A. Static information is updated manually as needed. The all-important price data is automatically updated once each weekday day at 1:20pm Pacific time which is 20 minutes after the NYSE typically closes. Accordingly, price data is not automatically updated on week-ends; but is automatically updated on mid-week holidays even though such an update is likely not necessary. We may perfom a special manually update of data at any time that we deem it necessary. Thus, we may bundle other data updates along with an automatic price update; or, handle them separately at our discretion. The actual time of the last automatic price update is recorded in the "Last Automatic Price Update" time stamp which is on the left just above the portfolio data. In case you're wondering why the timestamp typically reports a time a few seconds after 1:20, the reason is this: Even though the job is inserted into the job queue very shorttly after 1:20, depending on work load, the server may not actually get around to executihng the task for a few seconds.
A. Dividends play an important role in my individual stocks investment strategy. The Dividend column gives you three pieces of important information about the dividend paid by a particular common stock. The information is forward slash ("/") delimited. First, the dividend column gives you the per-share dollar amount of the periodic dividend currently being paid by the stock. Most dividend-paying stocks pay dividends quarterly. The second amount in the field is the percentage payout. It's the ratio of the annualized first amount to the price of the stock expressed as a percentage. Sometimes this amount is referred to as the, "dividend yield" of the stock. The third and final piece of information is a possible yellow star. Presence of the yellow star indicates that the relevant stock is a dividend aristocrat.
A. The purpose of the report column is to provide information primarily about the date of the next earnings report for a particular portfolio stock.
A. The display always highlights the next two reporting dates. The background for one or more stocks reporting on the most immediate reporting date is highlighted in amber. The background for one or more stocs reporting on the next most immediate reporting date is highlighted in yellow. Some concern was raised that when the most immediate reporting date is the current date we are not really giving at least one full days advance notice for at least two reporting dates. To address this concern, the software was changed so that when one or more stocks are reporting on the current date, we treat the current date as a bonus reporting date and highlight it in amber. Thereafter,We apply the general rule to the next two reporting dates in sequence.
A. The "-b" and "-a" suffixes are an attempt on our part to provide additional reporting information. The "-b" suffix means, "Before the opening bell". The "-a" suffix means, "After the closing bell". We don't always have the information to add the appropriate suffix. That is why you see many reporting dates without a timing suffix. To make matters worse, sometimes the reporting times that we have are just plain wrong. Of course, if an error in a suffix comes to our attention, we generally will try to get it fixed. This makes these suffixes somewhat fluid. The bottom line is, don't rely too heavily on these suffixes.
A. The purpose of the background colors used in the Reports column is to help users quickly identify which stocks in the ISO portfolio are about to report according to the following:
| Group Name | Group Background Color | Group Description |
|---|---|---|
| Past | Red | Stocks reporting before the current date. |
| Today | Amber | Stocks reporting on the current day. |
| On-Deck | Yellow | Stocks reporting on the next reporting date following today. |
| In-the-hole | Green | Stocks reporting on the next reporting date following the reporting date for the On-Deck Group. |
NOTES:
1. Past stocks are stocks that are flagged because they require updating. However, it is important to note that stocks may linger in the Past group pending the announcement of the next reporting date.