I'm a bit irritated.
I decided when the price moved below 35 that AMAT was undervalued, and an excellent long-term buy. I began looking for the best available price to buy at. When I got off work on 10/30 and logged on, I saw that the closing price was 31 15/16. This seemed like a good price, so I entered a market buy order. When I got off work today, I found that my order had been filled at 34 1/8, which was just about the highest price of the day, and substantially more than I had intended on paying. What happened?
I guess a lot of people must have done the same thing I did. I didn't hear of any news that would have moved the stock. I'm sure I'll double or triple my money over 5 years whether I get in at around 32 or 34, but it was a nasty surprise to pay 2$ more per share than I thought I was going to. I don't like surprises.
I don't have the time to be at my computer watching stock price movements during work hours. I think the take-home lesson here is to wait till a great company goes out of favor with the market, wait till the stock comes down, wait a bit longer to be sure it's really hit bottom by testing the low at least twice. Then I should place a limit buy order at a price just above the bottom of the trading range, and wait till it fills. When I have a bit more money to invest, I'll do this, and hopefully get some AMAT at 30 or 31. It's impossible to know how long AMAT will be out of favor, and I may wait too long, and not get any more. |
