# How much do you buy?



## Kaitlyn (May 13, 2011)

Obviously everyone has their own "free cash" to work with, but I am wondering when you guys talk about picking up stocks or dumping them, how much are you buying in a single day?

I try to buy things in 100 lots... sometimes a little more. But I can't always afford to throw that much money at something in a given day. On the flipside, if you don't through enough you're not really maximizing your profit potential and commissions just eat it up!


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## KaeJS (Sep 28, 2010)

I usually never buy less than a 100 share lot.

Usually never purchase more than 500 share lots.

However, I'm talking about stocks in the $20-$100 range.

Stocks under $20 I may buy more than 500.

Stocks over $100, I may buy less than 100.


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## Kaitlyn (May 13, 2011)

KaeJS said:


> I usually never buy less than a 100 share lot.
> 
> Usually never purchase more than 500 share lots.
> 
> ...


I wish I could throw around 10k at a time


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## KaeJS (Sep 28, 2010)

Kaitlyn, a lot of the time, I use borrowed money (margin).

My whole portfolio is only worth $52k.


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## doctrine (Sep 30, 2011)

I buy in increments of $2500 usually. It keeps my fees to around 0.2% of the transaction.


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## dave2012 (Feb 17, 2012)

Usually buying $5,000-$10,000 per trade at $6.95 per transaction which keeps cost real low.

I never purchase on margin.


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

If I'm nervous, not sure about how much stock will drop, $1500-$4000 worth. 
If I'm not, $5000k worth. 

Some positions are 14k cost base. 

I always like to leave some room if the stock really keeps dropping, I can add to postion. Like for example in the vortex of Aug 4, I bought a pile of shares but kept in mind that if market keeps crashing, I can add more.


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## londoncalling (Sep 17, 2011)

Great thread topic. I usually by a stock in tranches of either 1/4, 1/3 or 1/2 positions with a minimum of $1000(more speculative plays will usually be bought in 1/2 or 1/3 tranches so the amount is on the lower end) and a maximum of $2000 per transaction.(core holdings) The reason the amounts may seem small is that my equity portfolio is also rather small. It`s not the size of the portfolio but how much you can make it grow right?  Regardless, I rarely sell so the initial costs to enter the position are 0.5% max. but it is a one time cost and still cheaper than an MER paid annually. Over time I expect the amount dispersed to increase bringing transaction costs down to be an amount around 0.25%. I also expect my transactions to increase eventually when my portfolio is large enough to start trading options. One final note: I do not use margin.

Cheers


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## jcgd (Oct 30, 2011)

I'm pretty fresh so my portfolio is worth about $15-16k. I have positions of $1000 to $3000 spread over 6-12 stocks. At this point I see the $5 trade fee a necessary evil. Once I have 100k to throw around I'll buy in tranches of $3-10k.

I try not to trade often, but I have around $1500 I use to mess around trying to make a buck here and there. The other stocks I believe in so I'm just sitting on them, likely for many years.


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## Argonaut (Dec 7, 2010)

doctrine said:


> I buy in increments of $2500 usually. It keeps my fees to around 0.2% of the transaction.


I do the same with common equity; $2500. Buying options tend to be $500-$750.


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## Spidey (May 11, 2009)

I usually buy anywhere between $1600 to $4000 at a time. I usually buy 100 lots but I have bought 50 of very high priced stocks. (Often they will end up splitting.) Often even though it costs more commission, I will take a "bite" out of a holding I want and wait to buy more if it continues to trend downward. This seems to happen quite frequently and the extra commission to buy in 2 or more batches is often more than made up by getting some of the shares significantly cheaper.


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## dotnet_nerd (Jul 1, 2009)

I use Interactive Brokers which has a great commission structure; 1 cent per share Cdn stock (½ cent US). So I have the luxury of buying in small amounts and not worrying about a minimum commish.

When buying I like to "nibble" and buy $1000-2000 worth at a time.

If I want to add to a position I look at the daily bar charts and try to anticipate what the day's trading range might be and place a limit buy at the bottom end of the swing. That strategy works surprisingly well and I often buy at .50 or better below the closing price for the day.


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## Ethan (Aug 8, 2010)

I try to buy in tranches of 100 shares. Options contracts trade in 100 share blocks so I find this to be more liquid, plus I can sell covered calls on my entire position.


