Hi every one i am new to this bb and fairly new to trading could do with some help on aspects of trading is it better to buy a stock when the spread is narrow or wide ? and what internet dealers provide limit orders in their services? thanks for any help offered.

janick, just posted this on syed 22's thread - and btw I use ComDirect - not the cheapest, but I also like their platform, and they get well within the spread usually, wouldn't change to anyone else now. Their limit orders usually work very well - more difficult with small cap stuff though - but that's not their fault - all online brokers have this problem.

syed, just a word on penny shares - don't be lulled into thinking they're cheap. A company whose shares cost 1 with 1 million shares in circulation has exactly the same value as a company whose shares cost 10p with 10 million shares in circulation, same for 1p share with 100 million in circulation.

A share whose value goes from 20p to 10p will do the same to you as a company whose shares go from 2p to 1p - a dog is a dog!!!

Sorry if this sounds very negative. All I mean to say is do your homework before you start. Trade on paper first, then trade with money you can afford to lose. I always work out what my breakeven price is before I buy after taking into account the buy and sell commission and 0.5% stamp duty. Then work out my target price, and my stoploss and how much I would lose I it went down.

My formula is:

(Using ComDirect @ 12.50 per deal, who I use and am very happy with - not the cheapest but usually very reliable)
Say 1000 worth of stock. Using your example. Buy @ 65p
So, 1000 less 12.50 commission = 987.50. Stamp duty of 0.5% means divide by 1.005 leaves you with 982.59 for your stocks.
982.59 divided by 0.65 (pence per share) means you will get 1511 shares
You now need to know your breakeven. The shares have cost you 1000
You will have to pay 12.50 to sell them, so your total cost is 1012.50
Divide this by 1511 gives a figure of 67.001p to breakeven. So, your 63p bid price needs to rise to 67p before you even make any money. Patience required. And, timing your entry to get the best buy price is crucial. Having said all this, on a 63/65 spread, you could probably have got the shares within the spread at (say) 64.8p depending on the stock.

One final negative, most traders lose a lot of money before they get it right, I did (edit and still often do) and most of the well known names on these boards did as well.

I hope this isn't simplistic and grandma / sucking eggs approach. Just trying to help. And good luck.

THanQ Seymour

This is exactly the sort of stuff I'm looking to for answers - I can C-more clearly now (:-)>

Now I can quickly put together an Excel macro based on your recipe - brill! Ya just lead me to the eggs & I'll keep learning to suck 'em!