Selling "at best" prices

ste.richards

On Friday I bought a few shares in Barclays at 244p and late on Friday I saw the price shoot to 265p so I immediately sold them. It showed as a pending transaction and "at best" price all weekend and then this morning the price has dropped and sold they got sold at 242, making me a loss.
What does 'at best' mean exactly. I don't have must trust in a system that gives you a high price "at best" :S

Linton

The stock market closes at 4:30. Sounds like you placed an order too late. Strange things can happen near the start and end of trading.

If you really want to buy and sell on a daily basis you need to work on line with live streaming prices. Otherwise trading is going to lose you money, like it does for most inexperienced investors.

Suggest you stick to investing in things that you believe will do well in the long term.

Reaper

According to Google Finance they were never at 265. Perhaps you mean 255?

You have not said who your stock broker was. Firstly you should realise the price you see is almost certainly 15 minutes old. If you have a real time stock broker then at the point of sale you would have been shown the real price and given a few seconds to acept or reject.

If you do not have a real time account or if you tried to sell after trading closed then you can either select "Best Price" in which case you get whatever price they can get when the markets open again on Monday, or almost all stock brokers let you set a minimum price. For example you could have said 255p "good for 1 day". If the price went above 255 at any point during the day they would sell them, if not they would not.

I suggest you read the help files on your brokers web site before making any more trades to understand what you options are. "Stop Loss" is another very useful feature you should read about.

Loughton_Monkey

Yes. Methinks the OP is a little confused.

Barclays, on Friday, opened at 254.65 some time between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Friday. After that, they generally declined and finished at 243.30.

As I write (about 10 a.m. Monday) they are trading at 237.90

HappyMJ

"at best" means at any price. If you wanted 265p you should sell "at limit" and set the limit at 265p. It will hold in the market till the price is 265p then a sell order will be submitted. If the current price on market opening was 270p it will sell at 270p.

ste.richards

I was unaware the market closes at 4:30 on Fridays.

The trade was made after this time which is why the 265 price "at best" was shown. My broker is HSBC. I wasn't made aware that the market was closed nor that the 265 wasn't a guaranteed price.

Will learn for future trades

Jegersmart

ste.richards wrote: »

I was unaware the market closes at 4:30 on Fridays.

The trade was made after this time which is why the 265 price "at best" was shown. My broker is HSBC. I wasn't made aware that the market was closed nor that the 265 wasn't a guaranteed price.

Will learn for future trades

You are missing the main point. BARC shares have not traded above 260p since 3rd and 4th July, so if you were quoted 265p at any time on Friday then you need to fire your broker This has nothign to do with with "best" price - this has to do with being several days late in selling.

noh

ste.richards wrote: »

I was unaware the market closes at 4:30 on Fridays.

The trade was made after this time which is why the 265 price "at best" was shown. My broker is HSBC. I wasn't made aware that the market was closed nor that the 265 wasn't a guaranteed price.

Will learn for future trades

The London market closes at 16.30 every working day.
Normal trading hours are 08.00 to 16.30.

purch

I was unaware the market closes at 4:30 on Fridays

It's not just Fridays.

Reaper

ste.richards wrote: »

My broker is HSBC

From a quick look they charge £12.95 per trade. You bought and sold on the same day so that cost you £25.90 plus stamp duty. If you are going to trade that frequently I suggest looking for a cheaper broker as you can trade for half that.

ste.richards

Reaper wrote: »

From a quick look they charge £12.95 per trade. You bought and sold on the same day so that cost you £25.90 plus stamp duty. If you are going to trade that frequently I suggest looking for a cheaper broker as you can trade for half that.

Will look into this.

Thank you,