I am confused about whatās just happened on my freetrade account and if anyone could clear it up Iād be really grateful. This might come across as very stupid but I am new to this and have completely regretted investing this money. Iām not here for pep talks, I just want to understand whatās happened. So hereās what happened.
I had Ā£6000 invested at an average price of 80p and 7410 shares.
The SP over the last year has dwindled down to 11p. (Yes Iām absolutely gutted, but prepared to sit and wait for my money back).
Today I bought Ā£200 worth which brought my average down to 66p and took my shares up to 9238.
Later on in the day, I made sure the SP hadnāt gone down since I bought (the value had actually gone up Ā£5) and then sold the same amount of shares I bought earlier and put it in something else.
For some reason, I now have an even lower avg price at 59p, but instead of my investment gain/loss saying -Ā£5200, it now says -Ā£3594.
So have I just lost Ā£1500? Why hasnāt it just sold the 1828 shares I bought earlier on in the day?
Iām absolutely fuming and Iāve no idea what to do. I feel like Iāve basically just traded Ā£1500 for Ā£200. I feel sick
You would have sold your shares not from the last batch you bought but from the first batch which would of changed your average as well.
Was your first batch of shares you bought in whatever company at a higher price? Then you continued to buy at a lower price so then when you sold the higher priced shares you lowered your average.
What stock is it? did you check the bid/ask spread? This doesnāt show on Freetrade so you need to double check on somewhere like Yahoo finance
Edit: maybe Iām confused what you are asking, are you saying the value of your portfolio went down Ā£1500 or is it just the average price you donāt understand?
Did you invest the original Ā£6k in one batch? Sounds like you could have bought in initially at a different price levels which impacts your average every time you sell some.
I donāt use the FT cost average as I swing trade some stocks but maintain a long term holding also and it can massively skew your gain/loss.
Remember itās FIFO (first in first out) when they determine the cost of the shares that you sell.
Yeah itās FIFO, support explained it to me last night. Absolutely f***ed it. I feel so stupid. Bought Ā£200 worth then sold it not long after but itās obviously sold my 80p shares at 11p. Gutted. Might aswell have just thrown Ā£1500 down the drain
It doesnāt matter which shares they sold. Your overall holding is the same. Yeah, itās a bummer theyāve lost so much value, but the calculations youāre referencing are completely meaningless in regards to the current value.
No it does though. The Ā£200 purchase at 11p brought my average down from 80p to 66p. I sold the Ā£200 and then my average dropped further to 59p and the value of my portfolio went down about Ā£1500 to total Ā£4400, when obviously Iāve invested a total of just over 6k. I think thatās right? Sorry Iām just really confused lol
Yes, you are right. The 30 day rule āintervenesā. This is why I said
and the OP seemed to be talking about a period longer than 30 days. Also of course it is not necessarily just bought and sold ā¦ it could be sold and bought. For example if I have 4000 shares bought on 3 Jan and I sell 200 on 3 June but within 30 days buy 350 ā¦ 200 of those I buy get ācaughtā. Yup CGT can get complicated.
I have found average Ā£ price of share is changed after selling some shares of my Novavax holdings .
I have purchased total 16 shares of Novavax at different time and rate . Then sold 9 of the shares on 5th Aug . After selling of 9 shares the Average Ā£ share price changed from Ā£131 to Ā£114 for remaining 7 shares .
Wondering why average price changed on selling of partial shares of total holding ? Suddenly shows my appreciation on remaining share from 32% to 48%.
Details of transactions and screenshot of remaining shares holding .
