Communicator Help: My AOL Today for AOL<sup><font size=-3>®</font></sup> Communicator

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My AOL Today for AOL Communicator

Portfolio Tools & Settings

Portfolio Summary
My Portfolios
Create/Edit Portfolio
Add to Portfolio
Quotes
Charts
Symbol Lookup
Frequently Asked Questions About Stock Symbols

Portfolio Summary

To view your Portfolio Summary, click Portfolio in My AOL Today.

- Choose a Portfolio: Choose the portfolio you want to view from the drop-down list near the center of the screen.
- Symbol Lookup: This link opens a window where you can look up ticker symbols by company name.
- Get Quote: To get a current stock quote, type the ticker symbol in the field labeled Enter Symbol below and click Get Quote.

Or, for a stock listed in one of your portfolios, click the stock symbol in the Symbol column.

To edit your portfolios:

- Click Edit Portfolio (near the middle of the screen) to edit the current portfolio.

To get more information about a stock:

- Click the Charts icon beside a stock symbol to see its charts (if available).
- Click the News icon beside a stock symbol to see related news (if available).

Delayed Updates: Changes you make to your portfolios in My AOL Today are automatically reflected in the portfolio views available at finance.aol.com or AOL Keyword: My Portfolios for the same screen name.

However, subsequent changes you make at either of those locations will not be reflected in My AOL Today. Changes made in those locations show up only after you attempt to customize some aspect of a portfolio from My AOL Today.

The screen name that ties these My AOL settings together, no matter where you sign on, is listed under AOL Synchronization Settings in AOL Communicator Address Book.

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My Portfolios

The My Portfolios pane of the Customize My AOL Today window lets you create and edit your portfolios.

If you haven't set up a portfolio yet, click Create New Portfolio.

If you've already set up one or more portfolios, they are listed here. Click to select a portfolio or take these actions:

- Create New: Specify information for a new portfolio.
- Edit: Modify information for the selected portfolio.
- Delete: Remove the selected portfolio from the list and permanently erase all the information it contains.
- Close: Close the window.

Related topic:

Customizing My AOL Content

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Create/Edit Portfolio

The Create Portfolio and Edit Portfolio windows work the same way. To open them, click Create New in the My Portfolios window, or select an existing portfolio and click Edit.

- Portfolio name: You can name the portfolio anything you want, as long as the name is no longer than 25 characters. The name you type here shows up in the list under My Portfolios.
- Holdings: Each line in the Create Portfolio window specifies the information for one holding.

The first field, Symbol, is mandatory. It must contain a valid ticker symbol for a stock, mutual fund, money market fund, or market index.
The remaining fields are optional. You can specify details of an actual or planned purchase, or omit the details completely and just track the current value of the holding.

- Symbol Lookup: If you don't know the ticker symbol for the item you want to add, click Symbol Lookup.
- Add More Symbols: If you have more than six holdings to add, click Add More Symbols.

You'll then see another six lines where you can enter rows of information. Click Next or Previous to move between panes within a portfolio.

- Cash amount to include in this portfolio: This information is optional, but can be useful for tracking uninvested cash.

You can update this cash amount at any time, even if you leave it blank at first.

- Save: When you finish entering or editing the information for this portfolio, click Save.

After you create your first portfolio, you'll see a privacy notice. After reading the notice, click OK.

If you've made an error or omitted required information, you'll see a message listing the problems. You must fix the problems before you can save the portfolio.

Delayed Updates: Changes you make to your portfolios in My AOL Today are automatically reflected in the portfolio views available at finance.aol.com or AOL Keyword: My Portfolios for the same screen name.

However, subsequent changes you make at either of those locations will not be reflected in My AOL Today. Changes made in those locations show up only after you attempt to customize some aspect of a portfolio from My AOL Today.

Related topic:

Customizing My AOL Content

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Add to Portfolio

The Add to Portfolio window allows you to add a symbol from the Symbol Lookup window to any of your portfolios:

- Symbol: Shows the symbol you selected in the Symbol Lookup window.

If this is the wrong symbol, click Cancel.

- Portfolio: Choose the portfolio to which you want to add a holding.
- Number of Shares: This can be the actual number of shares your own, or a hypothetical number for planning purposes. Optional.
- Purchase Price Per Share: This can be the current price, the price you actually paid, or a hypothetical price. Optional.
- Purchase Date: Optional.
- Commission Fee: The fee owed to your broker, if any. Optional.
- Save: When you finish entering the information for this symbol, click Save.

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Quotes

To get a current stock quote from your Portfolio Summary, type the ticker symbol in the field labeled Enter a Symbol below and click Get Quote.

Confirm all data with your broker or financial advisor before trading.

To get quotes for a different symbol, enter it in the Portfolio Summary and click Get Quote again. If you don't know the symbol for the stock you want quotes for, click Symbol Lookup to find it.

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Charts

To see charts for a particular stock or other holding in your portfolio, click the Charts icon (if available) beside that row in your Portfolio Summary.

To change the period of time covered by the chart:

1. Choose another Chart Setting from the drop-down list.
2. Click Update Chart.

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Symbol Lookup

To look up stock, mutual fund, money market fund, or index ticker symbols by name, click Symbol Lookup in the Portfolio Summary or Create/Edit Portfolio.

Enter Company name or US Symbol below: Type the first letters of a company, fund, or index name or symbol in the field at the top left, then click Symbol Lookup.

Match Symbols Only: Select this option if you want to search only for ticker symbols that match what you type (excluding, for example, matching company names).

Matching ticker symbols are listed below.

To add one to your portfolio, select it and click Add to Portfolio.

Related topic:

Frequently Asked Questions About Stock Symbols

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Frequently Asked Questions About Stock Symbols

- Why can't I find the stock class for my stock?

Stocks with different classes use the stock symbol followed by a period and then the class. For example, BRK.A is for Berkshire Hathaway Class A stock.

- Why doesn't the preferred stock symbol I have from the newspaper work?

The S&P Comstock format for preferred stocks uses the regular stock symbol followed by a dash and then the appropriate letter or no letter if there is only one type of preferred stock issued. For example, GM-G is for General Motors Series G Preferred stock.

- How do I find a quote on a new "when issued" stock?

To obtain the price on a stock that is trading on a "when issued" basis, or "WI" on some other system symbols, type the stock symbol followed by a pound sign (#). For example, NCR#.

- Why can't I find a new fund symbol?

When a fund is just starting, the fund may ask for an assigned symbol from NASDAQ. However, to actually be listed on the exchange, they must meet special reporting requirements. For example, until the fund has grown to sufficient size, NASDAQ will not report on it, and quotes for the fund won't be available.

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Last Updated September 16, 2003