Ranking and Sorting a Family

Updated 03/11/14

The Nuts and Bolts of Ranking

To rank a family in FastTrack for the Web by total return by the period on the screen (or between poles if they are showing), press the "Rank" button on the Chart Tools Toolbar. This will automatically rank the current family by total return.

To rank a family by other category, go to the "Spreadsheet" tab on the Program Tabs. This will open up the Spreadsheet window. From here you can sort the mutual funds in whatever order you want. Once sorted, click one of the family members, hold until the drag icon appears, then drag to the "Charts" Program Tab.

If you want the data sorted in the opposite order, click the spreadsheet column header. This will reverse the sort order. You will have to drag one item from the sorted list to the Char Tab if you want to see the Issue list in the new order.

There are many Spreadsheet columns that you can rank on. See Spreadsheet Columns.

How to Rank

Ranking is an important investment selection tool. FastTrack provides a Rank tool to rank the issues on the Chart Tab list. If only the Dashed Pole is showing, FastTrack computes results from the date on which the Dashed Pole rests to the last day of the chart. If both the poles are showing, the ranking is based on results between poles.

While FastTrack for DOS was limited to ranking based on only total return, FastTrack for the Web can rank on a wide variety of values. 

Here is a set of specific instructions and keystrokes to rank a family and have the ranking displayed in the Issue List:

1. Load the family you want to rank into the Chart Tab Issue List.
2. Move the Dashed Pole to the starting date of the ranking. If you are going to rank to the last day of data, then no other pole is needed. If you want to rank a specific period, bracket it with the Dashed and Solid Poles.
3. Click on the Chart Tools Rank Button. This will
   • clear the spreadsheet,
   • refill it from the Chart Tab Issue List,
   • compute a return column,
   • sort the column greatest gain to lowest gain,
   • place the sorted results in the Chart Tab Issue List,
   • and switch to the Spreadsheet Tab.
4. To rank a family by other category, go to the "Spreadsheet" tab on the Program Tabs. This will open up the Spreadsheet window. From here you can sort the mutual funds in whatever order you want. Once sorted, click one of the family members, hold until the drag icon appears, then drag to the "Charts" Program Tab.

To add more columns to the spreadsheet:

1. Right-click on the spreadsheet itself. This pops up a menu.
2. Select "Add Col". This will bring up a list of available values that can become columns on the spreadsheet.
3. Double-click on the desired columns to add them to the spreadsheet.

You'll note that the newly added columns are empty. To fill them:

1. Right-Click on the spreadsheet.
2. Choose "Compute". This will recalculate the contents of the spreadsheet. Obviously, this can take a long time if you choose many columns and many issues.

Once the spreadsheet is filled, you'll note that the columns are in no particular order.

1. Click on the top row of the column you want to use as a sort key. The list will be sorted by the values in the column.
2. If you want the list to be sorted in reverse order, click on the top of the column again.

If you want the data sorted in the opposite order, click the spreadsheet column header. This will reverse the sort order. You will have to drag one item from the sorted list to the Char Tab if you want to see the Issue list in the new order.

Note:

Ranking before the inception date of a mutual fund or stock will produce the default return value of -100%.

Getting the Ranked List Back to the Charts Tab

1. Click and hold on the Issue List's Name box.
2. Wait till the appears.
3. Drag to any Tab and drop (release the mouse button).

This will copy the entire list to the Issue List of the target Tab.

To copy part of the list to the Tab:

1. Highlight the members you want to drag with a series of shift+clicks and ctrl-clicks.
2. On the final selection, HOLD and wait for the to appear.
3. Drag to the desired Tab and drop.

Only the highlighted issues will be copied.