Price/Total Discrepancy

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Jack Jones
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Price/Total Discrepancy

Post by Jack Jones » Tue May 02, 2023 5:38 am

Hi all,

I recently bought some LTT at auction. Vanguard reports that I purchased:

Quantity: 9,000
Price: 99.34
Amount: -8995.81

However, these numbers don't add up for me:

9 x 99.34 = 8940.60

It's as if Vanguard charged fees or commissions of $55.21 for this purchase even though the transaction says "Free" for that column. Has anyone noticed anything similar or knows what's going on?

How would you record this transaction? Would you adjust the price provided by Vanguard, add commissions/fees to the transaction, or something else?
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dualstow
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Re: Price/Total Discrepancy

Post by dualstow » Tue May 02, 2023 6:36 am

I think I remember mine not adding up exactly, but it was by a small number like that.
Vanguard does not charge a commission.

Could it be that it’s just some digits starting with the 3rd decimal place? 99.34xyz. Multiply that tiny number (0.00xyz)
by 9,000 and you’ll get a few bucks.
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Re: Price/Total Discrepancy

Post by vnatale » Tue May 02, 2023 7:41 am

Jack Jones wrote:
Tue May 02, 2023 5:38 am

Hi all,

I recently bought some LTT at auction. Vanguard reports that I purchased:

Quantity: 9,000
Price: 99.34
Amount: -8995.81

However, these numbers don't add up for me:

9 x 99.34 = 8940.60

It's as if Vanguard charged fees or commissions of $55.21 for this purchase even though the transaction says "Free" for that column. Has anyone noticed anything similar or knows what's going on?

How would you record this transaction? Would you adjust the price provided by Vanguard, add commissions/fees to the transaction, or something else?


It's the same for me whenever I do dividend reinvestments in any Vanguard funds. They show a price to only two decimal places but when I enter the transaction in Quicken the necessary price exceeds two decimal places.
Above provided by: Vinny, who always says: "I only regret that I have but one lap to give to my cats." AND "I'm a more-is-more person."
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Re: Price/Total Discrepancy

Post by dualstow » Tue May 02, 2023 8:20 am

In addition to what I wrote above, keep an eye on interest payments.
I bought a T-Bill a few days ago on the secondary market. The calculation looked off by 18.79, but this morning there was an interest payment for 18.75.
I don’t know if it’s a factor. Perhaps not, but maybe?
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Re: Price/Total Discrepancy

Post by Mark Leavy » Tue May 02, 2023 9:25 am

dualstow wrote:
Tue May 02, 2023 8:20 am
In addition to what I wrote above, keep an eye on interest payments.
This is the answer. When you purchase the bill/bond/note, you pay the "price" plus any unpaid accrued interest - which rightly belongs to the seller.
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Re: Price/Total Discrepancy

Post by Jack Jones » Tue May 02, 2023 10:21 am

Mark Leavy wrote:
Tue May 02, 2023 9:25 am
dualstow wrote:
Tue May 02, 2023 8:20 am
In addition to what I wrote above, keep an eye on interest payments.
This is the answer. When you purchase the bill/bond/note, you pay the "price" plus any unpaid accrued interest - which rightly belongs to the seller.
Would this apply to a bond purchased at auction?

Also, Dualstow: interest payments from a T-Bill?

If I divide what I paid by the number of shares, I get $999.53444. Price according to Vanguard was $993.40, so it seems like more than a rounding error.

If you were recording this transaction, would you record the price per bond from the broker or the actual price per bond that you paid? This would impact one's cost basis.
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Re: Price/Total Discrepancy

Post by vnatale » Tue May 02, 2023 10:54 am

Jack Jones wrote:
Tue May 02, 2023 10:21 am

Mark Leavy wrote:
Tue May 02, 2023 9:25 am

dualstow wrote:
Tue May 02, 2023 8:20 am

In addition to what I wrote above, keep an eye on interest payments.


This is the answer. When you purchase the bill/bond/note, you pay the "price" plus any unpaid accrued interest - which rightly belongs to the seller.


Would this apply to a bond purchased at auction?

Also, Dualstow: interest payments from a T-Bill?

If I divide what I paid by the number of shares, I get $999.53444. Price according to Vanguard was $993.40, so it seems like more than a rounding error.

If you were recording this transaction, would you record the price per bond from the broker or the actual price per bond that you paid? This would impact one's cost basis.


How could it be anything but the actual price? That represents your true cost and, thus, your basis.
Above provided by: Vinny, who always says: "I only regret that I have but one lap to give to my cats." AND "I'm a more-is-more person."
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Re: Price/Total Discrepancy

Post by dualstow » Tue May 02, 2023 11:09 am

Jack Jones wrote:
Tue May 02, 2023 10:21 am
Also, Dualstow: interest payments from a T-Bill?
O0 It began life as a 2-year note. (Created in the Heavens in 2021) I just happened to buy it in the throes of its final phase.
When I buy very short term instruments at auction, I don’t think it happens. That’s why I thought in your case it might be what I mentioned in my first post and which Vinny mentioned. But, I would defer to Mark and Kevin K, too, if he chimes in. Or Sophie. They know better.
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Re: Price/Total Discrepancy

Post by dualstow » Tue May 02, 2023 12:18 pm

By the way, for those of you who bought on the secondary market, you can go to Vanguard’s Transaction History — I know, it’s a pain in the ass these days — and search through purchases to find your bond.

There’s no CUSIP there, even though you can see that in Holdings. They couldn’t be bothered in TransHisto. You can find it by date of maturity and coupon%.

When you find it, click it and you will see a page with more details. At the bottom: “Accrued Interest.”
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Re: Price/Total Discrepancy

Post by vnatale » Tue May 02, 2023 4:25 pm

dualstow wrote:
Tue May 02, 2023 12:18 pm

By the way, for those of you who bought on the secondary market, you can go to Vanguard’s Transaction History — I know, it’s a pain in the ass these days — and search through purchases to find your bond.

There’s no CUSIP there, even though you can see that in Holdings. They couldn’t be bothered in TransHisto. You can find it by date of maturity and coupon%.

When you find it, click it and you will see a page with more details. At the bottom: “Accrued Interest.”


I just did my monthly suffering of going through my seven different Vanguard accounts to decipher all the transactions to enter into Quicken. Then I had to go to Holdings to finish off the three holdings for which monthly statements are not entered. I keep thinking it'd be much easier if they listed all the transactions per holding rather than lumping them all under one account which contains all those holdings.
Above provided by: Vinny, who always says: "I only regret that I have but one lap to give to my cats." AND "I'm a more-is-more person."
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Re: Price/Total Discrepancy

Post by dualstow » Tue May 02, 2023 7:18 pm

You can get transactions per holding. the problem is that you have to select that holding by going through an ungainly list with checkboxes. Those lttle boxes prevent you from searching for the holdng via keyboard. Unce upon a time, you could search for a stock by company name. It’s a mess. Anyway, off-topic.

Oh, and you can create a report and download it as a PDF. That may be easier. PM me if you need help.
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Re: Price/Total Discrepancy

Post by Jack Jones » Thu May 04, 2023 12:52 pm

Dualstow / Mark were the winners. Although I did purchase this bond at auction, it was a re-issue so there was accrued interest after all.

Thanks for the help, all.
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Re: Price/Total Discrepancy

Post by dualstow » Thu May 04, 2023 12:54 pm

Glad you sorted it out!
Bonds are weird. You learn as much from buying them as from reading bond books.
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