Replies to post #36176 on A.I.M. Users Bulletin Board (AIMUSERS)

[Toofuzzy]

I will sometimes put in a GTC order in AFTER 30 days as a security gets close to my trade price.

Toofuzzy

[The Grabber]

Hi Kast.

I have 20 individual equities in my AIM portfolio.
I have a 'GTC' Sell Limit order set on each one.
They are in force for 4 months from entry which is the broker's default. I modify the date as it gets close if it hasn't executed in that time.

I used to also have GTC Buy orders but gave that up over 5 years ago. Stock prices can drop too quickly and I've succesfully caught too many falling knives. So I've learned that lesson.

For over 10 years, I have set alerts via a tracking portfolio I use in Yahoo Finance.
Every one of my 20 holdings has a low and high price set for them that corresponds to my AIM Buy/Sell price thresholds.
I get a text on my phone as well as an email when any of these are acheived. Once I confirm that the Sell order has executed, I reset the alert thresholds based on my new AIM settings.
If I do decide to place the Buy order after getting a low price alert, I'll do the same once it executes. Or if I think the price might drop further, I'll lower the bar on the Buy side and move the low alert price down (typically about another 5%).

Over the last 3 trading days I have received 3 of these alerts; 2 Sells and a Buy. The 2 Sells corresponded with my GTC Sell orders so had executed by the time I got the alerts. I also did the Buy since my last trade on this holding was a Sell back in November.

Hope this helps answer your question.

[OldAIMGuy]

Hi Kast, Re: Good 'til Cancelled vs 30 day delay.......

I generally do similar things to what Grabber already posted.

I'll always set GTC Limit orders on the SELL side assuming the cash reserve isn't overloaded. No reason not to sell and take profits.

On the Buy side I always buy with Limit orders but don't always place them GTC. I also have a 30 day delay set up for Sequential buys. In other words, if I buy shares on the 2nd of the month, I'll wait until the 2nd of the following month before reviewing to see if another AIM directed buy is still available.

Should a buy occur followed quickly by a sell within the 30 day window, then I'd reset a new buy if it became available. In other words, the 30 day blackout is cancelled if a sale occurs in the mean time.

The reason for this procedure is that with AIM one can run out of Cash, but one can't run out of Shares. (that said, LD-AIM can and does run out of shares, by design)

The use of GTC Limit orders helps to keep the Bid/Ask issue out of our general effort. I almost never use Market Orders for that reason.

Best regards,

[Adam]

Re GTC vs 30 day rule. I've also learned the hard way to avoid GTC buy orders on stocks. Too much risk of catching a falling knife, which is particularly bad in AIM.

I like to check every 1-2 weeks. I place GTC sell order on stocks and ETFs and I do place GTC buy orders on ETFs.

I think it's safe with ETFs to place GTC buy orders as the main issue with these for AIM is low volatility, so if you just check once a month your ETFs you could miss a useful buy.

Adam