Basis in Advanced Portfolio

[Bill Michaelson]

On 04/12/2013 01:05 PM, John Ralls wrote:
> On Apr 12, 2013, at 9:48 AM, "Bill Michaelson, Developer" <bill at cosi.com> wrote:
>
>> I see clues about that I can change the method used for basis calculation (FIFO, average, LIFO).  But I can't seem to find the choice in the user interface to try setting it.  Seems like a dumb question, but well, there you have it.
>>
>> Advice, anyone?
> There are hooks in place for other basis calculation methods, but only FIFO is implemented.
>
> Regards,
> John Ralls
>
>
Thanks for your reply John.  I'm disappointed because I thought I needed 
to change to FIFO to solve a problem.  I suspected I was getting average 
basis method.  I have a case where I record a spinoff by entering a 
split.  Prior to entering the transaction, the Advanced Portfolio report 
shows a basis that I expect - for the original purchase price of the 
share lots.  The split contains:

  * a complete "sale" of all shares in the original company at the basis
    price
  * a repurchase of the same number of shares at the new basis value
  * a purchase of shares in the spinoff company for cash equal to the
    difference in basis

Thus, I intend to have the same basis spread over both sets of stock 
positions.

BUT

I find that the Advanced Portfolio report instead now shows a basis for 
the original company as halfway between the old and the new basis.  I 
can't imagine why.  I suspected it was some kind of averaging at play.  
Now I don't know what to think.  I will have to keep a record of basis 
outside of GC, I suppose.  Can anyone explain what is happening?  Is it 
a bug or am I missing a key point?


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