Reval 3 Extra Documentation

Reval 3
Extra Documentation

Main Online Help System

Options

To begin using options, choose New Option Sheet... from the Sheets submenu. If you have not registered for options and have not already started your 30-day options trial, you will be asked to confirm that you want to start your trial now.

Enter the information about your options in the "purple" area of the spreadsheet (as with stock portfolio and index sheets, you can change the colors using the Sheet Colors... command on the Preferences submenu). Starting with the first column:

Option Code. This is the five-letter code signifying the underlying stock, the expiration month, the strike price and the type of option. For example, ORYIM is a call option on Oracle Corp, expiring in September, with a strike price of 65. You can look up option codes at the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
Underlying. The stock symbol of the underlying stock. For example, if the option is ORYIM, the underlying is ORCL. Do not use the first two or three letters of the option code. Use the stock symbol.
Put/ Call. Identify the option as a put or call. You only have to type P or C in most cases. Only the words Put or Call should appear in this column.
Expiry. Enter the month and year the option expires. For instance, type 9/00 for September 2000. Reval automatically determines the exact day of expiration, which is the third Friday of the month. This allows precise calculation of the number of days to expiration. The second-to-last letter of the option code represents the month of expiration. If you enter an expiry month that does not match the option code, Reval will advise you of your error so that you can correct either the option code or the expiry month.
Strike. The strike price of the option. The last letter of the option code represents the strike price. If you enter a strike that does not match the option code, Reval will advise you of your error so that you can correct either the option code or the strike.
Date. As on the portfolio sheets, the date of the transaction.
Qty. The number of contracts purchased (Reval only handles long options at this time).
Avg. Cost. The cost in dollars (NOT dollars per share of the underlying) for each contract. If you enter the Total Cost in dollars (including commission, if you wish) Reval will automatically determine your Avg. Cost.
Total Cost. The total cost of your position. You can include the commission is you wish. If you enter the cost per contract in the Avg. Cost column, Reval determines Total Cost automatically.

Click on the Option Reval Now! button to update all of your portfolios, including your option portfolios. The Reval This Sheet Only button will update only the sheet you are looking at. Once Reval gets quotes for your options, it will tell you the following:

Days Left. The number of days until expiration of the option.
Last Underlying. The price per share of the last sale of the underlying.
ITM%. The amount by which the option is in the money, expressed as a percentage. For instance, if the stock is at 55 and a call option on that stock has a strike of 50, the option is in the money by 10%. A negative percentage means the stock is "out of the money," e.g., the stock is at 50 but the strike on a call is 55.
Time Value. The value of the option, minus its intrinsic value. Intrinsic value is the amount the stock is in the money. For instance, if a stock is trading at 55 and the strike on a call option is 50, the intrinsic value of the option is 5. Ordinarily it would trade for something more than 5, particularly if there is some time to go before expiration. That's the time value. If an option is out of the money, the time value will equal the bid price.
Bid. The best bid price for the option, as reported by the Nasdaq web site. (Nasdaq gives quotes on almost all listed options, regardless of where the underlying trades.) This is the price used to determine the value of your position, as well as time value.
Ask. The best ask price for the option, as reported by the Nasdaq web site.
Hi. The highest price the option has traded for on a given day, as reported by the Nasdaq web site.
Lo. The lowest price the option has traded for on a given day, as reported by the Nasdaq web site.
Vol. The number of contracts traded for that option on a given day, as reported by the Nasdaq web site.
OI. The open interest in the option, as reported by the Nasdaq web site.
Value. The number of contracts multiplied by the bid price, multiplied by 100 -- in other words, the value of your position. Reval uses the bid price because that is the price you would receive if you sold your position.
Cum. % Gain. The percentage increase in the value of your position over your total cost.

If you find that the options sheet is too wide, you can hide some of these columns using the Hide Option Sheet Columns... command on the Sheets submenu.

Any Size Portfolio, Any Sheet

You can now include any worksheet in the Reval 3 workbook. Reval formerly required that all other worksheets be in a separate workbook. Reval now creates all charts and reports as sheets in the Reval workbook.

In addition, you are no longer limited to 25 positions per portfolio sheet. You can add or delete positions at will using the Sheets menu. Select the row(s) you want to delete, and then use the Delete Selected Portfolio Rows... command. Select the row below where you want new rows inserted, and choose the Insert Portfolio Rows Above Selection.... Other commands allow you to quickly delete blank rows from the bottom of a portfolio, or add new rows at the bottom.

