Options are a leveraged investment and are not suitable for every investor. Options involve risk, including the possibility that you could lose more money than you invest. Before buying or selling options, you must receive a copy of Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options issued by OCC. A copy of this booklet is available at theocc.com . It may also be obtained from your broker, any exchange on which options are traded, or by contacting OCC at 125 S. Franklin Street, Suite 1200, Chicago, IL 60606 (888-678-4667 or 888-OPTIONS). The booklet contains information on options issued by OCC. It is intended for educational purposes. No statement in the booklet should be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell a security or to provide investment advice. For further assistance, please call The Options Industry Council (OIC) helpline at 888-OPTIONS or visit optionseducation.org for more information. The OIC can provide you with balanced options education and tools to assist you with your options questions and trading.
You must buy and sell Vanguard ETF Shares through Vanguard Brokerage Services (we offer them commission-free) or through another broker (which may charge commissions). See the Vanguard Brokerage Services commission and fee schedules for limits. Vanguard ETF Shares are not redeemable directly with the issuing fund other than in very large aggregations worth millions of dollars. ETFs are subject to market volatility. When buying or selling an ETF, you will pay or receive the current market price, which may be more or less than net asset value.
You must buy and sell Vanguard ETF Shares through Vanguard Brokerage Services (we offer them commission-free) or through another broker (which may charge commissions). Vanguard ETF Shares aren't redeemable directly with the issuing fund other than in very large aggregations worth millions of dollars. ETFs are subject to market volatility. When buying or selling an ETF, you'll pay or receive the current market price, which may be more or less than net asset value.
Here is another example: An investor wants to buy 100 shares of XYZ Inc. Since the shares are not being issued through an IPO, he or she has to purchase it from the secondary market for the current market price of, say, $20 per share. The investor uses the service of an online broker who charges 2% of the total trade value, with a minimum commission of $50. The total price of the shares is $20 x 100 or $2,000, with the commission being $2,000x 2%, or $40. As the actual commission is lower than the minimum rate in this case, the broker will directly charge $50, bringing the total share purchase price to $2,050 and weighing more on the investor's pocket.
It is possible to buy shares with almost any amount of money. With as little as a few hundred dollars, you can start investing in stocks. However, the cost to invest is determined by the stocks you want to buy and the purchase method you select. While direct purchase plans allow you to invest with small dollar amounts, an online discount broker age account lets you buy and/or sell with small commission charges.
Mutual fund trades may be subject to a variety of charges and fees. Some funds carry a sales charge or load, which are fees you pay to buy or sell shares in the fund, similar to paying a commission on a stock trade. These can be in the form of upfront payments (front-end load) or fees you pay when you sell shares (contingent deferred sales charge).
As stated earlier, ETFs, like stocks, are trading on the secondary market. When buying or selling ETFs and stocks, you can use a variety of order types, including market orders (an order to buy or sell at the next available price) or limit orders (an order to buy or sell shares at a maximum or minimum price you set). You can place stop loss orders and stop limit orders, as well as "immediate or cancel," "fill or kill," "all or none," "good 'til canceled," and several other types of orders. You can also execute short sales.
A mutual fund is an investment company that pools money from many investors and invests it based on specific investment goals. The mutual fund raises money by selling its own shares to investors. The money is used to purchase a portfolio of stocks, bonds, short-term money-market instruments, other securities or assets, or some combination of these investments. Each share represents an ownership slice of the fund and gives the investor a proportional right, based on the number of shares they own, to income and capital gains that the fund generates from its investments.
Mutual funds are equity investments, as individual stocks are. When you buy shares of a fund, you become a part owner of the fund, and you share in its profits. For example, when the fund's underlying stocks or bonds pay income from dividends or interest, the fund pays those profits, after expenses, to its shareholders in payments known as income distributions. Also, when the fund has capital gains from selling investments in its portfolio at a profit, it passes on those after-expense profits to shareholders as capital gains distributions. You generally have the option of receiving these distributions in cash or having them automatically reinvested in the fund to increase the number of shares you own.
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