We laid out the easy and simple procedures here on how to buy stocks online using COL Financial. COL is one of the best online trading platforms in the Philippines and if you are investing in the Philippine Stock Exchange you really should be familiar with its online features.
A lot of readers and beginners are afraid and worried how to start buying stocks online mainly because when they open their trading platform, they see a lot of buttons, tables, tickers, data, and lots of numbers. The truth is, this should not be the case because when you buy stocks, you should only focus on few things, the rest are not so important.
3 things you need to buy stocks:
- Budget
- Stock
- Price of the stock
Remember BSP.
1. Budget:
This is your monthly budget. Set aside 20% of your monthly income/salary to invest in the stock market. Be proud even if it’s only P5000 a month or P8000, or P2000. What is important is that you are investing every month. Be proud because you are a stockholder 🙂
2. Stock:
This is your monthly stock picks or what stocks you need to buy right now. You either buy from one or 2 or 3 or more companies. It depends upon your strategy and monthly budget. What is important is that you are investing for long term. Don’t have stock picks? Join DailyPik, they give the best stocks to buy and sell if you’re investing for a long term like me.
3. Price of the Stock:
You have to consider your available funds in your COL Financial account coz this is your wallet. You need to have enough money before you buy any stocks. Remember, in the end everything is going to your EQUITY.
Now I think you’re ready to buy stocks online using COL Financial. Let us proceed so we can make your first stock investment.
Procedures How to Buy Stocks Online Using COL Financial:
Step 1: Log in to your COL Financial account
You need a verified COL Financial account before you log in and buy your first stocks. If you don’t have an account yet, sign up at their official website and register an account. Opening an account is easy and the same requirements are needed similar to opening a bank account.
Step 2: Execute a BUY order
Go over the right side of the page and type in the code of the stock you wish to buy and tap QUOTE and BUY button. In this example, I want to buy stocks of MBT (Metrobank).
Step 3: Enter your Stock Order details
Details of specific stock will then appear. Don’t be crazy about the data you see. I know there are lots of them. Instead, just focus on the following:
- ASK column
- Board Lot
When you buy stocks, go for the ASK column because this is where you see the sellers’ offer corresponding the stock price available.
It is important you check the Board Lot required. If the Board Lot is 10, you can only buy in 10s (10, 20, 50 100, 130 etc. as long as the sum is divisible by 10)
Right now, I want to buy stocks from MBT and my budget is P5000. Lowest price of MBT stock per share is P83.05. Board Lot requires 10 for this stock. I used my pc calculator and came up with 60 shares for my budget (following the required board lot). So I’m buying 60 shares.
Step 4: Confirm your Order
Type in the number of shares you want to buy and click PREVIEW ORDER button. Note that COL Financial, just like any other broker, charges small fees on every transaction.
Type in your COL account password and proceed to order.
Congrats because you now bought shares from a company. Wait for the stock price to reach your target so you can sell them out and collect profit.
By the way, you can also place order through GTC and ATC especially if you want to ask for lower price of the stock. See the validity period of GTC and ATC below:
Note that regular trading hours are every Monday – Friday, from 9:30 a.m. – 12 noon and 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Hello. I’m planning to regularly invest in SMC and SPC for 5 years as they have high dividend. Question: How will I know that I receive a dividend? Will the company transfer it to my bank account?
Hope you can enlighten me on this. Thank you.
Hi, you will receive a notification email whenever you receive dividends. You can receive dividends in the form of cash or stocks – they will be added to your existing cash balance (on your trading account) or existing stocks (on your portfolio).
Hi, you’ve been so helpful! There’s one missing info on after you tap the “preview order”, what would be the details showing? From your given example, how did you come up with 60 shares? sorry was trying to calculate it from the given 10/board lot. i would appreciate your response. thanks
She will be investing P5000 and the price per share is 83. Divide 5k by 83, tht makes it 60.
????????
Hello Ms. Fehl,
Curious po ako if availing for COL Plus, does it mean that i needed to fund it monthly with 25k or initally for the first month only? Or how much should i fund it monthly?
Thanks for your response in advance.
