UPDATE: This article is historical, from 2013. I no longer invest with RBC Direct Investing.

I don’t invest most of my money in individual stocks but I do invest a portion of my savings in shares of individual companies. Usually I want to know when the price of a stock reaches a certain value because I plan to sell some if it reaches a particular percentage gain. I firmly believe that no one ever went broke taking a profit so I do take part profits as stocks climb. Here’s how I set a price alert for shares of stocks held in my RBC Direct Investing Self-Directed RRSP Account.

Why Would I Want to Set a Stock Alert for my RBC DI Account?

Common reasons to set stock price alerts include

• Monitoring when to buy more shares of a stock particularly to buy if the price suddenly pulls back
• Monitoring stocks being held for the long term to be notified quickly if they drop abruptly
• Checking whether a stock has risen to a price at which you plan to sell all or some of your shares
• Watching whether a “bellwether” stock is signaling a change in the overall market or in a segment of the market
• Checking whether a stock is trading at a much higher volume or lower volume than usual

How Does RBC DI Advise Me of a Stock Price Alert?

You can opt to receive stock price alerts to

• An email address, in HTML format; or
• A wireless device, in SMS text format

How to set a Stock Alert for a RBC Direct Investing Account

1. Sign in to your RBC Direct Investing account.
2. Click on the Markets tab.
3. From the horizontal link list, click on: Alerts

Skip the fields in the Create a New Alert section until after you set your Delivery Options. Otherwise the program will not properly set up and save your Alert.

In the Delivery Options section
You can provide an email address or a wireless address but not both.

1. To receive the alert by email, in the Email text field type your email address.
   If you would like to see an example of the email message format, click on the HTML Format link.
2. To receive the alert by SMS message to your Wireless device, in the Wireless field, type your Wireless device’s address.
   If you would like to see an example message, click on the SMS text format link.
3. In the Delivery Status section, click to select the radio button beside On.
4. Click on the Save button.

Now you can create a specific alert.

1. In the Create a New Alert text box, type the ticker symbol for the stock or ETF.
   For example, I typed: TD
2. Click to select the radio button beside the desired stock exchange, CDN or US
3. Click on the Go button.

A new window opens presenting a long list of options for the alert. You can select from the following list

In the Price & Volume Alerts section

• Price drops below $ ___
  or rises above $ ___
  (Last price $98.85)
• Price
  select:
  [rises above]
  [drops below]
  the previous day’s close by ___%
• Price reaches a new 52 week
  select:
  [High]
  [Low]
  [High or Low]
  (52 Week High $100.56 on 31/12/13)
  (52 Week Low $76.59 on 18/4/13)
• Price gaps
  select:
  [Up]
  [Down]
  [Up or Down]
  ___ % or more at opening trade
• Price outperforms / underperforms
  select:
  [SP500]
  [DJI]
  [NASDAQ]
  [TSEA]
  by
  select:
  [1%]
  [2%]
  [3%]
  [4%]
  [5%]
  over
  select:
  [one week]
  [two weeks]
  [three weeks}
• Trading volume exceeds daily average by
  select:
  [50%]
  [100%]
  [150%]
  [200%]
• Price crosses its
  select:
  [15]
  [30]
  [50]
  [60]
  [90]
  [200]
  [15, 30, or 60]
  day moving average
• Price/Earnings ratio
  select:
  [rises above]
  [drops below]
  ___
  (Current P/E 14.3x)

In the News & Events Alerts section

You can select and customize from the following choices:

• Reuters News Stories
• Morningstar Research Reports (Be notified when a new report is issued)
• Earnings Announcements
  select:
  [Annual]
  [Quarterly]
  [Annual or Quarterly]
• Dividend Announcements
• Split Announcements
• Morningstar Rating
  select:
  [Increases]
  [Decreases]

For each type of alert you wish to set:

1. Click on the box to check it beside the type of Alert
2. Fill in any required text fields
3. Make any required selections from the drop-down lists
4. When your choices are complete, click on the Save Alerts button.
5. If you are finished, click on the Sign Out button.
   For increased security, clear your cache and close your browser session.

How To Review, Edit and Delete Alerts for your RBC DI Account

1. To see a list of all of your Alerts, click on the Markets tab, then click on the Alerts link.
2. In the Stock Alerts section, all of your current Alerts will be listed.
   • To Edit the alert, click on the Pencil icon under the Edit column; or
   • To Delete the alert, click on the X check box under the Remove column.
     1. If you click on the Remove icon, you will be prompted with a message.
        For example, “Remove 2 alerts for Toronto-Dominion Bank?”
     2. To delete the Alert, click on the Confirm button.
3. If you are finished, click on the Sign Out button.
   For increased security, clear your cache and close your browser session.

What Other Alerts Does RBC DI Offer?

You can also set Market Alerts by email only for the TSX, NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX. For more information see How to Set a Market Alert for a RBC Direct Investing Self-Directed Account.

What I’m Watching for in My Stock Alert

Right now, I’m watching what happens as TD prepares to split in January 2014. Should I buy more now? Just after the split? Or sell now? Decisions, decisions! (Whatever I do, I suggest you strongly consider doing the opposite: that way you’re much more likely to make a profit.)

Related Reading

• How to Set a Price Alert for a BMO InvestorLine Account
• How to Set a Price Alert for a CIBC Investor’s Edge Account
• How to Open a RBC Direct Investing Self-Directed Brokerage Account

Join In
Have you used RBC Direct Investing’s Alert function? Did you find it useful? Please share your experiences with a comment.