To get the most out of transaction portfolios, you need to create and record individual transaction events. To create a new transaction, click the "Create Transaction Link" from either the "Positions" or "Transactions" tab. A "Create Transaction" form appears. From this page, you can create one of two types of transactions, security or cash.

To create a security transaction:

1. Make sure the "Type" is set to "Security" (it defaults to this).
2. Enter a valid date. You can enter future dates as well as past dates.
3. Select an "Action" from the list. "Buy" and "Sell" transactions are the most commonly used action types.
   Note that "Buy" transactions debits your account the overall purchase amount of a position (reflected in your cash position), and "Sell" transactions credits your account the proceeds from a transaction (also reflected in your overall cash position).
   If you prefer not to account for how you paid for a position, use the "Shares In" action instead. "Shares In" allows you to enter a position, but your cash line is not affected. By the same token, "Shares Out" functions in much the same way, shares are liquidated, but the proceeds are not calculated in your cash line. Note that "Buy/Sell" and "Shares In/Shares Out" can be intermixed. You could, for instance, enter a "Shares In" for a position and create a corresponding "Sell" for those same shares.
   Short positions are also supported. To open a short position, use the "Sell Short" option (functions like a sale in that your cash line are credited). To close the position, use the "Buy to Cover" option.
4. Enter a valid symbol. This is important, as invalid symbols appear on the positions display with an error message. Of course, you can always tab over to the transaction page and edit an entry with a problematic symbol.
5. Enter number of shares data.
6. Enter price paid.
7. Enter a commission (optional).
8. Enter a note (also optional). Notes can be up to 40 characters in length (letters and spaces).

To create a cash transaction:

1. Set the "Type" to "Cash" (do this by clicking the link).
2. Enter a valid date. You can enter future dates as well as past dates.
3. Select an "Action." "Cash In" and "Cash Out" credit or debit your account respectively. "Interest Income" and "Margin Interest" also credits or debits your cash position respectively.
4. Enter the cash amount in the "Amount" field.
5. Enter a note (optional). Notes can be up to 40 characters in length (letters and spaces).

Editing and deleting transactions

To edit or remove an existing transaction, go to the transaction display page (by clicking the tab of the same name) and find the transaction you wish to change. For each individual record there is an "Edit" and a "Delete" link in the far right column (below the Modify heading). Click "Edit" if you wish to change some of the information about a particular transaction. A form with the record details is presented. Make your changes and click the "Save" button to commit the changes. Click "Delete" if you wish to remove the transactions completely from your portfolio. A page with the item(s) to be deleted appears. Click the "Yes" button to confirm deletion. Note that once committed, there is no way to undo a delete request.

In certain instances, some of the fields for a transaction record are not available when you attempt to edit the entry. Usually, this is because the record has a dependency with another record. Examples of dependent records include buy transactions and their corresponding sell transactions, and short sales and their subsequent buy-to-cover events.

Whatever the case, when a transaction dependency is present, your ability to alter the "parent" (earliest event in the list of dependent transactions) is often not possible unless the subsequent event is deleted or edited. For instance, if you have a transaction to buy 100 shares of ABC and then sell 100 shares of ABC, you cannot change the initial purchase of ABC unless you delete the subsequent ABC sell transaction. If you delete the subsequent event, the dependency between the buy and the sale is removed, and all the transaction fields are activated again when you recommence editing the original purchase event.

Because the transaction history can become tricky, we recommend you use the "Notes" field to assist you in your record keeping. In addition, we do plan to include a future enhancement that will allow you to better track the dependencies between different transactions.

In the event you are in need of assistance with financial terminology, go to Yahoo!'s financial glossary.