Import Reval Data...

When you first launch Reval 3, it will ask if you are upgrading from an earlier version. If you want to transfer your data from the old version, just follow the on-screen instructions. You can also skip the import for the time being and use the Import Reval Data... command on the Stocks submenu later. Reval will transfer the data from your old workbook into the current version of Reval. Reval 3 will also transfer your registration code and other preferences. If you have entered the regular registration code in your old Reval workbook, you won't have to do so again.

Automatic Software Update Notices

Every so often Reval will check to see if a new version of Reval has been released. If so, it will give you the option to go to the Reval web page and download the new software. Registered users also are notified by e-mail of all new releases. If your e-mail address changes, or you haven't registered yet, you'll still find out about the latest release.

Tracking Cash

The Basics

You can keep track of cash in your portfolio by entering ^CASH (with the caret) in the symbol column. ^CASH is not an actual security or money market fund; it is just an arbitrary way for Reval to track cash. Nonetheless, it works a lot like a money market mutual fund in that ^CASH always has a price of $1/share.

To track cash in your portfolio, enter the dollar amount as Shares Owned -- NOT as Total Cost, as you might think -- and enter $1 as your average cost per share. Reval will automatically multiply the number of shares by $1, to give you the correct total value.

The ^CASH symbol allows you to see cash as a percentage of your portfolio in a pie chart, and it also tends to even out the chart of portfolio values when you buy and sell shares (provided you adjust the amount of ^CASH in the portfolio when you trade).

Advanced Cash -- Accounting for Changes

Properly accounting for changes in the amount of cash in your portfolio is not straightforward. Reval isn't really designed to keep track of cash -- you can do it, but it's like using a screwdriver to pound nails. It's probably not the most appropriate tool.

The Easy Way. The methods described below are necessary only if you want to make your Annualized % Return as accurate as possible. If you don't particularly care about this statistic, or have a small amount of cash in comparison to your other holdings, tracking changes in your cash balance is a simple, two-step process: (1) Enter the new cash balance in the Shares Owned column, (2) Enter $1 in the average cost per share column. The remainder of this section discusses how to account for cash so that Annualized % Return is as accurate as possible.

Dividends and Interest. Accounting for dividends and interest is weird, but easy. Simply enter your new cash balance as Shares Owned. Reval automatically adjusts your average cost per share downward, so your original cash balance remains in the Total Cost column. The Value column, on the other hand, reflects your new cash balance. Importantly, if you have entered the date that you originally added the cash to your portfolio in the Date Purchased column, the Annualized % Return of your portfolio will correctly take the interest and dividends into account.

Using Cash. Taking some (but not all) cash out of the portfolio or using it to buy stock is more difficult. You have to think of it as if you are selling shares of stock that are now worth $1, but which you may have purchased at some other price. The easiest thing to do is to tab over to the Average Cost/Share. In the formula bar, drag over the number (it may be a really long decimal) and copy it by pressing ctrl-c (command-c on the Mac). Press Esc, then Shift+Tab to move to the Shares Owned column. Type in the remaining cash balance in the portfolio. Then press tab and paste (ctrl-v or command-v) the old Average Cost/Share. Then press tab again. The Value column correctly shows your current cash balance. The Total Cost is the Value discounted by a proportionate amount of interest and dividends you have earned since putting the original cash in your account.

Adding Cash. Conversely, when you sell stock or otherwise add cash to the portfolio, you need to account for that. You have to think of it as if you are buying shares of stock at $1/share. You can handle this in one of two ways. First, you can simply start a new ^CASH position on another line of your portfolio. Second, you can keep cash in a single ^CASH position. The second option is a little more complicated. Add the amount of new cash to Shares Owned and press tab twice to get to the Total Cost column. Then add the amount of new cash to Total Cost and press tab. Unfortunately, this will skew Annualized % Return because your Date Purchased is no longer accurate.

Is this too convoluted? Yes. Will it ever be fixed? If enough people tell me to fix it, yes. Send your comments to reval@jjackel.com.

