01 · Why portfolio management matters
Buying a good investment and managing a good portfolio are different jobs. Portfolio management asks: How much of each security do I own? Where is it held? How much could one loss affect my entire portfolio? Am I moving toward or away from the allocations I intended?
Even if individual investment ideas are sound, an outsized holding, overlapping sector exposure, or an unnoticed position spread across several brokerage accounts can dominate the portfolio's outcome. The goal of risk management is not to eliminate risk or maximize a guaranteed return. It is to choose risks deliberately, limit losses from any one holding, and avoid exposures that would make it difficult to follow your investment plan.
Two types of diversification matter: among asset classes (for example stocks and bonds) and within a class (different companies and sectors). Holding one stock at multiple brokerages does not diversify that stock-specific risk.
02 · Getting started: the top toolbar
| Control | What it does / when to use it |
|---|---|
| Help & Guide | Opens this guide inside Portfolio Desk. The separate offline guide is also in the ZIP download. |
| Appearance | Select from four professional color palettes, each available in Dark and Light modes (eight distinct themes): Midnight Navy, Graphite, Slate Dusk, and Pearl. Use the Palette and Mode selectors or the one-click mode toggle. Midnight Navy Dark is the unchanged original/default; choose Midnight Navy + Light for its matching light variation. Every palette has purpose-designed surfaces, charts, tables, labels and positive/negative colors for both modes. The preference is saved on this device when browser storage is available. Appearance has no effect on prices, positions, transaction records, allocation, returns or risk rules. The separate Help & Guide document remains in its legible light reading format. |
| Eight theme combinations | Dark: Midnight Navy (default), Graphite, Slate Dusk, Pearl Noir. Light: Midnight Navy Light, Graphite Light, Slate Dusk Light, Pearl Light. Switching Light/Dark stays within the same palette. A previous Graphite/Slate dark or Pearl Light selection carries over when the same browser remembers it. |
| Collapse All / Expand All | Two prominent buttons directly below the top toolbar close or reopen all dashboard tiles (including P/L and Historical Performance). Individual tiles retain their own toggles. Layout preferences are saved in the browser; calculations, data and transactions remain unchanged. |
| Load example (6 accounts) | Loads the clearly labeled hypothetical brokerage, trade and price data. Save a JSON backup first if you need to preserve existing work. |
| Update prices | Downloads available published closing prices without any API key, then refreshes values, allocations, annualized returns, graphs, and risk checks. |
| Import holdings CSV | Imports CSV holdings/transactions. Review account, date, quantity and purchase price; validate the result before relying on P/L. |
| Restore Portfolio Database | Restores an application backup including account structure, lots, targets and settings, replacing the current portfolio after confirmation. |
| Export CSV | Exports a holdings snapshot for outside analysis; CSV is not a complete application backup. |
| Backup Portfolio Database | Save the complete portfolio model. Do this frequently, especially before imports or deletions. |
| Clear all | Removes locally saved positions, prices and transactions after confirmation. It is not a brokerage trade. |
Import holdings CSV — columns and account assignment
Select Import holdings CSV to add rows from a spreadsheet saved as a CSV UTF-8 file. A CSV import appends trades; it does not replace current holdings or check for duplicate rows. Export a Backup Portfolio Database beforehand. Imports can represent opening share lots or dated buys and sells.
| CSV column | Required? | Meaning and accepted aliases |
|---|---|---|
brokerage | Recommended | Brokerage name, for example Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard. Alias: broker. |
account | Recommended | Account label within the brokerage, for example Roth IRA or Taxable. Alias: account_name. If you provide one of these two columns, every row must have both. New brokerage/account pairs are created automatically. |
symbol | Yes | Stock/ETF ticker. Alias: ticker. |
shares | Yes | Positive quantity. Aliases: quantity, qty. |
date_acquired | Yes | Transaction/acquisition date as YYYY-MM-DD. Aliases: acquired, oldest_acquired, purchase_date, date. |
purchase_price | Recommended | Actual per-share execution price, needed for accurate FIFO P/L. Aliases: cost, fifo_avg_cost, cost_per_share, execution_price, trade_price. |
action | Optional | BUY (default) or SELL. Sell rows must not exceed available shares in the same account when replayed. |
current_price | Optional | Manual valuation mark; aliases last_price, market_price, mark. May later be replaced by Update prices. |
account_type, sector, type | Optional | Classifications for account and risk analysis. Use existing valid labels or review them after import. |
Example CSV:
brokerage,account,symbol,shares,date_acquired,purchase_price,action,current_price Schwab,Roth IRA,NVDA,20,2026-03-15,120,BUY,210 Schwab,Taxable,PLTR,50,2026-04-10,85,BUY,95 Fidelity,Roth IRA,NVDA,10,2026-05-12,135,BUY,210
To create this file, put headers in spreadsheet row one, then use File → Save As / Download → CSV in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets. After import, compare totals, account labels, cost basis, and transaction history with your brokerage records. If both brokerage and account are absent, Portfolio Desk requires an existing selected default account.
03 · Brokerages & accounts
This is the foundation of your reporting hierarchy. You can have multiple accounts at the same brokerage (for instance, a taxable account and a Roth IRA).
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Brokerage | Choose a broker name such as Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard or Tastytrade. |
| Custom brokerage name | Use when the brokerage is not in the provided list. |
| Account name | Your own descriptive label, such as “Individual Taxable” or “Roth IRA.” |
| Account type | Classifies the account for reference; this does not create a tax calculation. |
| Add account / edit | Creates or corrects an account's label and details. |
| View holdings and risk by | Changes the focused holdings and risk display: overall portfolio, brokerage or a particular account. |
| Reassign ticker | Corrects a transaction history assigned to the wrong account. Specify the source, destination and ticker. |
The accounts table shows brokerage/account, account type, current holdings value, open P/L, and a shortcut to that account's view. The same ticker held in two accounts is kept separate for share counts and FIFO lots but combined for overall exposure.
04 · Add a transaction, holdings, lots & ledger
Buy / sell form
Select Buy shares or Sell shares. Then specify the brokerage account, ticker, share quantity, transaction date and, preferably, execution price per share. A buy's date is its acquisition date; a sale uses its sale date. Current price / share is the valuation mark, which can later be updated without changing what you originally paid. Investment type identifies a stock, sector ETF, diversified equity ETF or bond; Sector supports the exposure analysis.
