FM 2024 - Need Useful Changes for Individual Investors.

[CGB]

Hello,

I appreciate all the efforts made for this update, however there is nothing really useful for me as a long-time user and individual investor.

How often would anyone need multiple data windows?
I always reconcile accounts using the portfolio value report.
How many retirees will actually use FM to estimate dividend income?

These and the rest of the changes are narrow and appear to only be of interest to certain portfolio managers.

Can we please have changes that would be useful for individual investors like me that use the program to monitor their own investments?

1. Please add named memorized graphs. I need to keep permanently open many graphs (comparing several investments, or portfolios) because this is the only way to save them. This is not a solution because they get lost and are difficult to reproduce. And, it takes several minutes to open the program, or make any change, with these graphs permanently open.

2. Maybe make it possible to update historical data in the background so that one does not have to wait several minutes to use FM when updating.

3. I keep notes on stocks, such as why I bought them, in a separate program because there is no large note field in FM. Why not have a pop out window in the 'Description' field to allow a page of notes? It is frustrating trying to abbreviate notes in that small space.

4. When I look at multiple investment graphs, I cannot easily determine the relative percentage gains/losses because the numbers are on the left side. It would be better if they were duplicated on the right side next to the current value. Particularly when using a wide
screen.

5. For single stocks, where the percentage is shown on the right, it is difficult to see which numbers are negative or positive because there are dashes in front of all the numbers. It would be a lot easier if the negative numbers were red.

6. It would be nice if the X-axis labels could be adjusted to show more increments, particularly in the log scale. And, maybe an option for the horizontal gridlines to align with the percentage, which to me is more important than the price.

7. Price alerts should not disappear when they occur, requiring someone to write them down when updating in order to remember to do something about them. The alert lines should remain on the graphs with some kind of visible alert.

8. The default graph line colors should be improved. It is impossible to see more than 9 overlaid investments on a black background, and worse on grey.

Please consider these practical changes that would make the program easier to use for individual investors.

Thank you.

CGB

[Mark]

Hi CGB,

Sorry to hear you're not happy with the list of changes. We try to focus on the list of improvements that would benefit the largest number of people. Thanks for the detailed list of improvement ideas, that is helpful.

[Arrow]

I do strongly agree with all has written CGB.

In particular to save the name of graphs is a strong and terrible need.

I add also that sometimes happens a mess with the layout of all the windows
that must be kept open at the same time
and the only quick way to put order again is to make a restore

[Mark]

Hi Arrow,

Okay, thanks for the feedback. Memorized graphs has been on the to-do list for a long time, hopefully we can make it a higher priority in the future.

[Djobydjoba]

Hi,

1. Please add named memorized graphs.

Memorized graphs is certainly not easy to implement. What should be memorized exactly?
The graph type
The (floating?) date range
The investment(s) or sub-portfolio(s) used (and to overlay...)

And why not:
some display options, like the number of displays (1-4-9)?
Some graph options? (like the lower graph in the TA graph, or the number of periods in the Seasonality graph...)
...

And what if an investment of a memorized graph is closed or hidden, for example.

2. Maybe make it possible to update historical data in the background so that one does not have to wait several minutes to use FM when updating.

+1. That would be a great improvement. I had made the suggestion too. Personally I've set up three automatic retrieves per day (early morning, midday and early evening), and each retrieve takes half an hour, during which the program cannot be used. So each day the program is not available 1,5 hour.

4. When I look at multiple investment graphs, I cannot easily determine the relative percentage gains/losses because the numbers are on the left side. It would be better if they were duplicated on the right side next to the current value. Particularly when using a wide screen.

Options to choose the location (left, right, or duplicated) of the standard and % Y-scales would be great. Personally I would really like the standard Y-Scale to the right, it is much more natural to me, and IMO more efficient (and that's how it is in most stock programs). I had made the request here.

5. For single stocks, where the percentage is shown on the right, it is difficult to see which numbers are negative or positive because there are dashes in front of all the numbers. It would be a lot easier if the negative numbers were red.

I guess the color would be applicable to negative labels for all the Y-scale types, not only the percentage Y-scale. I like the idea. I have calculated investments with prices that can be negative (eg. investA minus InvestB) and the identification of what is below zero would be more immediately visible. So +1, but optional and with a customizable color because red would stand out too much.

6. It would be nice if the X-axis labels could be adjusted to show more increments, particularly in the log scale. And, maybe an option for the horizontal gridlines to align with the percentage, which to me is more important than the price.

You probably means Y-axis label and not x-axis label? The increment can be configured already in Graph Options > Display > Number of Y Axis labels.

[CGB]

Hi Djobydjoba,

Thank you for the feedback -- I did not know the Y-axis labels could be adjusted. I see that it does what I want, however it could have a bit more effect on the right-side percentage numbers in log scale, which jump up from 1% to 10% to 100% gaps.

To clarify memorized graphs, I use graphs to overlap investments, such as portfolios against benchmarks, similar mutual funds, etc. For example, I use a graph to overlap the US market sectors using index ETFs to see changes through time. Instead of always keeping this graph open in order to save it, it would be great If I could save it with a name, such as "Sectors", so I could call it up when needed.

CGB