Stocks, gains/losses, do I really have to calculate them by hand?

[John Ralls]

On Apr 26, 2012, at 5:54 AM, prl wrote:

> On 26/04/12 20:11, Fredrik Persson wrote:
>> I am not familiar with the abbreviation "FIFO" (at first I assumed you mean
>> First-In First-Out, a programmer term). LIFO, what is that? (I am not
>> american, so I've never run into these abbreviations.)
>> 
> FIFO = First In First Out
> LIFO = Last In First Out
> 
> And yes, they're both programming terms. FIFO is in queue order (earliest to enter the queue is processed next), LIFO is stack order (latest to enter the stack is processed next).
> 

They're accounting terms as well. One use is how one charges costs of goods sold from raw material inventory -- where LIFO is commonly applied. 

Regards,
John Ralls