(This is a sub page within a project which tries to spread understanding of how stock market investing works. If you have "dropped in" from outside, and the following doesn't meet your needs, it may be worth visiting Sheepdog Guides Investing's main page.)

If the good people who help me with my financial affairs come across this page, I will have a very red face. To call what is here "accounts" is a gross misuse of the term... but I'm going to do that, anyway.

"Diary of transactions" might be a little closer to the truth. While these are NOT proper "accounts", they do simulate some record keeping done both by me, and by the professionals whom I rely upon in my real-world investing.

If you ever get involved in real investing, you will need to understand an use real accounts.

Below, we will have a chronological record of "things we've done (and had done to (or for) us)". It starts with an entry to show receipt of $100,000 in a lottery win.

The "accounts" below are complementary to several other important documents. In real world investing, the information would be stored in spreadsheets, databases, accounting packages, and in the computers of your brokers and bankers. However, all of that doesn't translate to web pages very well. (Sorry to disagree with the marketing people at my real world investing relationships! They do the best they can with a difficult problem.)

Other documents which, with these "accounts" tell the tale of Sheepdog Guides Investing...

• Current holdings
• Valid "From" and "To" codes
• Valid stock tickers
• Transactions- changes in holdings

The accounts

Nota bene: The NEWEST records are at the TOP of the list. The purpose and interpretation of the columns is presented below the table.

So far, this whole site is more "skeleton" than flesh... but I have hopes of making changes to that! So far, we can see the infusion of the sadly hypothetical $100,000 to get the project underway, and the purchase of 10 shares of stock in Google.

Here in "the accounts" we will be tracking most closely "cash", using that term loosely. You also need to look at the records of transactions and current holdings to see everything that is going on.

Positive entries are "good"... the value of the account going up, other things being unchanged. Negative entries... sometimes offset by, for instance, the acquisition of shares... reflect things going out of the account. The "from" and "to" codes will help you see what sort of entry each one is.

  Date       $$$$$    From    To  Xref  Description
yy.mm.dd


12.03.16   -3,620.00   8mm    sb   XH   Bou 50 ko
12.03.16   -3,320.00   8mm    sb   XH   Bou 50 pep
12.03.04   -6,370.00   8mm    sb   XH   Bou 10 goog
12.03.03  100,000.00   xtk   8mm   XH   Lottery win into a/c
   N.B.: Entries in "xref" in lower case to say "to be done",
   and in upper case to say "have been done"

The need for, and the concepts behind the table, particulary the "from" and "to" entries will probably take a time to sink in, to become clear to you. Just keep trying to follow the story, and I hope enlightenment will come. There really are good reasons for all the "complexity".

Date: The date the event took place. The unusual date format will be helpful. Details later, maybe. For now... just "because I say so".

$$$$$: The dollar amount involved.

From: A code to say where something came from.

To: A code to say where something went to.

Xref: Cross-reference reminders. For any given type of record (line in the table), as defined by the codes in the "from" and "to" columns, there are certain entries which need to be made in other tables. Take the first (bottom) line in the "accounts" above for instance. Originally, it had "hx" in the "cross-reference" column. The h and x were still lower case at that time, which indicated that entries were needed in the "Holdings" and "Transaction Confirmations" tables. ("x" is, in some circles, an appreviation for "trans-", hence "x" for "TRANS-actions... Of course, the "x" in "XRef" is for "cross reference"... but hey! You can do this!) When the relevant entries are made, the "h" and the "x" are changed to "H" and "X", to show that they have been made.

Description: Says why we have the record! And a place where "miscellaneous" things which won't "fit" elsewhere can go!

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