Current holdings by brokerage and account
Each row displays security/class, brokerage/account, shares remaining, oldest buy, FIFO average cost, editable last price, market value, open P/L, weight, sector and a sale action. The weight belongs to the currently chosen viewing scope; the Allocation Center also shows all three levels together.
Remaining acquisition lots
The lot table shows which purchase batches remain after earlier sales: ticker, account, acquisition date, shares remaining, unit purchase cost and total remaining lot cost. These are important when a stock was bought several times at different prices.
Transaction ledger
The ledger displays chronological buys/sells with account, shares, unit price and realized gain on each sale where calculable. The Delete action removes a transaction record; use it cautiously because later FIFO calculations can change. Back up your data before correcting historical entries.
FIFO example
Buy 10 shares at $40, then 10 at $60. Later sell 12 at $70. First-in, first-out uses 10 × $40 and 2 × $60 as cost for the sale:
FIFO cost of shares sold = $400 + $120 = $520
Realized P/L = $840 − $520 = +$320
You still hold 8 shares acquired at $60. Brokerage tax-lot accounting and corporate actions may differ; verify if using figures for tax reporting.
05 · Grand total & profit-and-loss charts
Top summary cards after Update prices: Portfolio value shows the current dollar value of holdings and, beside it, the combined cumulative realized + unrealized return on FIFO cost basis. Its smaller caption also identifies the selected account/brokerage share of the overall securities portfolio. Open P/L shows dollars and unrealized gain/loss divided by the remaining shares’ purchase cost. Realized P/L shows dollars and realized gain/loss divided by the FIFO cost of shares already sold. A dash (—) means that a meaningful percentage cannot be calculated, for example because trade prices are missing or no shares have been sold. These returns are not annualized and are not changes in value since the previous price refresh.
The opening dashboard shows three grand-total cards, live brokerage/account bar charts, detailed realized/unrealized/combined dollar and percentage graphs, and a breakdown table. These roll up the transaction ledger across all accounts without mixing their lots.
| Measure | Plain-language meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Realized P/L | Gain or loss on shares already sold, calculated using FIFO acquisition costs and available sale prices. | Sold shares for $5,500 that cost $5,000 → +$500 / +10%. |
| Unrealized P/L | Change in value of shares still held, versus their remaining purchase cost. | Open shares worth $11,000 with $10,000 cost → +$1,000 / +10%. |
| Combined P/L | Realized + unrealized gain/loss in dollars. Combined percentage is based on the corresponding total sold-and-remaining cost, not an average of account percentages. | +$500 + $1,000 = +$1,500; $1,500 ÷ $15,000 = +10%. |
Bars can be positive or negative; a brokerage total includes its accounts; the grand total includes every brokerage. Graphs refresh when trades or marked prices change. A 10% cost-basis gain is not the same thing as a 10% annual return; the separate Annualized Investment Outcomes panel now calculates a dated-trade securities XIRR, but neither panel provides time-weighted returns, cash-inclusive account performance, fees, taxes, or dividend-adjusted total returns.
06 · Allocation & optimization center
Allocation weights describe how much of the current marked value of held securities is invested in each position. They are not calculated from historical cost. The center updates automatically after buys, sales and market-price changes.
Brokerage and account allocation
The first table shows brokerage/account, current value, % of brokerage, % of overall portfolio, largest holding and a View shortcut. It answers: “How much is at each brokerage?” and “How large is each account within that brokerage?”
Individual position allocation — all three levels
For every account holding, it displays brokerage/account, ticker, shares, market value, weight in account, weight in brokerage and weight overall. The brokerage and overall columns combine that ticker across sibling accounts; account weight shows only shares held in that account.
| Illustrative company X | Holdings value | Relative weight |
|---|---|---|
| Schwab Roth IRA | $12,000 of $30,000 account | 40% of Roth IRA |
| Schwab taxable | $8,000 of $70,000 account | 11.4% of taxable |
| Schwab combined | $20,000 of $100,000 brokerage | 20% of Schwab |
| Across all brokerages | $20,000 of $200,000 portfolio | 10% overall |
The same stock can be overweight in one account but within an overall target, or underweight in an account while the combined brokerage position remains concentrated.
07 · Target weights, drift & optimization insights
Select Set and evaluate targets for to choose entire portfolio, a brokerage, or an account. The table lists ticker, shares in scope, current value, current weight, Target weight (%), Difference (pp) and an illustrative adjustment. You can add a target for a ticker you do not yet own, and save different targets for different scopes.
Example: actual 22%, target 15% → +7 percentage points (pp): overweight. Actual 8%, target 15% → −7 pp: underweight. A target is a policy choice, not a prediction. Blank target means no target; zero is an intentional 0% target.
Illustrative change figures estimate the dollar/share difference under current prices and the app's securities-only assumptions. They do not check expected returns, tax consequences, liquidity, transaction costs, risk correlations, spread costs or your financial objectives. Changing a target changes its warning; it does not buy or sell anything.
08 · How the five risk sliders work
Sliders are user-defined risk rules, not trade orders. Moving a slider adjusts how Portfolio Desk classifies the same portfolio, immediately updates alerts and may change illustrative sizing suggestions. No slider movement changes the holdings, prices or realized P/L by itself.
| Slider | What it checks | Interpretation and trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Max one stock / sector ETF Example: 15% | Maximum weight in a single individual stock or sector ETF in the selected scope. Broad diversified ETFs and bonds are excluded from this particular check. | Lower limit flags concentration earlier; higher limit permits greater gains from a winner but also greater losses from that security. |
| Max one sector Example: 35% | Combined allocation of securities assigned to a specific sector, such as Technology. | Can reveal “different tickers, same economic risk.” Sector labels must be correct; broad ETFs are not fully decomposed into their underlying sectors. |
| Max top 3 individual stocks Example: 60% | Combined weight of the three largest single-stock positions. | Warns if just three companies drive a disproportionate share of portfolio movement. |
| Max equity allocation 100% = off | Optional cap for securities marked as equity versus bonds, based on supported investment-type labels. | Lower values highlight a highly equity-oriented securities mix. Because cash is excluded, this is not a full household asset-allocation calculation. |
| Target-weight alert tolerance Example: 3 pp | How far a position's actual weight may drift above or below its saved target before an over/underweight flag appears. | At 3 pp, a 15% target with an 18.5% actual weight is flagged; at a 5 pp tolerance it is not. The position has not changed—only the alert sensitivity has. |
Changing risk limits does not directly change performance
Suppose the single-stock slider moves from 15% to 30% while one stock is 24% of your securities portfolio. The warning may disappear even though the exposure remains 24%. Expected upside and downside are unchanged until you actually change holdings or prices move.
