FWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE…

Whoa! Hold everything! Stop the music!

Take a break from frenetic stock trading and hear an alternative diagnosis of the numbers.

Volume

Today’s volume 180,200,207
Average daily volume (3 months) 203,982,552

Fees

A trade of 1000 shares of a stock with a bid of 19.90 and an ask of 20 will incur a typical commission fee of $14.95 at your discount broker and cost 20,014.95 to execute.

Stocks – Market and Limit Orders
Order Method Price
Internet $7
Touchtone (IVR) Phone System $17
Broker Assisted $27

What Does Round Lot Mean?
A group of 100 shares of a stock, or any group of shares that can be evenly divided by 100, such as 500, 2,600, or 14,300. A round lot has historically been the smallest order that can be placed through an exchange. However, “round-lot one” now allows for the execution of orders as small as one share on some exchanges. A round lot may also be referred to as a “normal trading unit”.

Commissions usually are charged for each transaction.

Okay, having established some basic definitions, let’s do the math.

On average, over the last three months, 203,982,552 shares have been traded each business day.

That generated $3,049,539 in commissions and fees every day, conservatively estimating that each trade involved a round lot of 1,000 shares, handled for commissions and fees of $14.95.

At least one conclusion should be perfectly obvious: not everyone is suffering from the roller-coastering of the stock market.

The brokers seem to be doing okay!

While I’m at it – what’s with all the major newscasters devoting five percent and more of their broadcasts to the gyrations of “Las Vegas East?” You’d think it was a major indicator of the health of the economy.

Beats working, I guess.

I’ll leave it up to others to decide if the roller-coastering is being done deliberately, and by whom.

Take a couple of basic tips from a retired Registered Representative For The Sale Of Mutual Funds/Licensed Insurance Agent:

· If you buy stocks, hold them for at least ten years. Ignore the daily fluctuations of the market. Go find something useful to do with your time.
· In an inflationary economy like ours, dollar-averaging works.