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## Patience (Mar 8, 2012)

I don't particularly care about the number of shares, but I look at the value vs fees. I tend not to buy with more than 1% fees. That used to mean $495-$995 at questrade, and now means $1000 at InvestorLine.

If you believe that what you are buying is at a good price, then the fee will probably mean little. Also consider that you may lose out on dividends by waiting that could be worth more than the fee itself.


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## SW20 MR2 (Dec 18, 2010)

I'm surprised at some of the answers, particularly at some of the more seasoned investors. I was expecting many more answers where people were buying much more than $2-5k of a stock and more like $20k+. 

That all being said, there have been many discussions about how to diversify a portfolio with a recommendation of 10 or so stocks being a decent number. Does that mean that the average portfolio is only $20-50k in total for most members here? For those of you folks that have higher net worths, do you have the rest of your money in ETFs?


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## Patience (Mar 8, 2012)

SW20 MR2 said:


> I'm surprised at some of the answers, particularly at some of the more seasoned investors. I was expecting many more answers where people were buying much more than $2-5k of a stock and more like $20k+.
> 
> That all being said, there have been many discussions about how to diversify a portfolio with a recommendation of 10 or so stocks being a decent number. Does that mean that the average portfolio is only $20-50k in total for most members here? For those of you folks that have higher net worths, do you have the rest of your money in ETFs?


No clue on the average nw, but I think it's safe to say that most people have money come in regularly. I have >1M nw accross around 15 stocks. Any more stocks and I'd have trouble following them. I use a buy and hold strategy. I keep adding to my portofolio as the money comes in. Very rarely does the money come in in batchs of 20k or more. From a diversification standpoint, it doesn't matter if you have 1M or 10k. If you have 10k though, I suppose trading fees would feel more costly.


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## Islenska (May 4, 2011)

I often buy 1/2 positions and will fill it up soonest if the market is off and place low ball buy orders hoping to be filled.
In my Holdco I always use margin about 30% of the account which at 3% interest is a fine deal right now.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

I usually spend $5000 per order ,SW20 MR2 we can spend $2000 -$5000 per order 10 times a day so not really why you assume 10x average as portfolio values?Personally I have large amount of cash which I am deploying $5600 a month into dividend stocks ,I have many years before I will need anything and I am not comfortable to throw large amount into the markets at one time.


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

SW20 MR2 said:


> I'm surprised at some of the answers, particularly at some of the more seasoned investors. I was expecting many more answers where people were buying much more than $2-5k of a stock and more like $20k+.
> 
> That all being said, there have been many discussions about how to diversify a portfolio with a recommendation of 10 or so stocks being a decent number. Does that mean that the average portfolio is only $20-50k in total for most members here? For those of you folks that have higher net worths, do you have the rest of your money in ETFs?


Stock portfolio is about 29% and the rest is etf and index mutual funds.


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## blin10 (Jun 27, 2011)

Patience said:


> No clue on the average nw, but I think it's safe to say that most people have money come in regularly. I have >1M nw accross around 15 stocks. Any more stocks and I'd have trouble following them. I use a buy and hold strategy. I keep adding to my portofolio as the money comes in. Very rarely does the money come in in batchs of 20k or more. From a diversification standpoint, it doesn't matter if you have 1M or 10k. If you have 10k though, I suppose trading fees would feel more costly.


damn, what's your average divi % on that 1mill portfolio


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## Patience (Mar 8, 2012)

blin10 said:


> damn, what's your average divi % on that 1mill portfolio


Around 5%. All stocks produce between 4-7%. It trickles in all year. We buy once a month, and we make extra installments several times a year.


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

Last year I was buying usually 4-9K per transaction, this year I'm trying to buy more trenches with smaller investments 2-4K. I pay on 5 accounts $6.95/trans (CM) and on 1 $9.99 (TDW)...


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

gibor said:


> Last year I was buying usually 4-9K per transaction, this year I'm trying to buy more trenches with smaller investments 2-4K.


Good strategy, or maybe not. 

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/trench

I buy in high volume, but most of the time, in trAnches; especially since my broker offers consolidated fees [CM].


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## newbi (Aug 19, 2009)

i buy in 1.5k to 5k!!