A stricter rule can reduce potential single-name drawdowns if you act on it, but it may also trim future top performers. A permissive rule can improve upside in favorable outcomes and worsen losses in adverse ones. The “best” limit depends on goals, time horizon, income needs, other assets, and the investor’s capacity to absorb losses; it cannot be deduced from this dashboard alone.
09 · Portfolio health review & exposure snapshot
Portfolio health review checks available holdings against the current slider limits. It flags position-size breaches, sector concentration, top-three-stock concentration, optional equity mix breaches, and missing information. Its explanation may show how many shares/dollars a concentration adjustment might involve. A status such as “within selected limits” means only that the implemented checks passed; it does not certify that a portfolio is safe, optimal or likely to outperform.
Exposure snapshot summarizes sector composition graphically. It requires prices and valid classifications to give meaningful results. Missing prices can prevent complete allocation weights; an “Unknown” sector can understate a known-sector bar. Diversified funds may hold overlapping companies or sectors that this basic tagging system cannot look through.
These checks are a first-pass governance layer; they do not include factor exposure, beta, correlation, stress-tested drawdown, volatility, option delta or leverage look-through. Check external brokerage risk and margin figures separately.
10 · Manual closing-price updates — no API key required
One click instead of a scheduled 6 PM update. Press ↻ Update prices in the top toolbar or ↻ Refresh closing prices in the Market Data section. Portfolio Desk requests the most recently published U.S. end-of-day closing price for each distinct ticker currently held, regardless of how many accounts own it. You do not need to register, enter an API key, or leave the app running at a particular time.
Step-by-step refresh
- Open Portfolio Desk in Safari, Chrome, or another modern browser with internet access.
- Click Update prices. The app scans all brokerage accounts and downloads one latest close for each unique held ticker.
- Read the Market Data panel. It displays the source, expected session date, number of successful and failed tickers, and the most recent price date for each symbol.
- For any missing or unavailable ticker, enter a price manually in Current holdings by brokerage and account. An unsuccessful download never deletes your previous price.
- Review grand-total P/L, account/brokerage graphs, Annualized Investment Outcomes, allocation targets, and risk slider warnings; these recalculate after successful downloads.
| Control or status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Update prices (top toolbar) | Starts a manual request for supported stocks and ETFs across all accounts; never changes transaction prices, dates, share quantities, or FIFO acquisition lots. |
| Refresh closing prices (Market Data panel) | Same action; use either button. Both are disabled during an active refresh to avoid duplicate requests. |
| Last updated / quoted trading date | Shows when you retrieved prices and which session each closing price represents. Data dated earlier than the expected most recent weekday is flagged as older; market holidays can explain that difference. |
| Unavailable / unsupported | A symbol is missing, the service is temporarily unreachable, or a request was limited. Existing saved values are kept; use a manual mark until coverage returns. |
| Data by TGMCharts | Source attribution for internet prices. The data provider may change its availability, terms, coverage and update timing. |
Price accuracy: The downloaded value is a published regular-session closing price, not a live quote or an after-hours executable price. Prices need not be published immediately at 4 PM ET. When the provider reports a date older than a saved provider quote, Portfolio Desk rejects the downgrade. An older result may still be shown as stale, not falsely presented as fresh.
Security, storage and offline operation: No key or login is required for this feature. Your holdings, account names, and transactions stay in the local browser; only each ticker symbol is sent to the price source. All accounting and saved values remain accessible offline, but a new download requires internet access. There is no automatic scheduled refresh and no iCloud synchronization in this local HTML version. Save Backup Portfolio Database regularly.
11 · Why over-allocation and under-allocation matter
Imagine a $100,000 securities portfolio. One stock has an allocation of 5%, 15%, or 30%. Every other holding is unchanged. The table below isolates the direct impact of a price move in that one stock.
| Stock weight | If stock rises 20% | If stock falls 30% | If stock rises 50% | If stock falls 50% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5% allocation | +$1,000 / +1.0% portfolio | −$1,500 / −1.5% | +$2,500 / +2.5% | −$2,500 / −2.5% |
| 15% allocation | +$3,000 / +3.0% | −$4,500 / −4.5% | +$7,500 / +7.5% | −$7,500 / −7.5% |
| 30% allocation | +$6,000 / +6.0% | −$9,000 / −9.0% | +$15,000 / +15.0% | −$15,000 / −15.0% |
Over-allocated relative to a 15% target: A 30% weight doubles exposure compared with target. If the stock jumps 50%, the larger holding contributes +15% rather than +7.5% to initial portfolio value. If it drops 50%, it subtracts −15% rather than −7.5%. An outperforming stock can improve short-term results while leaving an uncomfortably concentrated portfolio.
Under-allocated relative to a 15% target: A 5% holding contributes only +2.5% rather than +7.5% when the stock rises 50%, a 5-percentage-point opportunity difference. But if it falls 50%, the smaller holding loses only 2.5% rather than 7.5%. Underweight is not automatically bad: it can be intentional because of uncertainty, diversification, or a target not yet fully implemented.
All examples assume no changes in other holdings, no fees/taxes, no leverage and a fixed starting denominator. Real investments can move together and outcomes are not forecasts.
12 · Why a portfolio of good stocks can still lose money: mismatched position sizes
The portfolio earns the weighted result of its holdings—not the average return of its stock ideas. A portfolio may own more winners than losers and still lose money. This happens when a large allocation loses while a much smaller allocation wins. A stock's dollar impact depends on how much money is exposed to it, not simply its gain/loss percentage or the number of shares owned.
Position contribution to portfolio return ≈ starting portfolio weight × stock return.
Combined portfolio return ≈ sum of the dollar P/L for all positions ÷ starting portfolio value.