Liz
Hi Fehl,
Sooooo gladddd I found your thread! I have questions and I hope you could enlighten me. My plan is to go on a long term, 4-5 years — holding and waiting for dividends. Buying stocks on a monthly basis regularly. I already have 4 companies on my list. My questions are:
If I go with my plan (averaging), which will be your recommended buys — preferred or common?
Will I be benefited from preferred stocks if I buy on a monthly, i.e. 100/shares per month, or should preferred stocks be avail on a one time big time and wait for maturity? For example SMC preferred stocks, reading their tender, the minimum is 500 shares, and holding period is 5-10 years.
Waiting for your answers….
More power!
hi 🙂 Buying monthly is a very good strategy as it minimizes risk and adds diversification. For SMC preferred, holding for 5-10 years is good as well as SMC is generous in terms of dividends both for common and preferred stocks. Bottom line, choose stocks that are well established and invest 20 to 25% of your money only, then you’re all good without much to worry. Happy investing!
Thanks Fehl! Further question… Would averaging on preferred work the same as for the common? Does thier lock up period applies though I bough it from PSE or kust as good as common?
thanks!
Hi ms fehl, what is day change?tnx
Hi, Mam,
Iif i buy stock of JFC now then im planning to hold this stock for 3 months. So, my question is okay lang po ba?
Ok lang iyon, ikaw po ang masusunod sa stocks nyo po 🙂 The question is, why do you plan that way?
hi there,
i also want to know if you got any idea how does the market value is calculated.
Hi Ms. Fehl,
Ask ko lang po kung alam ninyo kung bakit ayaw mag-upgrade ng aking COL account from Starter to COL plus kahit pasok na po ang aking fund at pinindot ko na ‘yung link na nagpapa-upgrade.
You must have 25K or more to upgrade to COL Plus account
Hello. Pwede ba ako magbuy lang ng maraming stocks pero isesell ko siya kung marami na talaga. Okay lang po ba yun? Hindi ba mawawala kung hindi ko gagalawin muna?
Pwede po iyon pero you must choose carefully and decide smartly what stocks you will invest
Hi Fehl,
How is the money transferred from my account to the seller when buying or the buyer’s payment if I’m selling? Is it all automatically transferred online? Before kasi I happened to sell and I got the check manually from my broker.
If you’re using an online broker platform, you will see everything on your account and portfolio. If you sell stocks, the money will be credited to your Cash Balance. If you buy stocks, the money will be debited. It’s basically like online banking. 🙂
Hello. I want to invest with upcomming IPO of Vietjet. I want to buy a small chunk before it goes public. Can you give me advice.
More power!
Hello Ma’am,
Reading your blog are always full of joy, and I learn a lot, but I have one quesitons, as I am a foreigner. can I also invest the Philippine stocks ?
Yes, foreigners are allowed to invest stocks
Hi po! I would like to ask ,Is it okay if my initial investment now is 5,000, then I would invest 2K the next months thereafter then deciding to increase it if I have budget. Mejo gipit pa ho kasi ngayon eh..thanks!
Hi Fehl
Thank you for the info, im super inexperienced here. Just quick question supposed I invested 5000Php for a month what is the average earning?
Hi. It depends upon the performance of the company you invested with
hello po 🙂 nag aaral po ako now college student 3rd yr. im interested in stock investment just wanna ask if i am qualied to be one of the investor?
If you’re below 18, you can ask your parent to open ITF (In-Trust-For) account for you so you can start investing
I’d like to know how you determine your target. Like when will you know that it’s time to sell your shares for profits…and normally, how many months or years to wait? Or there should really be an indicator? Sorry, so new to this. Thanks!
It’s up to you. Every person has his own objective and status kasi. If single ka and in your twenties, you can set your target to be 10 years or more. If you’re older, 5 or more. Only you knows your objective
Hello,
I see the following in my homepage after buying stocks from 2 companies.
What are these?
Equity Value: 4,871.46 Day Change: -38.80
And under portfolio it says Cash balance: Actual balance : Buying power … Php 515.04
I don’t understand if i need to trade on a daily or monthly basis.
Hi. That is a summary of your account activity for the day. Equity Value is your Total Cash Balance + Total Trade Value. Day change is any change made for the transaction for the day (ie: gain/loss or additional deposit on your account)
Cash Balance is the total cash you deposited in your COL account that is not yet used. Buying Power is the amount you can use to buy more stocks.
