Keeping your investment portfolio in sync with your brokerage account can help to ensure that you always receive timely alerts on all your positions. In today’s email, we show you how to keep your portfolio in sync.
Security and Benefits of Synchronization
You might wonder why should I sync my portfolio, and is it safe?
TradeStops uses a one-way transfer of data. Your brokerage credentials are not stored on the TradeStops servers, and no one in our organization can access your brokerage account. Further, any changes that you make within TradeStops will not affect your brokerage account. Sales and purchases of stocks and options can only be completed by you at the brokerage level.
By syncing your portfolio, your stocks and options are pulled into our system automatically. You do not have to hand-type in each position. You can even tell the system to create automatic alerts for the positions.
In addition, when you buy or sell a position at your brokerage, TradeStops will pick up on that. We will automatically detect newly sold or purchased positions within 1-4 days and update your portfolio accordingly.
Recently sold positions can be automatically moved to a Re-Entry watchlist. This enables you to monitor the position in case you want to get back into it in the future.
How do I sync my portfolio?
To begin the synchronization process, there are a few steps to follow.
- Go to the Portfolios tab in TradeStops
- Click on the green Add Portfolio button in the upper left hand corner
- In the box that pops up, click on your brokerage’s name or search for it
If you cannot find your broker, that’s okay. You can contact our Customer Success team at 866-385-2076. They might be able to set you up for beta testing or add your broker to the development list.
In the next pop up box, you will enter your brokerage credentials exactly as you would if you were logging into your brokerage firm. Do not use anything that is typed in the boxes. You can click the “Show my password” box to ensure that you entered the password correctly. If everything looks correct to you, click “Login.”
If you have security questions, a token, or any additional security features at your brokerage, you might be prompted to enter that information. It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the security method you use so that the information you enter is accurate. This will avoid any errors during the initial import process. You will receive a success message once your portfolio has been synced.
Please note that we do not support the fingerprint security method as we have no way of seeing your fingerprint to verify that it is you.
How do I keep my portfolio up-to-date?
Keeping your portfolio in sync is critical to receiving timely alerts about your stocks and options. As a best practice, you should go to the Portfolios tab first thing after logging into TradeStops. This way, you will immediately be able to check on your portfolios.
First Step
Check to see if your portfolio is highlighted in pink. If you see no pink, you can go to the second step.
If your portfolio is highlighted in pink, there will be a yellow Resolve button to the right of your portfolio name. Simply click on that yellow button, and enter your brokerage credentials in the pop up box.
Remember, don’t use anything that is already typed in for you. Enter the credentials as you would if you were logging into your brokerage account.
Second Step
If your portfolio is not highlighted in pink, check the sync date. The sync date is to the right of your portfolio’s name.
You want it to be yesterday or today’s date, and if it is, then your portfolio is good to go. It is functioning as it should. You can go on with checking your stocks and options or using our research tools.
In the case that your portfolio is out of date, you will need to update your credentials. It is a good idea to keep a copy of this process for future reference.
To Update your Credentials:
- Go to the Portfolios tab in TradeStops
- Click on the Pencil to the left of your portfolio name
- Click Update Credentials that shows up in the pop up box
- Hand-type in your credentials. Do not use anything that is typed in the box for you!
- Click Update
What happens if I get an error while Resolving or Updating Credentials?
Errors can occur with these processes. If an error occurs, we will provide you with an error code. Please take note of the error code. This is critical if you want to resolve the problem. There are some error codes that you can fix, and some error codes will go away on their own.
The Common Errors:
- 403, 409, 412, and 413: These errors will normally go away on their own. If these errors continue for more than 3 days, please contact us.
- 402: This means your username or password was entered incorrectly. Please try again. Make sure to use your brokerage credentials-not your TradeStops credentials!
- 407: This means your account is locked. This happens if you enter the incorrect brokerage credentials four times. Contact your broker to get your account unlocked.
- 428 & 429: This means that you must log into your brokerage firm and update something. This could be accepting new terms & conditions or updating your personal information.
- 518 & 522: This means that your extra security wasn’t entered in time. This could be your security questions & answers or your token.
If you see any other error codes, write down the number and the message that you receive. You can then contact us to have our customer service agents assist you. Having that number ready will give them the ability to check on and fix your account even faster.
I accidentally deleted a synced position. What now?
You can bring that position back with a couple easy steps from the Portfolios tab in TradeStops.
First, go to the Portfolios tab, and then click the Pencil to the left of the portfolio that has the missing position. A box will pop up with some options. This is like the process you used to update credentials.
Click the Restore button. This will bring the missing position back. If you accidentally deleted multiple positions, you can click the white check box. That will pull in all the missing positions associated with that brokerage.
If you ever notice that you are missing a portfolio, you can click the Import button. That will pull in any missing portfolios for that brokerage without having to repeat the initial import process.
Become a TradeStops Power User
That was a lot of information to take in all at once, and we are committed to helping you become a TradeStops Power User. You can watch a recent webinar we hosted on synchronization here. The webinar in addition to the information presented here should help you on your way to becoming an Power User in syncing and keeping your portfolio up-to-date.
Next week, we will cover importing your portfolio with a CSV file for those of you who cannot or do not want to use sync. Keep a lookout on your Inbox so you can continue to become a TradeStops Power User.
To your success,
Customer Success Team
