Rob Browning <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> > -- first, the current register code would display this transaction
> > twice, (which is a bug), leading to no end of confusion.
> > -- next, we have that sign-reversal problem debated in earlier emails.
> > -- finally, this might introduce problems with the cost-basis code.
>
> Well, since the alternative, that of just recording the split event
> and computing everything dynamically based on that, avoids all these
> problems
Does it? The first two problems are bugs in the register, so working
around them in this instance doesn't really "avoid" them except in the
most literal sense. We know that these things need to be fixed for
other reasons, so we might as well just add this to the list of
reasons. The last problem doesn't go away at all; stock splits will
cause problems for cost-basis computation no matter how they are
implemented. That's just something that needs to be dealt with.
It seems like Rob's main argument relates to editing. If you make a
mistake in entering some information before the split, like the number
of shares you own, he wants corrections to that information to
propagate through the split, so that you don't have to go back and
edit the "split event" by hand.
Here's an analogy. It's a little bit of a straw man but I think
there's some meat in it.
We have two options for recording interest payments on savings
accounts: one way is to enter the amount of interest paid as a
transaction, read off your bank statement, and the other is to store
the interest rate, the compounding information, and the payment
schedule, and automatically calculate the amount of interest paid.
This has the advantage that if you enter your balance wrong initially,
you can go back and correct it later and the interest payments will be
automatically updated to reflect the correct balance.
Of course, that's ridiculous; the amount of interest you were paid is
a real dollar amount, and if you entered your balance wrong, you'll
find that out on the same statement as you find out the amount of
interest.
It seems to me that the stock case is similar; when there's a stock
split, you receive a real, concrete number of "new shares", not a
"multiplier". If you make a mistake in recording the transaction, you
*should* have to edit it.
Of course, I don't own a single dang share of any stock so you could
just ignore me.
b.g.
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