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STOCKings User Manual

STOCKings is an investment ledger and portfolio program that runs on your own computer: Taiwan and US stocks, funds, bonds, securities lending, margin and short sales, futures and options can all be recorded, and your data stays in an encrypted database on your computer and is never uploaded. This is the complete manual, with every field and every rule.

To follow along screen by screen, two PDFs come with the program: the "STOCKings Quick Guide" (about ten pages on installing and first use) and the "STOCKings Illustrated Tutorial" (one screenshot per step for every feature).

Start here

• Downloading and installing
• Three steps to start recording: create an instrument → record a trade → record dividends
• Keys you apply for yourself (Tiingo, AI summary, exchange rates)
• FAQ
• Download the installers: Releases page

Introduction

• What this is — a ledger that runs only on your own computer, and what it works out for you
• Getting started — downloading and installing, creating an account and signing in, two-step verification, database encryption
  • Downloading and installing · Signing in · Closing · Two-step verification · Passkey (sign in without a password) · Sign in with Google · Database encryption and the recovery key · Opening it again later

Start recording: three steps

• Step 1: Create an instrument — add the stocks, ETFs, funds and bonds you want to record
• Step 2: Record a trade — buying and selling, margin and short sales, day trades, stock splits
  • Settlement date · Editing a trade · Stock splits · Mergers, spin-offs and tender offers · Day trades · Margin loans (margin buy, margin sell, cash repay) · Short sales (short sell, short cover) · Maintenance ratio and forced-cover reminders · About deleting
• Step 3: Record dividends and stock dividends — corporate-action reminders fill them in, cash and stock dividends
  • Filling in automatically (corporate-action reminders) · Cash dividends · Stock dividends

More trades and records

• Lending: lend out for fees and short sell — lend shares for a fee, short sell borrowed shares
  • Lending out (lend your holdings and charge a fee) · Borrowing and short selling
• IPO subscriptions: lottery, auctions and employee subscription — lottery, auction, employee shares and restricted stock
  • Employee subscription · Employee stock options and restricted stock · Deferral
• Regular investing and dividend reinvestment — automatic monthly buys, reinvesting dividends
• Pledge loans — borrow against your holdings (general-purpose securities-backed loans)
• Watchlist — Taiwan stocks you follow without holding them
  • Market layout · Scheduled AI tasks · Trading status and positioning · Dispositions and alerts · Company announcements · Screener · Market pulse and sectors
• Investment journal — the reasons and lessons behind each decision
• Futures and options — margin account, positions and equity

Accounts and foreign currency

• Securities and cash accounts — several broker accounts, settlement accounts, fee discounts
• Foreign currency: how US stocks are counted — USD settlement account, currency exchange, how exchange rates enter returns
  • USD settlement accounts and currency exchange

Reading reports

• Reading reports — holdings, statistics by year, returns, technical analysis, backtests, tax summary
  • Dashboard, Holdings: Positions, Analysis: Allocation · Look back · Stock detail · Trades · Statistics by year · Returns · Technical analysis · Dividend records · Exchange rates · Calculator · Funds · Bonds · Warrants · Investment scope (only what you use) · Currency exchange calculator · Backtest · Tax summary
• Glossary — average cost, break-even, first in first out, annualized return
  • Average cost vs cost per share after dividends · Break-even · Unrealized P&L vs net unrealized · Realised P&L · First in, first out (FIFO) · Compensation · Total return vs annualized return · Fee rules (Taiwan stocks)

Account and settings

• Account and cash — profile, password, cash ledger, CMA interest
  • Profile · Password · Cash ledger · CMA and savings interest · Back-filling and editing · Switching accounts
• Settings — language and appearance, data sources
  • Data sources
• Keys you apply for yourself — how to apply for Tiingo, AI summary, SEC and Open Exchange Rates keys and where to enter them
  • Tiingo (US market data, free) · AI summary (pick one of three, pay as you go) · SEC contact email · Open Exchange Rates (commercial mode, owner only)

Data

• Data check — find what may be wrong or missing
• Import and export — broker files, TDCC passbook, dividend reconciliation, Excel / CSV
  • Broker file import · TDCC passbook (PDF) · Yuanta CMA statement (PDF) · Dividend reconciliation (Ministry of Finance income data) · Export · Import · Three things to watch · Forgot what a field needs?
• Moving between pages by URL — every tab has its own address, and the browser's back and forward buttons work

Troubleshooting

• FAQ — forgot password, port in use, price shows "—"
  • I forgot my password · The price shows "—" · I changed data but the statistics did not update? · I want to start over · Can several people use it together

Updating, backing up and removing

• Check for updates — when it checks and how to update
• Bring over older data — after moving computers or folders, bring the old folder's data in
• Backup — local backups and Google Drive backup
  • Cloud backup (Google Drive)
• Uninstall — how to remove the installer and portable editions, and whether to keep your data
  • When STOCKings will not open: removing it by hand