Buy and selling technique - NZX

[rayonline]

I am pretty much a newbie. I am building a portfolio of more stable mature products. In the depth tab under the stock. What is your technique?

I mean the changes are marginal +/- 0.6% which is hardly anything. Maybe 1c in the share price for some. So you just for a buy market price or match the seller's price. I just put in like 1c less than the seller asking put me at the top row - it just stays there. Do the others lower down the rows have much a chance? It is also not like I am doing short term small changes in the share price with normal shares either ...

Also if the no. of buyers outweight the no. of sellers that is also against you right?

In your experience how long does a trade take to get thru?

[macduffy]

It depends on several factors - the size and liquidity of a particular stock; the "mood" of the market - generally, and for that particular stock; recent news; "hunches" in the market ( best not to mention insider knowledge!); major holders buying or selling, etc.

Building a longterm portfolio depends much more on selecting the right stocks than in catching a "bargain" price. A few cents here or there won't make any difference in a year or so's time if the selection has been sound!

Good luck!

[Harvey Specter]

Building a longterm portfolio depends much more on selecting the right stocks than in catching a "bargain" price. A few cents here or there won't make any difference in a year or so's time if the selection has been sound!

Agree. I chased POT up for a while trying to get some shares at a few cents below the current market value. If i'd bought on market when I first tried, I would be up over 100%.

[BIRMANBOY]

Just adding to the above comments I would suggest having a wish list of companies and keep an eye on all of them. Most shares will go through cycles and if you are looking to maximize your long term returns it definitely helps to be more discriminating not only about what you buy but also when you buy it. Buying in a dip or coming out of a slump will keep your average buy in price lower and give you a bigger yield on capital invested and also insulate yourself against any losses in the event of unforeseen circumstances. The more companies you have in your wish list, the greater the chance one of them will be a "better " buy at your buy time than some others. Also use any dividend re-investment plans to help compound growth.

[Hoop]

The above posts say it all Rayonline
I'll just add some titbits to it.

I post often on ST about TA entry and exit timings..These posts are targeted to the short/medium/not so long term investor..Buy/sell on shorter term investing involves using tools, (TA, depth, etc) your knowledge, experience and a set of skills which you build up over the years..

When investing long/very long term, short term entry timing is much less important, so I wouldn't fret too much about Depth ..and usually the mature stocks are low growth boring stocks which seldom jump around too much anyway....Their goal is to give the long term investors portfolio some sort of lower risk, inflation proof security with decent yields...offering a superior option than money earning interest in the bank (fixed deposits).

For long/very long investment strategies, using Fundamental entry analysis is far more important....For financially solid stocks this involves making sure you are not entering into those stocks at the height of their long term cycles. e.g Check the earnings cycle if it has one otherwise its trend..PE Ratio history etc....also check non fundamentals e.g the possible effect the future (technology?) may have on the company etc..

All the best..

[rayonline]

That's what I have noticed with the more stable stocks. The dividend alone is attractive enough let alone the capital. Hold for 5 or 10yrs etc. There is just not much movement daily. Maybe a 0.5% or a 3% but at the end of the day that gap closes down anyway. Apart from say post elections, the utility companies, auckland airport have been pretty modest.