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Patience said:


> Around 5%. All stocks produce between 4-7%. It trickles in all year. We buy once a month, and we make extra installments several times a year.


Actually, the percentages typically listed compare against the current price, not what the investor paid.

So the PGF I bought recently, based on a cost of $9.95 is going to pay 8.4%, assuming the dividends are maintained. Google Finance is showing 8.53%, based I assume on yesterday's close.

BNS is a more favourable for me. Google Finance is showing 4.11% but since I bought in Mar 2009 at about half of today's prices plus dividends have increased, it is more like 7.1% 


Just something to keep in mind.


Cheers


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## Patience (Mar 8, 2012)

Eclectic12 said:


> Actually, the percentages typically listed compare against the current price, not what the investor paid.


In my opinion, an investment is worth what it is worth today. Sure I have a couple stocks that were bought after the 2008 crash where the div was around 12%. Since then the stock has more than doubled in price and the current div is around 5%. I couldn't say I'm making 12% off my financial assets, since I was asked about my div % against my financial assets, I'm only making 5%.


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## blin10 (Jun 27, 2011)

Patience said:


> Around 5%. All stocks produce between 4-7%. It trickles in all year. We buy once a month, and we make extra installments several times a year.


nicely done, man that's how you do it load up 1mill+ with divi companies and you're set for life, nice ... i got 1/3 of what you got, but I got a ton of cash doing nothing waiting for greece to default (if it ever will) or any good pull back... wish I would of bought more in 2008-2010


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## SW20 MR2 (Dec 18, 2010)

To clarify, I was referring more to a buy and hold strategy, so my assumption was that people were buying $2-5k times 10 stocks in a portfolio and holding the stocks long term. 



marina628 said:


> I usually spend $5000 per order ,SW20 MR2 we can spend $2000 -$5000 per order 10 times a day so not really why you assume 10x average as portfolio values?Personally I have large amount of cash which I am deploying $5600 a month into dividend stocks ,I have many years before I will need anything and I am not comfortable to throw large amount into the markets at one time.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

I have weird guidelines, which I really have not idea why I have those guidelines.

I like buying in multiples of 500. My min is usually $10k per transaction with a minimum of 500 shares. I find most of my tranactions tend to be in the $15 - $40K range (they are not frequent)


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## Calgary_Girl (Apr 20, 2011)

I usually buy enough to keep the trading fees at 1% or less of the overall purchase price.

Right now, the DRIP is on autopilot but we haven't put any new money into the trading account because we're building a new home and would rather have the cash cushion. I hear that new blinds are expensive .


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## doctrine (Sep 30, 2011)

I think the reason most people buy in $2-5k increments is because most people tend to have at least a core holdings of stocks. They aren't trading hundreds of thousands of dollars a week. Portfolio turnover is probably very low. So as an amount of money becomes available, it is deposited and then invested. $5k a month is a lot of money - that would be a million dollar portfolio within 12 years.


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

I find it easier to dca buying under 5k. 

Stocks have been so up and down over the last couple years. 

You thought things were good last summer, bought then got a big upset in the fall. 

And really P/Es are still cheap for some companies.


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

I thought that things were good in the spring 2011 and bought into LIRA RY for about 9K.... I'd be in much better possition if I'd split this buy into 3 tranches


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

I am almost 20 years older than Jungle and I am sure he will be saving more than $5000 a month by time he reaches my age lol.It is only last ten years we have really been able to build up our assets so I am playing catchup now.


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## Financial Cents (Jul 22, 2010)

I usually buy when the cost/fees incurred to me are less than 1%. I don't keep much cash, except for my emergency fund, since I'd rather have my money working for me at all times, whether it's stocks or ETFs.


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## Soils4Peace (Mar 14, 2010)

I aim for around $5k per transaction. That's a 0.2% trading fee.


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## JimmyAAA (Mar 28, 2011)

Patience said:


> In my opinion, an investment is worth what it is worth today. Sure I have a couple stocks that were bought after the 2008 crash where the div was around 12%. Since then the stock has more than doubled in price and the current div is around 5%. I couldn't say I'm making 12% off my financial assets, since I was asked about my div % against my financial assets, I'm only making 5%.


GICs can be bought and sold as well. The market is thin but they have a current value. We don't say we are earning current yield on those investments. I think either method is perfectly plausible as long as you making it clear which basis you are using.


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