- quote -

This looks like it solved the problem. There were definitely no AGG
entries in my portfolio (not in the symbol, not in the name); however,
when I went to enter a dividend, a mysterious AGG entry appeared in the
drop-down list. I then gave myself a $1,000,000 dividend. This caused
the mysterious stock to appear in my portfolio. I then deleted it,
updated from my broker, and the transaction went to the correct place.

Thanks for your help!

In microsoft.public.money, mark[at]altavista.net wrote:

- quote -

I am not sure what you are doing there, but don't do it. At least
not yet. It sounds like you could have created ANOTHER security with
symbol AGG. If you did that, blank its symbol, and change its name
to zzz1.

- quote -

Don't rename to AGG. AGG is the symbol, right? Rename to "iShares
Lehman Aggregate Bond".


Did you find the stock in your watch file that had had that name and
symbol before? Did you rename it to zzz0 or some such? Did it
actually have symbol AGG before you blanked the symbol in step 1?



- quote -

Do not try to type the name in when you enter a transaction.. Choose
the name from the drop down list.

Perhaps it is not the symbol that is in use by another stock but is
instead the same name.

Sill no luck? Try entering a Dividend in your Watch account. Go thru
the list and try to create a dividend from anything close to
ISHARES.

I'd actually tried doing that already. (Either that, or deleting the
watch entirely.) But when I try step 2, it says:

"'AGG' is already being used as a name or symbol for another
investment. Please enter a different choice."

That's wrong -- that symbol isn't anywhere else in any of my
portfolios, either as a symbol or the name. I am even able to add AGG
back to my watch list without complaint... then delete it, or rename it
(both the symbol the and name), but I still get the above error when I
try renaming A to AGG.

I also tried adding the transaction manually, but Money still thinks
it's an entirely separate tranaction, and tries to add it again as
Agilent.

In microsoft.public.money, mark[at]altavista.net wrote:

- quote -

Be glad this came up with an issue like this instead of something
harder. I will make a strategy suggestion farther down.

- quote -

Actually this one is easier than I was first thinking.

1. Locate that stock with symbol AGG in the watch list. Go to the
Details for that investment. Blank the symbol. Then click Rename,
and Rename it to zzz0 or some such symbol you will not want to use
in the future.

2. Go to Details for the stock that has symbol A. Change its symbol
to AGG. Rename it to the desired name.

3. Change any transactions in the watch account to zzz0, or just
delete those transactions.

The more complex solution would be if you had transactions in the
other stock that you needed to keep intact.

================================================== =========

The biggest advantage to Money 2006 is the automatic backups. It
can, and by default does, keep more than one backup. You can specify
how many. It will backup to files that incorporate the name in the
filename.

Ditto for the scheduled backup (best to USB flash drive IMHO).
Except it fails to delete the oldest backups, so you have to delete
some files manually if you are filling up the drive.

For Money 2005, here is what I suggest:

In Tools-> Settings-> BackupOptions
I suggest checking
x Automatically backup to hard disk on exit
x Prompt me before backing up each time*
x Make my file small ...

Then periodically, perhaps once per month or more, copy your
latest backup (named differently from your earlier backups) to a
CDR. With XP, this can be a copy and paste operation. Otherwise
use the burning software that came with your CDR drive.

I strongly suggest use of a USB Flash drive also, in addition to
backing up to your hard drive. They typically act like a big
floppy. For a more automated way to make multiple backups, see
Glyn Simpson's method at http://money.mvps.org/backup.aspx


* This has two advantages. You can change the file name
occasionally. I like to pick a name something like money060101.
Then it is easy to change the name to have multiple backups. The
..mbf extension is automatic. The other advantage is that you can
choose "Don't Back Up, or you change your mind about exiting by
simply clicking the X in the upper right of the pop-up box.

That's the answer I initially tried to give, but Money wouldn't accept
it. Well, it appeared to accept it, but then showed the same message
again.

The only backup I have it the automatic one, which (of course) was
automatically overwritten.

I thought of deleting the account and re-creating it, but I'm not sure
that would do any good. (Since Money is keeping this bad setting
"under the hood" where I can't see it, there's no guarantee it would be
deleted along with the account.)

In microsoft.public.money, mark[at]altavista.net wrote:

- quote -

Simple answer is to restore a backup from before the problem
download. Download again, but this time say that this is not a new
stock. It is the same as the one in the watch list.

If you have no such backup, it can still be dealt with some
difficulty. In that case, after you reassess your backup policy,
check back.

Money 2005. Yesterday, I bought a new stock, AGG.

On the next update, Money noticed I had a new stock in my portfolio,
and gave me the usual popup message asking if this is a new stock. I
said yes. I already had this symbol in my "watch" list, so Money asks
a follow-up question about which I want to keep. Unfortunately, due to
some odd bug, Money ignored my answer, and kept presenting the same
dialog box over and over.

In the end, the only way I could come up with to get Money out of its
loop was to manually add a "dummy" entry to my portfolio (I chose the
symbol "A"), and tell money that the investment is alredy in my Money
portfolio, but it's listed under the symbol A. That seemed to placate
Money, and I thought that was the end of it.

(Note that I've bought several stocks at the same time, but Money only
screwed up one of them.)

The next day, I get the actual transaction for the stock I purchased.
(Money always sees the portfolio change in real time, but the "buy"
transaction doesn't appear until the next day.) Unfortunately, Money
now believes that it is seeing a Buy transaction for Agilent (the real
owner of symbol "A"). More unfortunately, Money doesn't provide the
option to change this.

I tried accepting Money's default, then manually deleting Agilent, and
updating with the broker again, but Money keeps adding it as Agilent.

How do I get Money to add AGG properly and stop translating it to
Agilent?