>>>>> Martin Michlmayr <[email protected]> writes:
> I can fix this up by accounting for the capital loss made when buying
> something worth $100 for $200:
> 2012-03-17 * Test
> A 10 AAPL {$10} @ $20 B -$200 Expenses:Capital loss $100
Yes, this is the current behavior. The fact that you are building something
for $20 a share whose price is $10 a share makes Ledger want to know to which
account that lost $100 went. Otherwise, it would seem to have simply
evaporated.
> But is this always true? Is the amount in {} always the price and the
> amount after @ the cost? This seems exactly opposite to what I would expect
> when selling something.
Yes, this is always true.
> Let's say I have 1 AAPL which I bought at $10 and now I sell it for $20.
> I'd say:
> Assets:Investments -1 AAPL {$10.00} @ $20.00
> What is the price and what the cost? Is $10 really the price and $20 the
> cost according to ledger? I'd expect the exact opposite. ledger -B shows
> $-20 while -I shows $-10.
The shares you are selling *had* a price of $10, and you are selling them at a
(negative) cost to you of $-20. Price is always an attribute of the
_commodity_, while cost is always an attribute of the _posting_.
These may not be the 100% correct terms in all situations, but I had to pick
two words to use, and I always differentiate them this way.
> -B stands for cost basis and the cost basis is what I paid for something,
> not what I received for it.
That could be right, in which case my naming is incorrect there. --cost is a
synonym for -B, btw, in case that makes more sense.
John
