Stock prices for some of my favourites for “month trading” (like TD) have been soaring, diving and swooping back up off the grass like my favourite Penguin kite. (You do know Penguins can’t fly, right?) So I have a small pile of cash sitting in my trading account at BMO InvestorLine. I think I’ll buy some AAT770, the BMO high interest savings account fund, and then if one of my favourites starts heading for the dandelions I’ll sell it to fund a stock purchase.
Since stock prices are high on my favourites today, I can start this test now. If they start to plummet, though, I’ll want to bail quickly. So for this first stage, I’ll put in the buy order.
Tracking a Request to Purchase AAT770 from InvestorLine
Following my own instructions on how to buy AAT770, I’ll place an order today.
At 12:55 ET on Monday, July 8 2013 I placed the order.
Immediately, when I select Order Status from the Trading Tab, I am provided with the following information:
- the original order number
- the symbol: AAT770
- a description: BMO High Int Sving Account(BIL)
- the order type: Buy
- the original order quantity: $2,000,000 (Why don’t you believe me?!)
- the outstanding quantity: blank
- the entry date mm/dd: 07/08 (Good thing they clarify which one is the month)
- the expiry date mm/dd: blank
- the average fill price: blank
- the status: submitted
The word submitted is a link but if I click it what opens is a definition of the term.
The original order number is also a link. If I click it the Order Status Details screen opens. That screen has the following information already (minutes after I placed the order.)
- Original Order Number
- Symbol: AAT770
- Fund Name: BMO High Int Svng Account(BIL)
- Reference Number: this is the same number as the original order number
- Order Type: Buy
- Order Quantity/value: $2,000,000 (Honest! Would a Crooks lie to you? OK maybe I exaggerate sometimes.)
- Load Type: No Load
- Most Recent Closing Price: $1.00
- Dividend Option: Reinvest (which is what I asked for when I submitted the order)
- Settlement Funds: CAD
- Status: Submitted (same link to the definition)
- Activity Date/Time: 2013-07-08 12:56
And an informational note:
“This order cannot be changed or cancelled for the following reason:
• Mutual Fund and/or Fixed Income orders cannot be changed or cancelled online.”
My account balance is also shown in a small box in the upper right side of the screen. At this point it still shows a Cash Balance that *includes* the amount I have just committed to invest in the high interest savings account fund, AAT770.
If I click on the My Portfolio tab, I also still see the amount I just spend included in my Cash balances. That means it’s important to be careful not to overestimate how much cash I have left to spend on equities or other investments today.
At this time, the HISA fund is not appearing on my list of Investments on the My Holdings page.
If I select Transaction History from the list under the My Portfolio tab there is not yet any transaction listed. It does not list the order to buy the fund.
Stay Tuned
Tomorrow, I will check these reporting mechanisms again and see what BMO InvestorLine reports to be happening with my request to purchase this HISA fund. In the meantime, I will have to write a reminder on a sticky note on my monitor not to spend the $2,000,000 I just committed to buying the fund. ; )
Welcome Back: The Buy Continues
On Tuesday, July 9
- By selecting Order Status under the Trading tab I reviewed my order to buy AAT770. It has now been updated to the Order Status of Filled.
- Under My Portfolio, I selected Holdings.
- My Cash Balance has still not been reduced by the amount I spent on the HISA. This is where having that sticky note on the monitor could be very important!
- My purchase of the AAT770 is still not reported anywhere under My Holdings.
- Under My Portfolio, I then selected Transaction History.
Nothing is reported here yet either.
On Wednesday, July 10
- Under the Trading Tab and selection Order Status I can still see the same Filled information as yesterday and nothing new.
- Under My Portfolio, after I select Holdings, I see
- my Cash Balance has finally been reduced by the amount of dollars I deposited in my High Interest Savings Account fund, and
- under Investments, there is a line item for BMO High Int Svng Account (BIL) – AAT770
- (If I select Categorize by Asset Class and click the Go button, the line is listed in the Cash equivalents section under the subheading Mutual funds. This is somewhat amusing to me as when I emailed MyLink about these accounts they replied in writing that these are not actually mutual funds. They sure look like they are when you buy them and sell them using the Mutual Funds screen and they report their values under the Mutual Funds subheading!)
- Under My Portfolio, if I select Transaction History I can now see the line item for the Buy order. Although this is the first time it has shown up, on July 10, it states the activity had a Transaction Date of July 9 and a Settlement Date of July 9.
After the Purchase, the Sale
Now I will enter an order to sell some of my units. I will follow my own instructions in How Fast Can I Sell my BMO InvestorLine AAT770 HISA to Generate Cash to Re-invest?
You have to maintain a balance of at least $5000 but I deposited enough to remove a $5000 portion of the units and still leave over $5000 in the fund. $1,995,000 to be exact. (What do you mean you don’t believe me? Sheesh. I guess I won’t be selling you my shares in Nortel.) UPDATE As of 2017 10 03 the minimum balance is $1 000.
To find out what happens, please read Testing a Buy and Sell of AAT770 in a BMO InvestorLine Account Part Two: the Sell.
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Are you parking your cash waiting for a sweet deal? Do you use a HISA account to try to earn a few bucks while you wait? Please share your experiences with a comment.