Automatic Features

In Reval 3, several convenient automatic features are available from the Automatic Functions... command on the Preferences submenu. AutoReval has moved from the Stocks submenu to the Automatic Functions... command. AutoLog likewise has moved from the Log submenu. The stock split feature has been made even easier to use, because you can now schedule splits in advance, either manually or by downloading the split schedule from the Internet. And there's a new feature that downloads projected earnings announcements. All of the following features can be accessed through the Automatic Functions... command on the Preferences submenu. All of these features work with options the same way as for stocks.

AutoReval. You can tell Reval to update your stock prices at any interval you specify, as frequently as every two minutes. If you use Reval during market hours, you can get a constantly updated look at your portfolio (so long as you leave the Reval workbook open).

AutoLog. You can have Reval log your portfolios' values and other vital statistics whenever you close Reval or quit Excel. This is handy if you want to use the Chart of Portfolio Value command on the Charts menu. You'll never miss logging a day's action.

AutoSplit. AutoSplit gets the upcoming schedule of stock splits from Briefing.com, so that your holdings can be adjusted automatically on the split date. You can update the split schedule as frequently as every day. You can manually update the split schedule with the Download Split Schedule command on the tools submenu. See "Splits" below for more information.

AutoEarnings. AutoEarnings gets the upcoming schedule of earnings announcements (as well as Wall Street's consensus earnings estimate) from Yahoo! You can have Reval update the earnings schedule as frequently as every day. You can also specify the number of days into the future you want to look for scheduled announcements. The farther into the future you look, the longer the process takes. You can manually update the earnings schedule with the Download Earnings Schedule... command on the tools submenu.

Splits

Reval 3 gives you several ways to adjust your holdings for stock splits.

In a stock split (or a stock dividend), your brokerage account is credited with additional shares in the same company, but your percentage ownership of the company is unchanged. For instance, if you bought 100 shares yesterday and the stock splits 2 for 1 today, you have 200 shares. Your position in the stock is worth about the same amount as yesterday, and you own the same percentage of the company as yesterday. In other words, the substance of your holdings is unchanged.

However, the price per share probably has dropped precipitously. In a 2 for 1 split, the price per share drops 50% but -- and this is the crucial part -- the value of your position does not. If a stock splits and you are not aware that a split was scheduled, you might be shocked to find a stock that was humming along nicely suddenly appears to be down 40%, even though it's not.

The proper way to account for a split is to increase the number of Shares Owned and decrease the cost per share on the split date. Total Cost remains unchanged.

Reval gives you several ways to deal with splits. Starting with the most convenient and working up to the most difficult, they are:

AutoSplit. If you check the AutoSplit box in the Automatic Functions... dialog box, Reval will automatically check Briefing.com for stock splits that are scheduled to occur in the next few months. You can have Reval check for upcoming splits every day, every week, or some other interval of your choosing. If any of your stocks are on the split schedule at Briefing.com, a red dot will appear in the Shares Owned column after Reval checks for splits. The dot appears in the Quantity column for options. Move your mouse over the dot to see the split date and split ratio. You can tell Reval to update the split schedule manually with the Download Split Schedule command on the Tools submenu. When you start Reval on or after the split date, your position will be adjusted automatically. In a 2 for 1 split, for instance, Reval will double the number of shares you own and halve your cost per share. Your total cost will remain unchanged. In addition, if the split affects an option, Reval will adjust the strike price and offer to change the option symbol to match the new strike.

Schedule a split. If you know when a split is going to occur, you can schedule it yourself in the Stock Split... command on the Tools submenu. Choose the stock from the dropdown list, enter the split ratio (or stock dividend percentage), and change the date near the bottom of the dialog box to the ex-dividend date or split date. Then click OK.

As with AutoSplit, a red dot will appear in the Shares Owned (or Quantity) column after Reval checks for splits. Move your mouse over the dot to see the split date and split ratio. An asterisk will appear in the split comment to distinguish it from the automatic split schedule. Splits you schedule yourself override the automatic split schedule. When you start Reval on or after the split date, your holdings will be adjusted. You only need to enter the split schedule once for any given stock, even if you track several lots of the same stock in Reval (even if they are in several different portfolios, or appear in an options portfolio).

You can clear a scheduled split by using the Stock Split... command, choosing the stock from the dropdown list, and clicking the "Clear scheduled stock split" option button near the bottom of the dialog box. As with scheduling a split, you only need to do it once for any given stock, regardless of the number of lots.

