Phantom Security When Downloading with MD+.
When downloading all accounts (Online/Download All Accounts) I occasionally get a popup message asking to match a security that was downloaded. (See screenshot attached.)
Problem is the security, named 061871901, does not exist anywhere. Not in my MD portfolio, nor in my online portfolio held at my broker. And even though I select "None of the above" from the drop-down menu, the phantom security is created in MD anyway (see 2nd screenshot that depicts phantom security 061871901 as a criterion for selecting securities).
What causes this and how can I prevent this from happening?
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Screenshot_2024-01-06_190917.png
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1 Posted by dtd on 07 Jan, 2024 01:13 AM
I think that's an internal Schwab number, as I get this as well.
At first I would change it to something else, Like Schwab Sweep Shares (which is just a cash holder), but gave up on that after a while, and just let the number go, because it didn't really matter, where the interest came from. (i.e. it's neither a buy or a sell)
I just this week learned Schwab got rid of Sweep Shares last year, so this must have been the replacement.
As for None of the Above - if you answer that, the item gets created, as you didn't put where to place this entry. (I have a problem with picking an item at times, as I'll get Apple (which I do own), but where I want it - Apple Inc, is usually the only item that doesn't come up! I've posted about this recently here but didn't get much of a response...
2 Posted by he on 07 Jan, 2024 01:25 AM
Thanks for your reply.
I don't have a Schwab account and never have. I'm befuddled as to how it could even get downloaded. I googled the security name (number) thinking it was a CUSIP but it's not. My cursory search revealed no security attached to that number.
The security doesn't show up everywhere, perhaps because it has zero shares and therefore zero value. But it is definitely strange in that it appears to get downloaded at random and does not exist anywhere in my universe.
Further, it appears I can delete the phantom security without adverse affects, which is what I did.
3 Posted by dtd on 07 Jan, 2024 02:22 AM
Maybe it's something MD+ does when they download an interest payment with no stock attached?
4 Posted by he on 07 Jan, 2024 10:07 AM
Maybe, but that doesn't apply in my case. All my securities are "mature" meaning I've owned them for a while.... there shouldn't be any transactions downloaded for a security that doesn't already exist in MD or my FI.
Do you know if there's a setting that allows users to turn off the automatic creation of a security? There's clearly a problem somewhere and I'd prefer not to have my security list polluted with random securities.
5 Posted by dwg on 07 Jan, 2024 11:38 AM
Any Investment transaction other than XFR has to have an associated security, so I would expect Moneydance is going to force with the use of an existing security or creation of a new, with any other action type.
It sounds like there is something in the Moneydance+ data that leads to the behaviour
6 Posted by he on 07 Jan, 2024 12:40 PM
Understood as to why they'd force the creation of a new security, but until the phantom creation of securities is fixed, I believe this should be optional. A simple checkbox that allows the user to create a new security as it's done today, or not.
I don't know if the good folks at MD monitor this board for problems, but this is creating enough of a problem that I'll escalate this to the "Problem" section of this board.
7 Posted by dwg on 07 Jan, 2024 01:41 PM
It looks like Moneydance is giving you the option of choosing to create a new security or to select an existing one to map it to, given a security is a requirement it could not be left blank or empty.
8 Posted by he on 07 Jan, 2024 06:51 PM
Understood.
I believe the two options -- to create a new security based on the downloaded transaction or to match the transaction to an existing security -- do not work well when a phantom transaction is downloaded. In fact, it is somewhat problematic. Here's why:
a) The popup that forces the user to pick creating a new security or to match to an existing one provides virtually no meaningful information about the downloaded transaction. Providing only the security name, in my case 061871901, and no other detail (like account, date, amount, perhaps memo information) leaves me scratching my head in the middle of a download as to what option to pick.
b) When a user is presented with a security name that is meaningless, I think it's appropriate to select None of the Above. After all, since security 061871901 does not exist in my portfolio (neither in MD nor online), there's no reason to merge it with an existing security. An mentioned earlier, selecting None of the Above causes MD to create security 061871901, which is not a desirable outcome either.
System closed this discussion on 07 Apr, 2024 07:00 PM.