Example: the winning stock gains more, but the portfolio still loses
Consider a hypothetical $100,000 portfolio with four holdings. Stock A falls 25%, Stock B gains 40%, and Stocks C and D remain flat. Only the allocation changes.
| Holding | Stock return | Mismatched allocation | Mismatched dollar P/L | Balanced 25%-each allocation | Balanced dollar P/L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stock A | −25% | 40% / $40,000 | −$10,000 | 25% / $25,000 | −$6,250 |
| Stock B | +40% | 10% / $10,000 | +$4,000 | 25% / $25,000 | +$10,000 |
| Stock C | 0% | 25% / $25,000 | $0 | 25% / $25,000 | $0 |
| Stock D | 0% | 25% / $25,000 | $0 | 25% / $25,000 | $0 |
| Grand total | — | 100% / $100,000 | −$6,000 (−6%) | 100% / $100,000 | +$3,750 (+3.75%) |
Why stock counts, share counts, and return percentages can mislead
- Share count is not position weight. 500 shares of a $10 stock represent $5,000; 100 shares of a $200 stock represent $20,000. The second is four times the exposure with one-fifth as many shares.
- Winners versus losers is not enough. Eight positions earning $100 each can be outweighed by one position losing $2,000.
- Overweight and underweight must have a benchmark. Compare each actual market-value weight with a chosen account, brokerage, or portfolio target, not with an arbitrary assumption that all stocks should be equal.
- Cross-account duplication matters. An apparently small holding in each of several accounts can add up to a large overall concentration in one company or sector.
- Position drift matters. A stock that appreciates substantially can become overweight without another share being purchased.
What Portfolio Desk can reveal
Review Current holdings by brokerage and account for individual exposures. Compare account, brokerage, and overall allocation in the Allocation & Optimization Center. Use target allocations to find positive and negative drift, and the concentration risk sliders to highlight positions whose impact on total capital might be too large for your plan. The grand-total and individual-account P/L graphs reveal where dollar gains and losses actually come from.
Further reading: SEC Investor.gov: Asset Allocation and Diversification ↗ and Rebalancing explained ↗.
13 · TipRanks newsletters: guided portfolio management versus stock ideas
A stock recommendation is not a complete portfolio-management plan. Deciding what to buy is one task; deciding how much, where it fits, how to manage it, and when to exit is another. The practical distinction among TipRanks’ Smart Investor, Smart Growth, and Smart Value newsletters is how much of that second task is handled by a model portfolio rather than left to the subscriber.
| Management question | Smart Investor | Smart Growth | Smart Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary output | Actively followed model portfolio, with entry/removal guidance and ongoing updates | Weekly growth ideas plus a selective, more slowly changing model portfolio | Weekly value research and individual stock ideas |
| Are all weekly recommendations automatically portfolio holdings? | Portfolio changes are identified as model actions; follow those rather than treating every mention as a trade | No. Only some weekly recommendations later qualify for inclusion in the growth model portfolio | No comparable managed model portfolio is described on its public newsletter overview |
| Who decides position size and dollar allocation? | Model portfolio offers a reference for allocation; follow specified share counts/weights when actually provided, scaled for your available capital | The subscriber must size and manage any standalone idea independently; model holdings have their own separate portfolio context | The subscriber must determine position size, diversification, and cash deployment for each idea |
| Who manages buy/sell decisions? | Model portfolio provides additions/removals and monitoring, which subscribers may elect to mirror | Model portfolio changes are guided; standalone picks require a separate entry/exit plan | Subscriber develops an entry, review, and exit plan for each recommendation |
| Main implementation challenge | Accurately scaling and following a whole model portfolio while watching overall account overlap | Not accidentally treating every attractive growth pick as an automatically sized model position | Building and maintaining an entire diversified portfolio out of individual research ideas |
Why Smart Investor can reduce portfolio-process risk
A consistently implemented model can make it easier to avoid arbitrary position sizes, forgotten exits, and unplanned sector concentrations. Instead of collecting unrelated picks, the investor has a reference portfolio, notices for model additions and removals, and continuing monitoring. When a model provides share quantities or target weights, these can help translate a recommendation into a disciplined position rather than an improvised bet.
Illustration: If a hypothetical model allocates 4% to a stock, a $100,000 mirrored portfolio would allocate about $4,000. Buying $20,000 instead creates a 20% weight—five times the model exposure. Even with exactly the same ticker and buy date, the investor is not following the model's risk allocation. The correct number of shares depends on the stock price, portfolio size, and whether the model is fully replicated.
Smart Investor in practice: managing approximately 30 holdings as one portfolio
More than buy signals. The Smart Investor approach is to maintain a diversified set of positions and continually revise that set. TipRanks describes a conservative, medium- to long-term model portfolio of approximately 25–35 stocks, with ongoing monitoring and changes to holdings. This is much closer to a managed portfolio process than a newsletter whose readers assemble a portfolio from independent stock tips.
As described by a subscriber: a current practical example is about 30 positions, with around five weaker holdings removed relatively quickly as the portfolio is reviewed, stronger stocks given room to continue rising, some profitable positions reduced or closed to capture gains, and proceeds redeployed into new or existing ideas. These counts and timing are illustrative of the subscriber's experience, not a promise that exactly five holdings will always be sold or that every loss will be cut quickly. The portfolio's actual decisions can change with market conditions.
| Management step | Why it matters | What Portfolio Desk should track |
|---|---|---|
| Start with controlled sizing | Every holding has a defined dollar impact instead of an arbitrary share count. | Shares, purchase cost, current weight, and consolidated exposure. |
| Review and remove deteriorating holdings | Can prevent additional exposure to a weakening investment thesis, though the exit itself locks in a loss when below cost. | Realized P/L, sale date, remaining shares, and post-sale allocation. |
| Let stronger holdings run | Allows appreciation to contribute meaningfully rather than automatically selling every winner at a small gain. | Unrealized P/L, growing weight, and maximum-position warnings. |
| Take profits selectively | Realizes some gains and can reduce a concentrated position, but may also sacrifice future upside. | Partial sales, realized gains, and updated unrealized gains on remaining lots. |
| Reinvest released capital | Makes room for ideas whose expected prospects may now be stronger; money is recycled rather than assuming all purchases require new contributions. | New buys and updated weights; Portfolio Desk does not track an available cash balance. |
How much capital is needed to mirror the model?
About $250,000 in one subscriber's illustration: following all the currently specified share quantities across roughly 30 positions could require approximately $250,000. This is not a fixed subscription requirement, verified current valuation, or universal portfolio minimum: it depends on the issue's share quantities and the market prices when an investor buys. If invested evenly, $250,000 over 30 stocks would average about $8,333 per stock (3.33%); the actual model may intentionally use very different weights.
