trading off of price only vs chart with _ the includes divs and distrubutions

rickbkcs

I don't know why the brain fog here but it would seem when placing an order/trade, I would need the chart that includes divs and distributions bec it reflects the true current price I would buy buying at and of course my brokerage platform reflects the same. is this correct? ...it's Thursday and I'm already clouded in the brain
Rick

markd

My understanding is the current price would be the same on both adjusted and unadjusted charts. The historical prices - that is, the prices made before the most recent dividend, distribution or split - would be different.

rickbkcs

Thank you. I thought so too but when I use the symbol for example IYR with and without the _ before the symbol, the pricing is different througout

markd

@rickbkcs If you download "Past Data" for both IYR and _IYR and slide down to the current date (4/6 back) in each file, you will see the data is the same from 3/24/17 forward and different from 3/23 back to the top of the file. 3/24 was the last payout date (see the Recent Data Adjustments link of the member page, enter IYR in the search). IYR data steadily decreases vs. _IYR as you move back in time as it gets adjusted for payouts.

rickbkcs

i do see that. was certainly not looking that micro so thanks for pointing that out.

rickbkcs

so confirming, by including the _ before the symbol, I am looking at non adjusted data (meaning it includes divs and distributions - at least until 3/24/17 in the case of IYR)?

markd

_IYR data is the original data that printed as a result of the final daily update for the date indicated. It never changes (except possibly if there was a reporting error that is later corrected).

IYR data begins as the data printed at the close and stays that way until there is a dividend, split or distribution. Then ALL data prior to that date is adjusted.

So the two files (and charts) should agree from the current date back to the date of the last dividend/distribution, and differ from there back. So some charts will agree for a day, or several days or several weeks, depending on when the last distribution occurred.

I think the phrase "includes divs and distributions" is confusing, as some people would interpret the adjusted data as "including" divs and distributions, meaning prices are the result of including the process of adjusting for divs/distributions, while others would say the original data "includes" them because prices have not been adjusted.

rickbkcs

thank you Mark. appreciate the detailed response.