Realized and Unrealized Profit or Loss
- Sai Man Wong
- Brent Bergh
- Noah Keats
- Oleg Barshay
Realized (shown as Gross)
When closing a position, PropReports picks which shares to sell (or cover) using intra-day First In, First Out (FIFO), followed by overnight FIFO. This means that your oldest shares for the same day will be closed first, followed by the oldest shares taken overnight.
Using the FIFO method:
- Selling 5 shares at $1.30 would realize a gain of $1.00 (1.30 * 5 - 1.10 * 5).
- Selling 1 share at $1.30 on Thursday would use lot #1 (the oldest overall lot since there were no opening trades that day) for a realized gain of $0.30 ($1.30 - $1.00).
- Selling 1 share at $1.30 on Wednesday would use lot #4 (the oldest lot for that day) and realize a gain of $0.15 ($1.30 - $1.15).
- Selling 3 shares on Wednesday would use lot #4, lot #5 and lot #1 for a gain of: $0.55 (($1.30 - $1.15) + ($1.30 - $1.20) + ($1.30 - $1)).
Lot | Day | Type | Qty | Symbol | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Monday | Buy | 1 | XYZ | $1.00 |
2 | Tuesday | Buy | 1 | XYZ | $1.10 |
3 | Tuesday | Buy | 1 | XYZ | $1.05 |
4 | Wednesday | Buy | 1 | XYZ | $1.15 |
5 | Wednesday | Buy | 1 | XYZ | $1.20 |
Unrealized
The "Unrealized" column is the estimated profit or loss of your overnight positions when marked to the market at the end of the day. Since this value indicates only a potential gain or loss it does not affect the cash balance of your account.
Unrealized Delta (Unrealized Δ)
The "Unrealized Δ" column is the change in unrealized profit or loss between two dates. As with the "Unrealized" column above, this value is derived from a potential gain or loss it has no effect on the cash balance in the account.
For example, let's say you buy 100 shares of XYZ at $1.00 per share. Here's how the stock's closing price affects the Unrealized Δ values:
| Closing Price | Market Value | Unrealized | Unrealized Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Day 1 | $1.00 | $100 | $0 | $0 |
Day 2 | $1.25 | $125 | $25 | +$25 |
Day 3 | $1.30 | $130 | $30 | +$5 |
Day 4 | $1.15 | $115 | $15 | -$15 |
Day 5 | $1.20 | $120 | $20 | +$5 |
Day 6 - sell all shares |
| $0 | $0 | -$20 |
Note that Unrealized Δ on day 6 reflects the fact that the unrealized gain no longer exists since the position has been sold. Any profits from that position are recorded as a Realized gain.