Someone investing $50,000 rather than $250,000 could, in theory, scale all model position dollar amounts to around 20% of the model amounts, subject to whole shares, transaction costs and account restrictions. Following the tickers but choosing arbitrary position sizes is not the same as following the model's portfolio risk profile.
Why removal, profit taking, and reinvestment change the portfolio's outcome
Consider a hypothetical $250,000 portfolio in which five positions each began at 3% of capital ($7,500 apiece). If all five fall 20%, those positions together contribute a $7,500 loss, or −3% of the starting portfolio, before any changes elsewhere. If instead the same five positions each had a 10% allocation, an identical 20% decline would cost $25,000, or −10%. Correct sizing cannot avoid a bad pick, but it can control how much that pick matters.
After a sale, the realized gain or loss remains part of cumulative performance. If the proceeds are reinvested and the new holding rises, that creates new gains; it does not erase the earlier realized loss. Conversely, holding a winner allows its unrealized gain to grow, but also increases its portfolio weight and potential downside if it subsequently reverses. The strategy works best when selection, sizing, exits, profit-taking and reinvestment are all considered together, rather than interpreting each stock in isolation.
Portfolio and capital figures above reflect a subscriber's description or clearly labeled numerical examples, not an audited current holdings report.
Why Growth and Value demand more personal portfolio management
Smart Growth: TipRanks publicly describes both a weekly stock-recommendation stream and a portfolio that adds only selected ideas when they meet the portfolio methodology. An investor who buys most weekly growth ideas independently must decide weights, caps, exits, correlations, and how these trades interact with the official growth portfolio. The existence of a Growth model portfolio does not automatically provide a trade plan for every newsletter idea.
Smart Value: Its publicly available description centers on a weekly undervalued-stock research pick rather than an actively managed complete portfolio with published buy/sell allocations. Investors combining those picks must decide how many holdings to own, their position sizes, entry/exit criteria, and portfolio-level risk limits themselves.
How does active management affect risk and performance?
Promptly removing a weakening holding can limit additional losses if the stock continues to fall. Letting a winner run can capture a larger trend, while selective profit taking can lock in gains and prevent a winner from becoming dangerously concentrated. Redeploying proceeds can keep capital invested in the portfolio's current highest-conviction ideas. These are substantive portfolio-management decisions—not merely convenience features.
For Portfolio Desk, the takeaway is to compare your real portfolio weights with whichever model or personal strategy you have chosen. If using Smart Investor as a guide, do not treat a matching stock symbol as sufficient: inspect the allocated dollars and percent of the entire portfolio and check whether each buy or sell was implemented. If using standalone Growth or Value ideas, set a risk budget and target weight yourself.
Newsletter terms and contents can change; compare against the current issue or your subscription details.
14 · Calculation reference and interpretation
| Figure shown in desk | Basic formula / limitation |
|---|---|
| Market value | Shares remaining × last available marked price. |
| FIFO average cost | Total cost of remaining FIFO acquisition lots ÷ remaining shares. |
| Unrealized $ / % | (Market value − cost of remaining shares) / same cost basis for %. |
| Realized $ / % | (Sale proceeds − FIFO cost of sold shares) / FIFO cost of sold shares for %, where all inputs are known. |
| Combined $ / % | Realized + unrealized dollars; divide by total relevant cost basis of sold + remaining shares. Do not sum or average the account percentages. |
| Account / brokerage / overall allocation | Current security value ÷ current security value of the relevant scope; cash excluded. |
| Target drift | Actual allocation % − saved target %; “pp” means percentage points, not a relative percentage change. |
| Risk status | Comparison with user-entered thresholds, not an independent rating of investment quality. |
15 · A practical recurring review workflow
- Record changes. Add every buy and sale in its exact brokerage account with date, shares and actual trade price.
- Refresh prices. Whenever you want updated results, press Update prices and inspect the latest session date and any missing or older quotes.
- Review grand-total P/L. Separate sold-position gains from open-position changes; check the brokerage and account graphs for unexpected moves.
- Inspect all three allocation levels. Look for one stock held at multiple brokerages, for an account overexposed to one name, and for sector clustering.
- Compare targets and sliders. Review only material target drift or concentration breaches. A flag is a reason to investigate, not an automatic sell instruction.
- Consider implementation costs. Before actual trades, review taxes, account restrictions, spread/fees, liquidity, and whether the proposed adjustment aligns with your overall plan.
- Back up your work. Backup Portfolio Database after meaningful changes, and verify that the brokerage statements and desk totals reconcile.
16 · Offline use, saving and important limitations
- Local application: The HTML dashboard works locally in a desktop browser; the on-demand price feature requires internet access but no API key.
- Data persistence: The app stores the portfolio locally in browser storage when supported. Storage can be erased, isolated by URL/file location, or restricted by private-browsing settings. Use Backup Portfolio Database.
- Cash-free / cost-based scope: This desk tracks positions and trade gains; it intentionally does not account for deposits, withdrawals or the balance of sale proceeds.
- Quotes can be delayed or incomplete: Especially around market holidays, after-hours trading, limited-venue feeds, or provider rate limits.
- Not an execution platform: Rebalance illustrations do not place trades or incorporate taxes, volatility forecasts, market impact, leverage or investor suitability.
- Corporate actions and full tax basis: Stock splits, spin-offs, return-of-capital adjustments, dividends and other cost-basis events may require manual corrections and statement reconciliation.
For convenience, both the dashboard and this HTML guide are packaged together in the offline ZIP. The Help & Guide button also carries the guide inside the dashboard file so it still opens when you have only the standalone HTML application.
17 · Taxes and account types: why the same trade can have different tax results
The account type—not the brokerage's name—usually determines how investment activity is taxed. For example, a taxable Fidelity account is generally treated differently from a Fidelity Roth IRA, even if both hold the same stock. Portfolio Desk tracks dollar exposure and gains across those accounts, but a trading profit is not necessarily taxable income right now. This overview concerns common U.S. federal rules; state and local taxes, special circumstances, and future tax laws can change the outcome.
