WEBVTT 00:00:01.300 --> 00:00:05.229 A green result can feel reassuring, but first ask what kind of 00:00:05.229 --> 00:00:09.157 result it is. An unrealized gain or loss belongs to a position 00:00:09.157 --> 00:00:13.086 that is still open. Its value changes as the price information changes. 00:00:13.086 --> 00:00:17.014 A realized result belongs to an amount that has actually been sold 00:00:17.014 --> 00:00:20.943 and recorded. These words describe different stages, not different levels of confidence 00:00:20.943 --> 00:00:21.925 in a prediction. 00:00:22.425 --> 00:00:26.195 Return to our ten example units. Their investment is two hundred dollars 00:00:26.195 --> 00:00:29.965 and their displayed value is two hundred twenty dollars. The difference is 00:00:29.965 --> 00:00:33.735 a twenty-dollar unrealized gain under our no-fee assumptions. If the displayed value 00:00:33.735 --> 00:00:37.506 falls to one hundred ninety dollars while all ten units remain open, 00:00:37.506 --> 00:00:41.276 the example instead has a ten-dollar unrealized loss. Nothing had to be 00:00:41.276 --> 00:00:43.475 sold for that displayed result to change. 00:00:43.975 --> 00:00:47.764 P and L means profit and loss. The dollar figure describes an 00:00:47.764 --> 00:00:51.553 amount; the percentage describes that amount relative to the investment used in 00:00:51.553 --> 00:00:55.343 the calculation. Twenty dollars on two hundred dollars is ten percent. Twenty 00:00:55.343 --> 00:00:59.132 dollars on two thousand dollars is one percent. A larger percentage and 00:00:59.132 --> 00:01:02.921 a larger dollar amount are not automatically the same achievement, so read 00:01:02.921 --> 00:01:04.500 both with their starting amounts. 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:08.577 Now imagine a separate example in which all ten units sell for 00:01:08.577 --> 00:01:12.155 twenty-two dollars each. The gross sale amount is two hundred twenty dollars. 00:01:12.155 --> 00:01:15.732 It is not two hundred twenty dollars of profit, because the position 00:01:15.732 --> 00:01:19.309 already had two hundred dollars of investment. Before fees in this simplified 00:01:19.309 --> 00:01:22.886 example, the difference is twenty dollars. Use the actual recorded costs and 00:01:22.886 --> 00:01:24.675 fees when reviewing a real result. 00:01:25.175 --> 00:01:28.792 You can also have realized and unrealized results at the same time. 00:01:28.792 --> 00:01:32.409 Suppose four of the ten units sell at twenty-two dollars each. Their 00:01:32.409 --> 00:01:36.026 gross proceeds are eighty-eight dollars. Using twenty dollars per unit as the 00:01:36.026 --> 00:01:39.644 example cost, those four units had eighty dollars of cost and an 00:01:39.644 --> 00:01:43.261 eight-dollar gain before fees. Six units remain open, with their own changing 00:01:43.261 --> 00:01:46.275 value. A partial sale does not close the whole position. 00:01:46.775 --> 00:01:50.656 The Portfolio display is a valuation view, not a promise of the 00:01:50.656 --> 00:01:54.537 final proceeds of a future market order. Fees, the actual execution price, 00:01:54.537 --> 00:01:58.418 and changing market conditions can make that outcome different. In Recent Fills, 00:01:58.418 --> 00:02:02.299 a sale amount and a separately labeled P and L figure also 00:02:02.299 --> 00:02:06.180 answer different questions. Keep gross money exchanged separate from the result attributed 00:02:06.180 --> 00:02:07.150 to the sale. 00:02:07.650 --> 00:02:11.614 Match the time period when comparing screens. A current open holding, the 00:02:11.614 --> 00:02:15.578 last seven days of asset activity, and a report covering a different 00:02:15.578 --> 00:02:19.542 date range can all show different figures for sensible reasons. Check account, 00:02:19.542 --> 00:02:23.506 mode, asset, period, and fee treatment before expecting them to agree. Do 00:02:23.506 --> 00:02:27.470 not combine a percentage from one scope with a dollar amount from 00:02:27.470 --> 00:02:27.800 another. 00:02:28.300 --> 00:02:32.320 Here is the useful habit: name the figure before reacting to it. 00:02:32.320 --> 00:02:36.340 Is this open-position value, unrealized change, sale proceeds, or recorded realized profit 00:02:36.340 --> 00:02:40.360 and loss? For our original unsold example, twenty dollars is an unrealized 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:44.380 gain under stated assumptions. You have understood the display when you can 00:02:44.380 --> 00:02:48.400 explain both what it tells you and what has not happened yet.