Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label Google Apps Script tutorials
Compute cost basis of stocks with LIFO method in Google Sheets

Compute cost basis of stocks with LIFO method in Google Sheets

The Last In, First Out (LIFO) method is an accounting method used to calculate the cost basis of a stock portfolio. It is the opposite of the First In, First Out (FIFO) method, where the oldest shares are sold first. In the LIFO method, the most recent shares are sold first. In the previous post Compute cost basis of stocks with FIFO method in Google Sheets , I explained how to implement FIFO method in Google Sheets to compute cost basis in stocks investing. In this post, I explain how to implement LIFO method in Google Sheets to compute cost basis in stocks investing.
GOOGLEFINANCE Best Practices

GOOGLEFINANCE Best Practices

Anyone using Google Sheets to manage stock portfolio investment must know how to use the GOOGLEFINANCE function to fetch historical prices of stocks. As I have used it extensively to manage my stock portfolio investment in Google Sheets , I have learned several best practices for using the GOOGLEFINANCE function that I would like to share in this post.
Slice array in Google Sheets

Slice array in Google Sheets

Many functions in Google Sheets return an array as the result. However, I find that there is a lack of built-in support functions in Google Sheets when working with an array. For example, the GOOGLEFINANCE function can return the historical prices of a stock as a table of two columns and the first-row being headers Date and Close. How can I ignore the headers or remove the headers from the results?
Compute cost basis of stocks with FIFO method in Google Sheets

Compute cost basis of stocks with FIFO method in Google Sheets

After selling a portion of my holdings in a stock, the cost basis for the remain shares of that stock in my portfolio is not simply the sum of all transactions. When selling, I need to decide which shares I want to sell. One of the most common accounting methods is FIFO (first in, first out), meaning that the shares I bought earliest will be the shares I sell first. As you might already know, I use Google Sheets extensively to manage my stock portfolio investment, but, at the moment of writing this post, I find that Google Sheets does not provide a built-in formula for FIFO. Luckily, with lots of effort, I succeeded in building my own FIFO solution in Google Sheets, and I want to share it on this blog. In this post, I explain how to implement FIFO method in Google Sheets to compute cost basis in stocks investing.
Stock Correlation Analysis With Google Sheets

Stock Correlation Analysis With Google Sheets

Correlation is a statistical relationship that measures how related the movement of one variable is compared to another variable. For example, stock prices fluctuate over time and are correlated accordingly or inversely to one another. Understanding stock correlation and being able to perform analysis are very helpful in managing a stock portfolio investment. In this post, I explain in details how to perform correlation analysis among stocks in Google Sheets.
How to convert column index into letters with Google Apps Script

How to convert column index into letters with Google Apps Script

Although Google Sheets does not provide a ready-to-use function that takes a column index as an input and returns corresponding letters as output, we can still do the task by leveraging other built-in functions ADDRESS , REGEXEXTRACT , INDEX , SPLIT as shown in the post . However, in form of a formula, that solution is not applicable for scripting with Google Apps Script. In this post, we look at how to write a utility function with Google Apps Script that converts column index into corresponding letters.
How to copy data in Google Sheets as HTML table

How to copy data in Google Sheets as HTML table

I often need to extract some sample data in Google Sheets and present it in my blog as an HTML table. However, when copying a selected range in Google Sheets and paste it outside the Google Sheets, I only get plain text. In this post, I explain how to copy data in Google Sheets as an HTML table by writing a small Apps Script program.
Compare stock investment portfolio to compound interest saving account

Compare stock investment portfolio to compound interest saving account

In investing, it is important to define the target that we want to achieve. Many investors like to compare their portfolios with a market index, but is outperforming the market index a good target? It is not a quantitative target to be measurable as market indexes fluctuate daily. I, personally, aim only for 10% growth a year. If at the end of the year, I see my portfolio grows 10%, I am pleased with that result no matter that S&P500 grows 50% the same year. To see if my stock portfolio grows in line with the 10% target, I choose to compare it to a saving account with the same interest. In this post, I will show you how to use a fictive saving account with daily compound interest as the target to benchmark a stock portfolio.
Demo stock investment portfolio tracker with Google Sheets and Google Data Studio

Demo stock investment portfolio tracker with Google Sheets and Google Data Studio

I am happy to announce the release of LION stock portfolio tracker. It is a personal stock portfolio tracker built with Google Sheets and Google Data Studio. The stock portfolio's transactions are managed in Google Sheets and its performance is monitored interactively on a beautiful dashboard in Google Data Studio. You can try with the demo below and follow the LION stock portfolio tracker guide to create your own personal stock portfolio tracker with Google Sheets and Google Data Studio.
Create personal stock portfolio tracker with Google Sheets and Google Data Studio

Create personal stock portfolio tracker with Google Sheets and Google Data Studio

I have been investing in the stock market for a while. I was looking for a software tool that could help me better manage my portfolio, but, could not find one that satisfied my needs. One day, I discovered that the Google Sheets application has a built-in function called GOOGLEFINANCE which fetches current or historical prices of stocks into spreadsheets. So I thought it is totally possible to build my own personal portfolio tracker with Google Sheets. I can register my transactions in a sheet and use the pivot table, built-in functions such as GOOGLEFINANCE, and Apps Script to automate the computation for daily evolutions of my portfolio as well as the current position for each stock in my portfolio. I then drew some sort of charts within the spreadsheet to have some visual ideas of my portfolio. However, I quickly found it inconvenient to have the charts overlapped the table and to switch back and forth among sheets in the spreadsheet. That's when I came to know the existen...
Compare stock investment portfolio to market indexes

Compare stock investment portfolio to market indexes

As investors, we always want to see our portfolio grows over time. If a portfolio made a 1000$ of gain in one year, is it good enough? Should we gauge the portfolio's performance against an alternative investment, for instance, a market index? Should we aim to beat that index? In this post, we will see how to compare a stock portfolio to market indexes by using Google Sheets, Apps Script, and Google Data Studio.
Compute daily evolutions of a stock portfolio with Google Sheets and Apps Script

Compute daily evolutions of a stock portfolio with Google Sheets and Apps Script

When it comes to investment, it is not only important to know the up-to-date state of portfolio but also to track its evolution day by day. We need to know on a specific day, how much money has been invested in the portfolio, the current market value of owned shares, the available cash and the current profit. Visualizing those historical data points on a time-based graph helps us to identify which transactions were good and which were bad. This post shows how to compute automatically those historical data points by using data in Transactions sheet and the built-in GOOGLEFINANCE function of Google Sheets. A sample spreadsheet can be found in this post Demo stock portfolio tracker with Google Sheets . You can take a look at the sample spreadsheet to have an idea of how the data is organized and related. It is possible to make a copy of the spreadsheet to study it thoroughly.
Google Apps Script tips and tricks

Google Apps Script tips and tricks

When working with Google Apps Script, there are some tasks that I need to perform quite often. For that, I create a list of snippets that I can easily copy whenever needed. In this post, I share my useful snippets and my tips and tricks when working with apps script. If you have any snippet/tip/trick, you can share in the comment section.