Bond Pricing

[Jan]

I have been retrieving bond prices (transactions) from RBC Wealth Mgmt.
Now new investments are not being updated. I have looked at the settings for Investment Properties and Internet Transaction Retrieval and everything seems to be the same for the old investments and the new investments.

Any suggestions as to what might be wrong?

[Mark]

Hi Jan,

I'm not sure what is wrong. I would suggest taking a look at the log file from RBC to verify the pricing data is still being provided. Maybe they are not providing pricing data in their OFX feed for some reason. If you look in your user's "App Data \ Roaming \ Fund Manager" folder right after you retrieve transactions from this broker, you will see a "xmldump.txt" file. Open this file up, and look for INVPOS. You should see one of these for each security/bond in your account. Under this section, you should also see a UNITPRICE value. Do you see these prices for your bonds? You will not see the bond's name right here, but instead it will show the CUSIP in the UNIQUEID field.

If you'd like me to take a look for you, email me your xmldump.txt file, and the CUSIP of the bond investment that is not updating.

Another thing to verify is that your new bond investments have their CUSIP value recorded properly. See "Investment Properties...".

[Jan]

Sorry to say I tried my best and could not find the "xmldump.txt" file.

I tried following the paths as you described them to no avail. I tried searching for the file and could not find it.

Any other thoughts?

[Mark]

Hi Jan,

The log file location varies by version of Windows, I should have been more specific... The log files will be located here:

Windows XP and earlier:
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Fund Manager

Windows Vista and 7:
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Fund Manager

Both the "Application Data" or "AppData" folders are hidden in Windows by default. You would have to turn on the display of hidden files/folders to see these folders. If you need help doing this, please let me know which version of Windows you are using.

[Jan]

I thank you for your help. I was able to locate the "xmldump.txt" file. I am checking the three most recently purchased bonds. I updated the prices today by retrieving prices from my Broker. The new bonds are not updated, the old bonds are.

When I check the xmldump.txt file I see the current prices listed for both the old bonds and the new ones.

Any suggestions?

[Mark]

Hi Jan,

Are the CUSIPs recorded properly for your new bonds? How are you verifying that the prices are not updating? Please look in the Data Register under the "Prices" data type.

[Jan]

I have checked to be sure the cusip is recorded properly. (in Investment Properties)

I can see the prices are not updating in the prices, data registry. The Market Value does not agree with my printed statements or the Market Value when I check the web-site of the broker.

The prices in the xmldump.txt file are correct. (they agree with the broker)

[Mark]

Hi Jan,

Please try this:

1) Retrieve transactions for this sub-portfolio.
2) Verify that these new bonds did not get their prices updated.
3) Email me one of these bond investment files (*.dat), along with the "ofxretr.txt" log file, which is in the same folder as xmldump.txt.

I'll try importing that ofxretr.txt file, and see if I can reproduce the problem, and hopefully figure out why it isn't updating. I'll send you an email now, so you can just reply to that with the needed attachments.

[Mark]

Hi Jan,

Thanks for sending the files. The OFX file has the pricing for this bond, but only for 12/20/2010. If you look in the xmldump.txt file after importing this file, you'll see the price info as:

- POSDEBT
- INVPOS
- SECID
- UNIQUEID (bondcusip)
- UNIQUEIDTYPE (CUSIP)
- HELDINACCT (CASH)
- POSTYPE (LONG)
...
- DTPRICEASOF (20101220175900.000[-6:CST])

and if you look at "DTPRICEASOF" you can see it is for 12/20/2010.

When I imported it, it did update the price for 12/20/2010. I suspect you are looking for a more recent price, but maybe your broker just doesn't have one? Maybe the bond doesn't trade very often? You would have to call them and ask.