# TD Direct Investing error when I try to buy ETFs



## gentlepuppies (Jan 17, 2016)

I was trying to buy 470 shares of VFV (S&P500), or $25K worth of it, but got this message:

"Your order quantity is greater than the quantity that is currently offered for sale. Your order may be subject to price volatility."

What does that mean? I don't see where it says the quantity available (why would it be limited??) Also, what are the "bid/ask", "high/low", "open", "lots", numbers all about anyway lol


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## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

View attachment 13778

Per attached, Bid/Ask is the current price per unit (or share) being offered by buyers ($52.63) and being asked ($52.68) by sellers.
Lots are the number of units (x100) in the bid/ask. In the attached, there are 3/3 or 300 units being bid and 3oo being offered at the B/A price 
Open is the day's opening price
High/Low is the day's high/low price up to that time
Volume is the number of units bought/sold today to that time

The notice you got was indicating that there were not 470 units being offered by a seller at that time. If you put in a buy with a limit price of the current ask ($52.68) or even a few pennies lower, I'm pretty sure your order would have been filled.

Did you place your order?


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## GreatLaker (Mar 23, 2014)

OMO answered already, so I will just add that if you click the ? button in the top right of the order window it will open a help screen. You may have to scroll a little to see the answer. You can also get it at the following link (will have to be logged in to WebBroker for the link to work). https://webbroker.td.com/waw/brk/wb/wbr/static/help/index.html#/help/stck_ord_enter

There is also a trading guide, that has some of the info you want.
https://www.td.com/ca/document/PDF/tdw-discountbrokrage-trade.pdf


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## gentlepuppies (Jan 17, 2016)

Bidding at $52.51 will use up all my cash without going over the ask price, but is more than "a few pennies" below asking. What happens if no one takes the offer? Do I still pay $9.99 lol

Sorry, first timer questions hah


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## GreatLaker (Mar 23, 2014)

No, if an order is not filled at all it will expire and no commission is charged. 

You may get a partial fill, or multiple partial fills up to your order quantity, in which case the commission will only be charged once. 

Normally the order expires at the end of the trading day if it is not filled, but you can specify a Good til date if you want it to expire later.

Also it's best to trade when the market is open and set a limit order. Limits are especially important if you enter an order when the market is closed since bid/ask spreads can be wider and it might take the price a while to stabilize when the trading day opens.


Canadian Portfolio Manager has a video on how to build ETF portfolios with TD:
http://www.canadianportfoliomanagerblog.com/how-to-build-an-etf-portfolio/
http://www.canadianportfoliomanagerblog.com/how-to-build-an-etf-portfolio-at-td-direct-investing/


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## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

No, if you put in a limit order at $52.51 that stands for the day and it doesn't get filled it just expires. It doesn't cost you anything.
You said you had $25k which would buy the 470 x$52.68 for $24,759.60 and still leave room for the commission of $9.99.
Make sure you check the order screen before you click to place the order that the total doesn't exceed your $25k.


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## gentlepuppies (Jan 17, 2016)

I forgot to calculate the $9.99, so ended up sending an order for 471 shares @ $52.60 (i have slightly less than $25k), with an expiry date of Feb 2. Does that sound in the range of normal? lol


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## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

Sure. See if it gets filled.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

That is a CYA message and can be ignored as long as you know what you are doing.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

GreatLaker said:


> No, if an order is not filled at all it will expire and no commission is charged.
> You may get a partial fill, or multiple partial fills up to your order quantity, in which case the commission will only be charged once.


+1.




GreatLaker said:


> ... Normally the order expires at the end of the trading day if it is not filled, but you can specify a Good til date if you want it to expire later.


YMMV ... my Friday afternoon trade was good for the day, was showing as not filled at 6pm, after trading was finished then was filled at the start of trading on Monday. 


Cheers


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## GreatLaker (Mar 23, 2014)

Eclectic12 said:


> YMMV ... my Friday afternoon trade was good for the day, was showing as not filled at 6pm, after trading was finished then was filled at the start of trading on Monday.


Interesting. Did you place the order after 4:00 PM? Here's what TD's help says:


> Good 'til
> Indicate how long your order is valid till. Choose from Day or Specify
> 
> Day - expire your order at the end of the current trading day. Order entered after market hours will expire at the end of the next trading day.
> ...


Canadian Couch Potato has some hints on trading ETFs.
http://canadiancouchpotato.com/2010/05/14/tips-for-trading-etfs/


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

GreatLaker said:


> Interesting. Did you place the order after 4:00 PM? Here's what TD's help says:
> 
> ...


 ... interesting indeed to hear that TDDI would trade after 4 pm for EOD orders ... at $9.99 that is.


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## gentlepuppies (Jan 17, 2016)

I just logged into TDEasyWeb and my RRSP shows a $1900 increase to $51,300, but when I click the account, taking me into TDDI, it's roughly the same amount as before ($49,400), with a 0.5% depreciation in my mutual funds. I thought my $25K ETF purhcase came through and share price jumped 8% immediately after lol, but alas upon checking my order status, all 470 shares are still open. Of course no one would have went for them, because the market price had since gone up 20 cents a share. Checking my "real time cash" tab, the money I put towards the ETF purchase is still all there as cash. So why do I see an extra $1900 on easyweb?


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

puppies i think this is a question for a TD representative. They can see the accounts, we can't.

OTTOMH a discrepancy in the 2 amounts might be due to the bank system still showing yesterday's pricing for holdings in your RRSP whereas the broker system is more likely to show real time.

i'm fairly sure - at least 95% sure - that there is no "error" here but instead a simple need for explanation, which will appear in due course. Dinna fret ye.

.


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## GreatLaker (Mar 23, 2014)

Not sure what you are seeing, but not all TD screens show the most up to date account values. Some show yesterday's closing value, and others show today's closing value.

When I look at my accounts now (Feb 1 10:46 PM) the account values in EasyWeb and the WebBroker Home screen and Balances screen in TDDI all show the closing balance for Jan 31. 

The Account Details screen shows the updated balance for Feb 1 closing prices. That might explain the difference. For the most accurate account value always look at the Account Details screen. Some time later tonight or overnight the EasyWeb and WebBroker Home and Balances screen will get updated with today's closing prices.

Does that explain the differences you are seeing?

One more thing, if you don't think the price for VFV will go back down to your $52.60 bid and you still want to buy you can go into your order while it is still unfilled an modify the price and quantity to a price you think is more likely to fill.


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## gentlepuppies (Jan 17, 2016)

I modified my price to $52.70 last night, but as of tonight I somehow got the order filled at an avg price of $52.55 - not sure how?

Anyway, now I have an extra $80 in cash that is $20 short of an additional purchase to my existing mutual funds, arg! In hindsight I should've made sure I had at least $100 left to clear completely.


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## GreatLaker (Mar 23, 2014)

It opened at $52.55 and went up from there to close at 52.73. A buy limit will fill at any available price up to the limit.
http://web.tmxmoney.com/quote.php?qm_symbol=VFV

One of the drawbacks of ETFs is they don't have partial shares, so you cannot say I want to buy $xx.xx. This means that cash tends to build up. But the MER is so low that's probably better than no cash with mutual funds. It will pay a distribution early April so you will have more to invest.


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