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Robleo,
I believe you can set up regular investing with Hargreaves Lansdown for £1.50. I’ve not read associated terms & conditions (if you can start and stop at will) but the link is below if this helps you.
https://www.hl.co.uk/investment-services/invest-by-direct-debit
Yes, do your own research, follow a company for a while , work out your fair value - all aspects I enjoy. Personally I still usually build a position in stages if an individual stock as added risk management for my portfolio.
Well we cant blame the yanks today
Well I didn't think the market would let it go above 140p.
I also fear it has been overhyped with shorts reducing but investors will now be cashing out. Of course we all know that selling out would see a reversal. I think each of us exists in a different universe where our actions influence others.
"Well the Olympics has finished - seems the vodafone ski slopes are back in force"
I view it as a game, with the market shaking out the weak holders. Look at BT, currently down 2.3%, possibly a delayed reaction to VMO2's Deja Vu announcements around looking for investors in new FTTP, how many times will they repeat that one over the next 5 years? I remember speculation about that in 2019, they seem to be taking a long time to find investors who are interested; If I was a Fund manager and they approached me, my first question would be, whay aren't you funding it yourself? Lie Openreach/BT are.
Slowly but surely down we go :(
Well the Olympics has finished - seems the vodafone ski slopes are back in force . Really need to stay above £1.30 at least
"fleccy holding lloyds vod/bt over the last two years must have been a nightmare for you"
I didn't lose a wink of sleep due to the valuations of my holdings during Covid, in fact I ploughed a lot of cash into them as prices dropped. I topped up BT at 106p and 112p, Vodafone at 109p/119p, and Lloyds at 36p. The reason I haven't worried, is because I never believed my capital was/is at risk, since I only invest in what I consider "safe" stocks. I also still view my holdings as historically undervalued at current prices, and easily see increases from here, of 50% for VOD/BT, and 36% for Lloyds. Even if valuations exceed my targets, there's a good chance I'll continue to hold, as I view dividends as an important component of our income, especially in this inflationary environment.
Fishcakes47, Thanks for sharing that , I'm with hl so making a lot of transactions would be expensive, I have a few shares on my watchlist and not in any hurry to buy in, so waiting for what I think is a good entry price, I only buy shares that I intend keeping for several years, and not being an experienced investor buying in 2 or 3 stages gives me a better chance of getting a good average price , others are more confident than myself and prefer do it in one go, so it's what ever their happy with really, sometimes you need a bit of good luck on your side as well, another poster said they fully research a share first then go for it in one, always good to do research of course, but who could predict things like the Pandemic and poss. war etc
but best of luck to everyone which ever way works best for you
Hi Robleo
I’ve had a very positive experience ‘dollar cost averaging’ (DCA) into one stock I built a position in. Each month the same amount is used to openly purchase shares and after around 4 years my average share price is some 80% below the current share price (so I’m pretty well up) To be fair the SP has been very volatile during that time so I massively benefited when the price was low, loading up on stock.
There are some good articles online about DCA and the YouTube channel, Pensioncraft, has a good video comparing DCA to bulk buying on long held index funds (back testing showed bulk buying won but the host still uses DCA for the margin of safety afforded).
This method at least reduces the risk of your large initial investment being at a high point or a prolonged drawdown over a number of years. Yes, the monthly fees can add up but so can opportunity loss if you buy in one go and the stock drops and takes a couple years to recover.
That cash is not pulling its weight in such an instance.
Really research your platform to keep fees to a minimum, some offer regular stock purchase for £1.25 a month assuming you have an open position, and you could dollar cost at slightly longer intervals (for example every two months) so you are paying the fee less often.
Last year I opened two other positions. Opened with half my amount into each and DCA the rest into each on alternate months (Jan into Stock A, Feb into Stock B etc).
Stock A, my average SP increased as it appears I bought at a low, but it hasn’t increased by much and I’m 20% up, probably losing a little over 5% on the upside.
Stock B, my SP averaged down and whilst only 10% up it would not have been this high been had I bought in one go. Splitting my money for the initial purchase also allowed me to buy into two positions at once.
Everyone will have their own strategy based on their portfolio size, income level and what helps them sleep at night, and I enjoy this about investing, always something new to learn.
fleccy holding lloyds vod/bt over the last two years must have been a nightmare for you although i do respect your telecom knowledge those three must have given you some sleepless nights.
well done for keeping the faith and good luck.
p.s i am still holding bt but fortunate to have only entered in the 140s
Thank Dan will try to remember that
Must try harder
Must try harder
Hi all, well its good we can all agree to disagree on buying a share in one go, Dan you really don't like paying those broker charges do you lol, well for me guys i have bought in one go before and then seen the price drop for one reason or another and we've had plenty of reasons for that lately, just hate it when that happens so for me it will be a few stages
still time to get those predictions in though, so far more up than down
Prediction Guesses for 25/02/22
robleo 142
mikey 141
daniel 141
Mole-man 133.45
Wiseoldmug 1.25
meoryou. I think you may be new to this forum, we all say what we think on here?? (Oh, just me then?) But If you want to have a go at fleccy, you need to try a lot harder? fleccy. For me I think £k5 minimum, but much better to deal in higher amounts. As for the extra costs being less than the money you lose if the sp falls, Why buy if you think the sp will fall, so 50/50 perhaps. If the sp rises then you win. Have you ever heard of cash in, on bookmakers bets? They love it? Mug punters! Anyway meoryou, lets hope meandyou can be winners? Still time for your Friday close prediction, we all want to beat the evil mole-man! hiss!
That was not a go at you it was just how we have been caught with our Telecom stocks.
Still hoping we have last laugh on both BT and Vod as I still believe they have lots of up to go
"Fleccy sometimes you end up drip feeding by accident.