How major account types generally work
| Account type | Taxes while buying, holding, or selling inside account | Taxes when money comes out | Why it matters for trade management |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxable brokerage (individual or joint) | Realized capital gains or losses generally matter for the tax year of sale; dividends and interest may be taxable even if reinvested. Unrealized price increases are not generally taxed merely because prices rise. | Withdrawing cash from the account is generally not a separate taxable event; selling securities to raise it may realize gains or losses. | Frequent profitable sales may create current-year tax obligations. Lot selection, holding period, and wash-sale rules can affect after-tax outcomes. |
| Traditional IRA | Buying and selling investments within the IRA generally does not create an immediate personal capital-gains tax bill; investment growth is generally tax-deferred. | Distributions of pre-tax amounts are generally taxable as ordinary income. After-tax basis, exceptions, age-related additional tax, and required minimum distribution rules can matter. | The same profitable stock sale can be reinvested within the IRA without an immediate capital-gains tax, but tax consequences may arise on withdrawal. |
| Roth IRA | Trading gains and dividends earned inside the account generally do not create a current personal income-tax bill. | Qualified distributions are tax-free. Contributions can generally be withdrawn tax-free; nonqualified distributions of earnings may be taxable or subject to additional tax. | Rebalancing within the account generally does not trigger a capital-gains tax, but Roth withdrawal and eligibility rules still matter. |
| Traditional 401(k) / 403(b) | Internal investment gains and reallocations generally grow tax-deferred (subject to plan rules). | Distributions attributable to pre-tax amounts are generally taxable as ordinary income; early-distribution rules and minimum distributions may apply. | Rebalancing usually does not create a current capital-gains tax, but withdrawals and employer-plan restrictions are important. |
| Roth 401(k) / Roth 403(b) | Internal investment activity generally does not create current income tax on the gains. | Qualified distributions, including earnings, are generally tax-free; nonqualified distributions have different rules. | Similar trading flexibility inside the account; Roth plan qualification rules and withdrawal treatment differ from traditional accounts. |
| Health Savings Account (HSA) (when eligible to invest) | Investment earnings generally grow without federal income tax while held within an HSA. | Withdrawals for qualified medical expenses are generally federally tax-free. Nonqualified withdrawals are generally taxable and may incur an additional 20% tax before age 65; the additional 20% tax no longer applies at age 65, but income tax generally still does. | Tax treatment depends on how distributions are used. State treatment can differ from federal treatment. |
Example: identical trade, different tax timing
Suppose you buy 100 shares at $50 and later sell them at $80, producing a $3,000 realized gain before fees. Portfolio Desk shows the same $3,000 trading gain in each account; the tax result is different:
| Where the shares were held | Typical federal treatment of the sale |
|---|---|
| Taxable brokerage | The $3,000 gain is generally recognized in the year sold; applicable rate depends on the holding period and taxpayer's circumstances. |
| Traditional IRA | No immediate personal capital-gains tax on the internal sale; pre-tax funds are generally taxed upon distribution. |
| Roth IRA | No immediate personal capital-gains tax on the internal sale; qualified Roth withdrawals are generally tax-free. |
| HSA | No immediate personal federal tax on the internal sale; subsequent distributions depend on whether they are for qualified medical expenses. |
Losses, rebalancing, and wash sales
- Taxable-account losses: Realized capital losses can generally offset capital gains, subject to netting and other limitations. Unused losses may carry forward. A paper loss in an unsold position is not generally deductible.
- Wash-sale rule: Selling a security at a loss and buying substantially identical securities within 30 days before or after the sale can disallow the current loss deduction. Purchases in other accounts—including an IRA or Roth IRA—can matter. An IRA-related wash sale can disallow the taxable loss without giving the ordinary basis adjustment in the IRA. Consult a tax professional before attempting tax-loss harvesting across accounts.
- Rebalancing trade-off: Selling an overweight winner in a taxable account may reduce concentration but realize taxable gains. An equivalent internal sale in a retirement account generally avoids current capital-gains tax. Tax efficiency is one factor, not a reason to retain dangerous concentration indefinitely.
- Lot selection: Portfolio Desk uses FIFO (first-in, first-out) to calculate trade P/L. Your broker may use specific-share identification or another permitted method; the broker's tax records and adjusted basis determine actual tax reporting.
What Portfolio Desk does—and does not—calculate
The dashboard's realized P/L, unrealized P/L, and cost-basis return charts are investment-performance measures, not estimated after-tax profits. They do not automatically determine which gains are taxable, calculate your tax bracket, distinguish every short- or long-term tax lot, net capital gains and losses across the tax year, apply wash-sale adjustments, track distributions or dividend classifications, or estimate federal/state tax due. A portfolio-wide realized P/L total can therefore include gains from taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts that have different tax implications.
Learn more about account tax rules (IRS)
- Capital gains and losses: short-term, long-term, and capital-loss basics
- Traditional and Roth IRA tax treatment
- 401(k) retirement plan tax basics
- Roth 401(k) and other designated Roth plan accounts
- Health Savings Account withdrawals and tax rules
- Investment income, tax lots, and wash-sale rules
General U.S. federal tax education, updated October 2026. Not tax or legal advice. State rules, eligibility, individual circumstances, and laws may differ.
18 · Annualized investment outcomes: how to read your yearly results
Annualized performance answers a different question from the profit/loss panels: What annual rate corresponds to the recorded investment outcomes, accounting for when money went into and came out of securities? Portfolio Desk's Annualized Investment Outcomes panel calculates a money-weighted annualized return, also known as XIRR. It covers the grand total, each brokerage, each account, and each ticker across accounts.
Simple return versus annualized return
A $10,000 holding now worth $12,000 has a 20% total unrealized gain. But the annualized percentage depends on how long it took to grow.
| Time held | Beginning value | Ending value | Total return | Annualized return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | $10,000 | $12,000 | +20% | +20.00% |
| 2 years | $10,000 | $12,000 | +20% | +9.54% |
| 3 years | $10,000 | $12,000 | +20% | +6.27% |
How XIRR treats buys, sales and remaining shares
Each buy is a negative investment cash flow on its trade date. Each sale is a positive flow on its sale date. Shares still held contribute a positive ending market value as of the valuation date. XIRR solves for the yearly rate that balances those dated amounts. It does not simply average the returns of your individual accounts.
| Date | Example transaction | Shares held | Cash flow used for XIRR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 1, 2024 | Buy 100 shares at $100 | 100 | −$10,000 |
| Jan 1, 2025 | Sell 50 shares at $120 | 50 | +$6,000 |
| Jan 1, 2026 | Remaining 50 marked at $130 | 50 | +$6,500 terminal value |
In this example, realized profit is $1,000 (50 × $20) and unrealized profit is $1,500 (50 × $30), totaling +$2,500. The approximate money-weighted annualized return is +16% per year. This is a hypothetical illustration, not an estimate of future returns.
