portfolio management application

[cwest@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

I've posted about this subject previously over "the years," and I
continually look for a portfolio management application (PMA) that handles
stocks, futures, bonds, and options thereon in a real-world environment.
I'll give some examples further on. The level of sophistication that I'm
seeking in a PMA doesn't seem to exist, at any price. And when surveying
what's used at different levels in the financial services markets to address
such needs, it's a hodge-podge of home-grown incompatible stuff inherently
fraught with considerable risk of error that must be a huge maintenance
burden.

Here's a macro example of what I think a PMA should be able to address. The
major factors that will hopefully prevent the US economy from deteriorating
further are that the economy is long interest rates and short energy, imo.
However, divergence of the prices of the many securities, instruments and
derivatives that may represent these two fundamental components are several,
and irrespective of one's opinion as to whether they'll continue to diverge
or contract, ought to be able to be managed within a PMA. Simplistically,
imagine you were of the opinion that the divergence will continue so you are
short energy stocks and long bonds. Or perhaps short energy futures and long
bond futures, hedging your risk with options thereon. Or just back-to-back
bear and bull option spreads on your favorite commodities that you think are
most affected by these fundamental components. Where's the PMA to manage
your "play?"

The PMAs that I've looked at can't even automate the simultaneous split of a
stock and its options, let alone the fact that we'll soon have stock futures
to include in strategies. Even Bear Stearns, US Clearing, et al, admit that
splits are a lot of manual work. And they just shake their heads if you ask
how they manage a complex portfolio that's structured to take advantage of
anticipated geo-political events that weigh on country risk (currency),
commodity risk, and business risk. Whether a "small" trader realizes it or
not, he or she is entertaining such risks when they speculate; i.e.,
un-hedged investing or trading as it were. 

I appreciate that a PMA that addresses the realm of issues that one may
imagine from the above isn't trivial, but I'd hasten to add that it's quite
doable in a reasonable time given an understanding of what ought to be
included in a PMA kernel built on standards to which others can
(programmatically) interface.

My vision is a PMA that handles just about all types of transactions, stores
them in a database that almost every user has on their PC, obtain historical
data from many of the free sources available today, and provide access to
(real-time) reports and data entry through active server pages. Such a
combination would afford users information portability at very low cost with
a PMA that is very close to portable.

I'd like to hear from anyone interested in a PMA project.

Regards
Colin West