You make your initial purchase then few weeks later it’s went down"
It depends on your reasons for investing in a particular stock. If you invest purely on the basis that the price will rise, without believing in the company you're investing in, then you might be inclined to sell at the first sign of trouble. I have high hopes for the Telecom sector, and never bought into the negative narratives directed at the sector, so I viewed the price falls as an opportunity and topped up. If BT hits around 270p, VOD 200p, and Lloyds 65p, I'll be up around £150,000; And since I believe those figures are historically feasible, I expect I'll do ok.
"Hi Fleccy, 3 dealing charges over say 15k surely that's peanuts compared to what you can lose if you buy in at too high a price in one go"
The thing is, no one invests thinking a stock is going to drop in value, and the driving sentiment behind investing large is the bet that the price will go up. Had I forseen that prices would drop dramatically, then I would have invested differently, but I can't see into the future unfortunately. As it stands, I'm now in profit on Lloyds and BT, with Vodafone my only investment showing a paper loss. Because of the size of my investments, penny changes alter my Gain/Loss by thousands of pounds. In the case of my Lloyd's holdings, 1p either way is nearly £3000, and BT/VOD each making a difference of over £700 per penny change.
Fleccy sometimes you end up drip feeding by accident.
You make your initial purchase then few weeks later it’s went down ,and is too cheap not to buy some more so in goes another £1000
Then a month later it’s went lower again and it’s just too good to miss, cos you still believe in it.and so on.
You have guessed it initial investment must have been a Telco
MPO818 You pay 9.99 a month, so 119.88 per year. If you were to invest £25 a month to gradually build up your portfolio as per your example, you would pay £120 commission to buy £300 worth of shares. 40% commission. Ok, an extreme example, but my point is the same. If your shares go up by 10% a year, which is above average, your commission + stamp duty needs to be less, just to make a profit & you still have to pay again if you want to sell. More if you sell in small amounts. The more shares you buy in one go, the less % commission you pay. But it is more risky of course. Many people don't like risk so are prepared to pay extra to avoid it, that is why insurance companies make so much money. Just keep an eye on your costs is all I am saying, they are not peanuts!
Hi Fleccy, 3 dealing charges over say 15k surely that's peanuts compared to what you can lose if you buy in at too high a price in one go, yes you can average down on a share, with Lloyds i have averaged down and down and down to the point it's now 25% of my portfolio, ok I'm in profit now and can make a lot of money if it gets to 80p, but just how long is that going to take ? when i could have maybe getting full dividend elsewhere
I have an account with ii (they took over Equiniti) I have not done regular investing - charges are competitive £9.99 per month with one commission free deal per month.
With regular investing, you invest monthly – buying more shares every month. With ii, regular investing is also free. There are no trading fees to pay, and you can invest as little as £25 each month to gradually build up your portfolio. Regular investing may suit long-term savers.
"Thanks robleo, & good luck. Many advocate drip feeding, but isn't it very expensive? Sorry but I don't get it?. Buying regular small amounts of shares, costs a lot more than buying a load in one go?"
I'm in your camp on that Dan, in that I've tended to buy large amounts in one go, but with hindsight I would have done better if I'd bought in £10,000 chunks from early on. BT and Vodafone dropped far lower than I expected, when I made my initial investments, and although I've considerably lowered my average costs per share, through top ups, I wouldn't have initially invested so heavily had I forseen the drops. If you're only buying really small amounts of shares, then drip feeding costs can add up, since a £10 dealing charge on a £100 investment is 10%, but only 1% on £1000 investment, and stamp duty is fixed a 0.5% so adds up to the same irrespective of the number of investments making the total. For example, if you bought £1000 of shares in one go, the dealing charge would be £10 + £5 stamp duty, whereas if you bought them as 10 lots of £100 each, it would add up £100 dealing charge's, but the total stamp duty would still be £5. Apart from dividend reinvestment, I personally wouldn't top up for less than £10,000 a go.
Dan, Rob - In my experience buying stocks in one go is the way to go if you intend to hold those for some time i.e. 5 years +.
Drip feeding is far better with funds where you don't generally pay trading fees / stamp duty, in most cases you pay nothing but you do pay to hold them whereby you don't with shares.
If its any use I've done very well by drip feeding into funds & keeping my monthly / quarterly costs to a minimum. I advocate Vanguard who I've been with for a considerable time & who have done better for me than any other broker. Charges are very low with VG, around 0.22% for some of my holdings.
Buying in drips does of course offer the investor some protection from a surge down in the markets, I guess its all down to ones own outlook but you must have a plan with investing, research to the nth degree, don't get emotionally attached to anyone share or blinkered in your outlook & most important of all diversify.
War in Europe apart, I've been so uneasy re Read's recent seeking amalgamation, which, ok, is proactive and should be a positive for the sp but I feel has a faint whiff of desperation about it, that I bailed out totally on Friday at 139p. and my guess for next Friday close is 125p - the good news for you remaining Vodders is that my recent investment record is awful.
Hi Dan, maybe I used the wrong word for that, as you know share prices go up and down throughout the year after ex div etc, if for instance I intend to put 15 k into a new share, instead of doing it in one go, I may do it in two or maybe 3 stages, just hate it when you make a new investment and the share price does a nose dive the next day, don't mean regular drip feeding that would mount up a lot of charges, just like you do with your top ups really
Thanks robleo, & good luck. Many advocate drip feeding, but isn't it very expensive? Sorry but I don't get it?. Buying regular small amounts of shares, costs a lot more than buying a load in one go? I hope it works for you though, but I suspect the main winners are the brokers? Nice to have the mole on here with his contrary point of view, makes it more interesting? He can't help it if he is wrong? (drip selling) ??