What every annualized panel field means
| Field or chart | Interpretation and next step |
|---|---|
| Grand total annualized XIRR | Money-weighted annualized outcome of all recorded stock and ETF transactions across every brokerage. Compare with the period and data-completeness status; do not average individual account XIRRs. |
| Cumulative securities P/L | Realized plus unrealized dollars generated by the recorded trades. It is not dollars earned per year. Use this beside XIRR to judge economic magnitude. |
| Marked open holdings | Current total value of unsold positions at entered or refreshed market prices; excludes cash. |
| Brokerage annualized graph | Annualized XIRR for each named brokerage from its accounts' dated transactions. A higher percentage does not mean a larger dollar gain. |
| Account annualized graph | Shows taxable, IRA, and other individual accounts separately, even when held at the same brokerage. Return figures are before taxes; tax treatment differs by account type. |
| Brokerage/account comparison table | Displays annualized XIRR, combined dollar P/L, first-buy-through-valuation period, and status. Use both the rate and the dollar gain before judging outcomes. |
| Per-ticker table | Combines the same ticker across accounts and includes closed positions. Use it to inspect which securities had strong or weak annualized outcomes, without treating a short-term rate as a forecast. |
| First buy → valuation / last sale | Shows measurement dates. Open positions use marked prices; fully closed positions terminate on the final sale. Ensure quote dates are consistent before comparing aggregates. |
| Status | Flags issues such as missing execution prices, unavailable current prices, stale or mismatched quote dates, short periods, or no valid XIRR solution. Fix source data before relying on the rate. |
Why position size and annualized percentage should be read together
Suppose, for simplicity, two accounts each hold one unchanged position for a full year. Account A earns 20% on $5,000, or +$1,000. Account B earns 8% on $200,000, or +$16,000. The smaller account has a higher percentage return, but the larger account contributes more dollars. Portfolio management must consider both rate of return and capital allocation. Increasing position size can increase a winner's dollar contribution and magnify losses if it falls.
How updates affect this panel
- Record an actual purchase: quantity, purchase date, and execution price create a dated outflow and update holdings and annualized XIRR.
- Record a partial or full sale: sale proceeds become a dated inflow; realized P/L also updates. XIRR accounts for the timing of both the buy and sale.
- Refresh closing prices: updated values of still-open positions change their unrealized P/L and terminal value, which can change XIRR and the account and brokerage graphs.
- Review scope: examine grand total, brokerage, account, then ticker. Check statuses and first-buy dates rather than ranking rates alone.
Use extra care with short holding periods: a two-week gain can annualize to an extreme number that is mathematically valid but not representative of repeatable results. Keep accurate transaction dates, execution prices, and comparable closing-price dates, and review your broker's performance report when measuring actual account returns.
19 · Consolidated portfolio values and performance by brokerage, account, and sector
The new Total portfolio — value, P/L & annualized performance panel brings the whole securities portfolio into one table and switchable chart. It shows both where invested value sits today and how much profit or loss has been generated, without mixing the percentage calculations.
Four grand-total cards
- Open holdings value: the current market value of all remaining shares in all accounts; this is 100% of the invested-securities allocation when every open security has a valid price.
- Realized + unrealized P/L: cumulative trading gains and losses on sold shares and remaining holdings. The accompanying percentage is relative to relevant FIFO cost basis, not an annualized rate.
- Annualized performance: overall money-weighted XIRR calculated from dated buys, sells, and current marked holdings. A short or incomplete history can make this unavailable or misleadingly extreme.
- Recorded sales P/L: realized profits/losses from completed transactions, with remaining unrealized P/L shown as a comparison.
Switch between three reporting groups
| Selection | What it groups | What it helps answer |
|---|---|---|
| Brokerages | All accounts at the same brokerage, such as Schwab or Fidelity | What share of the full portfolio is in each brokerage, and where are its dollar profits or losses? |
| Accounts | Each individual taxable, IRA, or other account | How much value and profit is associated with each account, including multiple accounts at one broker? |
| Sectors | All positions assigned to the same sector or other investment-category grouping | Which sectors contribute the most invested value and P/L? Current ticker classifications are used for prior trades as well. |
Choose one of three chart measures
Current value & portfolio weight: dollar value of still-owned securities, alongside each group's percentage of the complete marked portfolio. Combined P/L: dollar gain/loss from both sold and still-owned shares, alongside its return on FIFO cost basis. Annualized return (XIRR): dated, money-weighted annual percentage for the selected group, not an average of individual account returns. Negative results extend to the left of the chart midpoint; positive results to the right.
What the detailed table means
For every group it reports Current value ($), Portfolio weight (%), Realized P/L ($), Unrealized P/L ($), Combined P/L ($), Combined P/L (%), and Annualized XIRR (%). The first row is always the Grand Total; it includes every brokerage. Changing group or chart type changes only your view, not the stored portfolio.
All cards, charts and rows recalculate after you enter a buy or sell, change an existing marked price, or press Update prices. Review the older P/L charts and Annualized Investment Outcomes tables for more detail and data-quality status.
20 · Portfolio performance over time: snapshots and line charts
The Portfolio performance over time panel starts its All-history time axis at the oldest recorded BUY date and saves a dated observation each time a manual internet Update prices request succeeds for at least one ticker. These snapshots let you see how portfolio values and performance measurements developed from one refresh to the next, rather than merely examining today's brokerage, account, and sector totals.
