model of the program?

I have used gnucash to track some stocks and mutual funds, but it is
really painful.  The 5 line split for a sale involves entering lots of
redundant information (which presumably leads to the idea of a druid),
some of which (the basis) should be known to the system.  As far as I
know, there is no simple way to enter reinvested dividends.  I think
using it with reinvested dividends would be even worse.  I have some new
finances to track (my Mom's estate), but because of these difficulties
I'm probably going to keep using an old DOS program, Managing Your
Money, under an emulator.  This is a proprietary program, whose data
format I've been unable to decipher, and whose manufacturer is defunct.
So I'd rather use an open source solution.

Ross Boylan