Category Archives: Finances

Credit Cards Exposed: A Collection of Articles on (Possibly) Our Favourite Piece of Plastic

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Recently I wrote about what happened when our credit card was somehow hacked in “What Happens When Your Credit Card is Used Illegally and Fraudulently?”

Ironically, the card that was used illegally was not the one we use for online shopping. We “Reduce the Risk of Online Shopping with a Low Limit Credit Card” and it seems to be working for us.

I’ve read some other interesting articles about credit cards and the perils thereof. Here are a few you might find worth a skim. (Get it: “skim.” Stealing credit card data? You just can’t buy puns like these even if you subscribe to the Globe and Mail online.)

Big Cajun Man explored the landmines that arrive in the mail in his article Credit Card Cheques, What Gives?

Robb Engen of Boomer and Echo wrote in the Toronto Star about 4 Reasons to Avoid a Rewards Credit Card

The Blunt Bean Counter points out that using one points (see the pun?!) card for your business and personal expenses is “an audit nightmare waiting to happen” in Credit Cards – Tax, Budget and Repayment Issues

Some time ago, Michael James on Money ran the numbers to find out what it costs to pay his credit card bill ahead of time in The Cost of Paying Bills Early. Is it worth paying this “premium” to insure against missing a payment due date?

The comments in Retire Happy’s TFSA or Pay Down Debt? make for interesting reading. Is it better to have an emergency cash supply so you can keep making the minimum payment on your debts, or to pay off the debts and not have an emergency fund? There’s more at work than just the interest $$.

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Have you read a favourite article about credit cards? Please share your opinions with a comment.

Review the Pricing History for Shares of a Company’s Stock Using BMO InvestorLine

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It’s usually a good idea to do a quick review of how a stock has been trading before entering a purchase order. Some stocks are thinly traded and barely change price but when they do it can be in large jumps. For example, CWL dropped from over $1 to about $0.75 a share in five trading days, but only sold a few thousand shares when it did. Other stocks, like TD can bounce up and down $1.50 on any given trading day and trade hundreds of thousands of shares. Here’s how to check the price history for a specific equity using BMO InvestorLine.

How to Check the Price History for an Equity Using BMO InvestorLine

  1. Go to BMO InvestorLine at: https://www.bmoinvestorline.com/
  2. To sign in to your BMO InvestorLine account/s:
    1. In the User ID or Account # field, type your account number or
      if you have grouped your accounts under one User ID, type your User ID.
    2. In the Password field, type your password.
    3. Click on the Go button.
  3. Under the Quotes & Tools tab, click on Quotes.
  4. In the Symbol field, enter the ticker symbol for the company.
    For example, I typed BNS for the Bank of Nova Scotia.
  5. Click on the Go button.
  6. Review the day’s information about bid, ask, high, low, open and previous close.
    NOTE that all price information on this screen is 15- to 20-minute delayed. You will only see the current or spot price when you are in the Buy Order screen.
  7. Look at the 52-week high and low, the EPS and P/E ratio.
  8. There’s a handy little chart to the right that shows how the stock has been trading today.
    I can see at a glance that BNS took a 25 cent per share dive after the opening of trading but has since rebounded and is now trading within a very narrow range.
  9. Click on the 5 day; 1 month; 6 months; 1 year and 5 years tabs to see the chart for the various time periods.
    For example, a review of the chart for BNS for 1 year shows that last year it climbed significantly through December to March, then peaked and has fallen. In early May it began to climb again. It has not yet fallen to last summer’s prices.
  10. A look at the five year price history also shows a tendency for this stock to bounce around quite a bit. It’s currently trading near its all time highs.
    Do I want to buy or wait and hope for a pull back?
    Do I want to only buy part of a position now, and pay a second commission to buy another part a few months from now?
    I need to decide these things BEFORE I place my purchase order.
  11. When your review is complete, click on the Sign Out link.
  12. For increased security, close your browser session.

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Has reviewing the pricing history for a stock ever saved you from buying high? Please share your experiences with a comment.