What the four chart controls mean
| Control | Options and how to use them |
|---|---|
| View by | Entire portfolio (one line), Brokerages (one line per brokerage), Accounts (each account separately), or Sectors (holdings grouped by sector at time of snapshot). |
| Measure | Current holdings value ($), Realized P/L ($), Unrealized P/L ($), Combined P/L ($), Combined P/L on cost (%), Annualized XIRR (%), or Portfolio weight (%). |
| Time range | 1, 3 or 6 months, 1 year, or All saved history. The chart does not fill gaps with guessed daily prices. |
| Comparison | Compare up to ten lines at once or choose an individual brokerage, account, or sector for a focused view. Hover or point at a chart dot to see its dated value and recorded quote date. |
| B / S trade markers | Every dated equity or equity-ETF buy and sale is marked on the main chart. B means Bought; S means Sold. The earliest purchase has its own B marker in All history. Hover on desktop for the Bought/Sold label, or click/tap for ticker, date, shares, execution price (if known), and brokerage/account. The transaction list below the chart makes overlapping markers easy to inspect. Markers use the trade date, not an assumed historical share price. |
| Save snapshot now | Record the current marked portfolio without downloading prices. Useful after manually entering prices; ensure quotes are consistent before saving. |
| Export history CSV | Exports historical observations for spreadsheet analysis. The CSV has one row per date and reporting scope, including captured time, market date, values, P/L and annualized return. |
Buy and sell annotations: B and S
Portfolio Desk overlays a labeled B marker for every recorded purchase and an S for every recorded sale of stocks and equity ETFs. The very first purchase appears as a B marker at the oldest acquisition date when All history is selected. Markers also work in brokerage, account, and sector views: only trades in the chosen scope are included. Point at a marker for a native hover label saying Bought or Sold, or tap/click to pin a more complete transaction description. If several trades share a date, the markers are staggered; open All buy/sell transactions in this chart below the graph to find individual records.
Capital deployed versus P/L and annualized performance
The Capital deployed & performance over time display appears above the original historical snapshots chart and uses the same View by, Comparison, and Time range controls. Choose Entire portfolio, Brokerages, Accounts, or Sectors. In a comparison containing several entities, expand an entity to see its three aligned charts.
| Historical chart | What it reveals | Data basis |
|---|---|---|
| Capital deployed vs holdings value ($) | Remaining purchase cost of all currently held shares, compared with the actual recorded holdings value at each valuation snapshot. | Dashed capital line reconstructed from each dated Buy/Sell using FIFO; market value starts at saved valuation snapshots. |
| Profit and loss ($) | Open (unrealized) gain/loss and cumulative realized gain/loss, on separate colored lines. | Recorded snapshot P/L; it is not inferred from transaction dates before prices were recorded. |
| Annualized securities XIRR (%) | Money-weighted annualized outcomes for the chosen entity at each saved snapshot. | Recorded dated-transaction XIRR snapshots; a different vertical axis, measured in percentages rather than dollars. |
Example: Buy $10,000 of stock, later sell shares with a $4,000 purchase cost for $5,000. Remaining capital deployed is $6,000; realized P/L is +$1,000. If remaining shares have a recorded current value of $7,200, open P/L is +$1,200. They are different accounting measures: $6,000 invested cost, $7,200 market value, +$1,200 open P/L, and +$1,000 realized P/L. The sold proceeds are not included in invested capital.
Scope and history: The same three charts work for the entire portfolio, a brokerage, an individual account, or a sector. Capital can start at the oldest purchased lot because its transaction date and cost are known; the other lines only begin when prices and returns were recorded. The history is stored in Backup Portfolio Database. Newly saved snapshots also preserve the current FIFO capital figure; older backups derive it from the dated ledger where possible. Editing a historical transaction may therefore change the reconstructed capital line, while already saved P/L snapshots remain unchanged.
Which numbers are saved?
Why a new portfolio may show dots instead of connected performance lines
A genuine market-value, P/L, or XIRR line requires two or more recorded valuation dates. After only one price update, the value appears as a dot because there is no earlier confirmed market valuation to connect it to. Portfolio Desk now uses the earliest recorded purchase date as the left edge of All history, highlights the gap before the first observed valuation, and connects actual snapshot observations whenever two or more exist. When those recent snapshots would appear crowded on the full acquisition-to-today timeline, a second clearly labeled Recorded price snapshots — zoomed view appears below, using a shorter x-axis to make the actual recorded line visible. It does not extrapolate today's portfolio value backward to earlier trades.
For the Current holdings value ($) measure with one portfolio, brokerage, account or sector selected, a dashed amber line additionally traces the remaining FIFO invested purchase cost, starting with dated historical buys and declining when sales remove lots. That is not a historical stock-price line, profit, or return. It is a transaction-derived baseline, so a real line can be displayed from the earliest purchase without inventing market prices. The line can have gaps when acquisition prices are missing; it follows each selected account or group separately.
Example: Buy 100 shares at $50 on March 1: the invested cost series begins at $5,000. Sell 20 shares three months later: it decreases to $4,000. Actual portfolio market value for either date requires historical prices or a saved contemporaneous snapshot; it cannot be deduced from those trades alone.
Every snapshot freezes the current securities value, realized and unrealized P/L, combined P/L, return on invested cost, annualized securities XIRR, and share of portfolio value for the entire portfolio and all available brokerage/account/sector groupings. These figures use the same underlying FIFO ledger and valuation calculations as the rest of Portfolio Desk. An incomplete value remains unavailable instead of silently being counted as zero.
One snapshot is retained per Eastern calendar day. A second successful refresh or manual snapshot on that day replaces its earlier observation. The application preserves up to 900 daily observations (subject to browser storage capacity). Backup Portfolio Database includes snapshots, and Restore Portfolio Database restores them along with trades, holdings, price marks, and risk settings. The snapshots themselves are not altered if you later buy, sell, or change a quote.
Example: why total value and investment return can tell different stories
Suppose a portfolio has $100,000 of stocks. A month later the same holdings are worth $105,000; the $5,000 increase suggests a market gain. Now suppose you add $40,000 in newly purchased shares: holdings value becomes $145,000 even though the extra $40,000 does not represent profit. Conversely, a $20,000 stock sale can reduce the holdings-value line even if the sale is profitable. The separate realized/unrealized P/L lines help interpret these changes.
Annualized XIRR considers dated securities purchases and sales and remaining marked holdings, but it remains a securities-only measurement. It does not include idle account cash, dividends, fees, taxes, or outside deposits/withdrawals. It can change as price marks or transactions change and may be unavailable when prices have inconsistent dates.
Suggested regular review
- On the trading days you choose, press Update prices and review each downloaded quote's market date and any failures.
- Open Portfolio performance over time, starting with Entire portfolio → Combined P/L ($).
- Compare the value, realized P/L, unrealized P/L, and annualized-return charts. Look for shifts caused by buying and selling.
- Switch to Brokerages, Accounts, or Sectors to identify where a gain, loss, or changing allocation is concentrated.
- Download a Backup Portfolio Database after meaningful changes to protect the entire snapshot history.
21 · Learn more: trusted, easy-to-read resources
The following links are from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's investor education website. They require internet access; the rest of this guide does not.
These links are educational and not endorsements of particular investments or slider settings.