People who have invested in many shares or stocks must know how to keep track of stocks properly. It is very important to have all the stocks within a person’s radar as he would need to sell or buy stocks depending upon the trends in the market. Small investors having only a few stocks in a single online account might not find this thing to be so worrying. But certain investors have several accounts due to several reasons and for them, things can sometimes become very time-consuming and cumbersome. Having a look at every stock individually is imperative as the prices of the stocks tend to fluctuate quite a lot.
However following certain tips might ease the hardship to an extent and save significant time in this stock tracking process. Using any good spreadsheet software, like MS-Excel, can help anyone to expediently keep track of his stocks. Certain data would remain static in the Excel sheet, like the number of purchased shares and the purchase price of each one of them. Although, the number of shares bought might change over a period of time that would not happen too frequently. Storing certain aspects, like share price, on a day-to-day basis would not be that useful unless a person is conversant with the use of macros in Excel.
An individual database can also be created in MS-Access or any such equivalent software to follow one’s stocks. Taking benefit of user-friendly databases is a very practical alternative to spreadsheet usage as the data can be viewed on a relational basis. One also has the leverage of running different queries and reports from the relational database. Certain websites are present online that allow a person to open an account for free. Many service providers also let a person enter the number of different shares purchased, along with their share prices. Other relevant data can also be entered to keep updated information.
In order to find out such websites a individual needs to do some research online. Talking with experienced people in this domain can be very helpful. If a individual is able to properly take advantage of his discount broker through the online mode, then that can alleviate the tensions associated with how to keep track of stocks to a great extent. In this way the account remains totally up-to-date with one’s stock portfolio. The only issue that a individual faces when he has multiple stocks is that he would not be able to view the overall portfolio collectively.
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