Immediate split. Sometimes a split won't show up on the schedule ahead of time. You can adjust your holdings after the fact by using the Stock Split... command on the Tools submenu. Choose the stock from the dropdown list, enter the split ratio (or stock dividend percentage), and leave the "Split the stock now" option button selected. Then click OK. You only need to enter a split once, even if you track several lots of the same stock in Reval.

Manual split. You probably don't need the aggravation, but you can enter a split manually by figuring out for yourself how many post-split shares of stock you own. Enter that number in the Shares Owned (or Quantity) column. Your Cost Per Share will be adjusted accordingly. If you track several lots of the same stock, you will have to make a manual adjustment to each lot.

Summarize Your Portfolios

Reval will create a summary of all of your portfolios on a single, convenient worksheet. Choose Summarize Portfolios from the Tools submenu. Reval will create summary worksheet as the first page of your Reval workbook. The worksheet will have formulas that point back to your Reval portfolios, so the summary worksheet will update dynamically whenever you update the prices in Reval. Also, the summary page includes hyperlinks to each of your portfolios, so you can quickly "drill down" to more detail. If you add or delete portfolios, you will have to delete the old summary worksheet and create a new one.

Changes in Reval 3

Reval handles long options positions. All automatic functions, alerts, etc., work for options in more or less the same way they work for stocks. All long options are valued using the current bid price, rather than the last trade.
- Like regular Reval, you can take a 30 day free trial of the option features. The options trial begins whenever you want to start using the options features. If you don't trade options, you can decline the trial and option features will be disabled. Use the New Options Sheet... command on the Sheets submenu, or the Begin 30-day Options Trial... command on the Registration menu, to begin the 30-day trial period.
- Checks to make sure that options symbol matches expiration date and strike.
- Automatically enters correct options expiration date for any given month and year, allowing for accurate "days until expiration" calculation.
- Automatically changes option strike price, cost per contract, and quantity when underlying splits. Will change option symbol to match new strike on confirmation from user.
- Allows user to hide certain columns in options portfolios to create a more compact presentation. Use the Hide Option Sheet Columns... command on the Sheets submenu.
- Pricing: Register for Regular Reval and Reval with Options for $45 total. You also can register for Regular Reval for $30 and later register for Reval with Options for $20, for $50 total. Registered users of Reval 2 pay only $15 to register Reval with Options.
Allows any spreadsheet to be inserted into the Reval workbook. Formerly, you had to put non-Reval sheets in a separate workbook.
Creates all reports and charts as sheets in the Reval workbook.
Summarize Portfolios command on Charts and Reports submenu creates a table of contents for your portfolios.
Allows any number of stocks or other investments to be entered on a single Reval page. Formerly you were limited to 25 positions per portfolio.
Commands on Sheets submenu allow user to add or delete rows to the portfolio. All blank rows at the bottom of a portfolio can be deleted with a single command.
User now prompted to import data from earlier version when first launching new version.
Reval automatically checks for software updates over the Internet.

Changes in Reval 2.2

Added ability to track cash.
Automatically downloads stock split schedule from the Internet using either the AutoSplit feature of the Automatic Functions... command on the Preferences submenu, or the Download Split Schedule command on the Tools submenu. Stock holdings are adjusted automatically on the split date.
User can now schedule a split to occur in the future.
If a stock splits, all of the lots for that stock in Reval will be adjusted, whether the split is automatically scheduled, user scheduled, or entered after the fact with the Stock Split... command.
Automatically downloads earnings announcement schedule and consensus estimates using either the AutoSplit feature of the Automatic Functions... command on the Preferences submenu, or the Download Split Schedule command on the Tools submenu.
AutoReval... moved from a command on the Stocks submenu to the Automatic Functions... command on the Preferences submenu.
AutoLog... moved from a command on the Logs submenu to the Automatic Functions... command on the Preferences submenu.
AutoLog now requests confirmation, then saves Reval just prior to closing it.
Fixed bug that prevented copying and pasting to and from Reval.
Improved Import Reval Data... routine. Now imports user preferences as well as data.
Added Summarize Portfolio command to create a summary sheet listing the value of each portfolio and other vital statistics.
Added About Reval... command to the bottom of the Reval menu.