Only you can answer the last question. When should you trade? It depends upon your PLAN and STRATEGY. What’s your plan?
hello po, how bout how to sell stocks using col
have seen only when is the best time to sell,,,, thanks
Hi. That’s in the pipeline now. I’m just waiting for the right time to sell some of my stocks so I can share you the screenshots too with the article. I sold some a month ago but forgot to screenshot it. My bad. LOL
hi fehl, i was so happy i was able to buy my first stocks with pnb and metrobank today and all thanks on ur info using ur step by step instruction from scratch to how to buy… i am in the process of trial, and selling is not an option for me now so i can wait for multiple years,,,
there is a remark of hold on urc and jfc so maybe i will buy stocks on monday since i have some more balance left
btw, do you have an observation of the market on mondays?
Hi, I posted stocks updates on Dailypik the other day, you can see there if there is any update from the stocks I invest 🙂
hello po madam, im planning to open col account this week, and fund using bdo. I believed everytime i will fund my col bdo will also charge me right? So it will be wiser kung example every cutoff my budget is 5k, ipunin ko na lang yun 10k and do the funding monthly? any idea how much bdo charge (if there are)?
thanks and more power to ur advocacy
H. COL won’t charge you when you add fund to your COL account. They will only charge you small amounts when you transact (ex: buy or sell stocks)
So far di ko pa natry na macharge sa BDO ng mga bills payment. Though interbranch deposits and withdrawals have charges. Confirm mo na lang with the bank.
If meron, sa bpi ka na lang magbayad.
I see no charges din using BDO online banking 🙂
Thank you ms.Fehl for updated info about stocks, i hope you wont get tired of us..hehe..
My question is, i bought stocks for BDO last December 2014, and maybe this week i want to buy again for BDO (while i did not sell my previous BDO stocks).
How will the new stock price affect the old stock price, before i sell it in two years using PCA method as my goal for my BDO stocks??
Hi Dwight. You can also visit DailyPik.com for Stock market focused topics. As to your question, you’ll know it by: Price of the stocks after 2 years LESS Average price of the stock bought (Dec., Jan, Feb,…/24 months) = profit. Assuming of course you buy every month and sell after 24 months.
Hi ms Fehl! I am very new to this stuff, but im so interested to learn more about this.. Id like to open an acct, from which bank should i open? Because i know of course thats gona be the first thing to do, to have an acct.. Thanks and ill wait for ur response..
Hi. You don’t really need a bank account to open a broker’s account like COL Financial. You can fund your account via manual deposits. However, you need a bank account if you will fund your COL account using online banking facility or online bank transfer.
To open COL Financial account online, follow the steps here: https://philpad.com/how-to-open-col-financial-account-online/
hi Fehl
if i am buying a share of MBT P83.05 for 60shares what will happen to my trade if the price go lower than P83.05 if the actual price is P82.05? For example i have a Col Plus P25,000.
Hi Carlos. If you sell your stocks at lower price, you’ll lose some money. To be able to gain or profit, you must have a Margin and a Target. For MBT, its stock price right now is lower than its fair value so it’s a good to buy. We follow the Margin and Target for MBT at dailypik.com
hi Fehl
Me ulit! I’m taking a step to invest in stocks with COL financials pero bago yun, do they recommend stocks where can i put my money? with their “easy investment program” yung mga irerecommend ba nilang stock is applicable for pesos cost averaging?
Thank you!
Yes, there are more than 16 recommended stocks under the EIP. You can choose the ones you want. If you can wait, I’m launching soon the stocks from my Magic 10 at the beginning of 2015 🙂 Will announce it here. I’m making the site as of now
Ma’am fehl Tapos na po ba ung magic 10 nyo? Just opened an account at col financial and still undecided what will be my first buy??? Like ko sana Jollibee Kaso super mahal naman to buy at this moment. My initial investment is 25K. May masusuggest ka ba na top 2? Thanks
Hi. Yes, they are available for free at Dailypik website. 🙂
Hi, I am very interested to invest. In fact i am planning to invest in mutual fund next week.
My initial deposit will be 10k. Can you guide me which is the best program ( UITF and the other, I forgot what’s the right term.)
I really have no great knowledge about investing, hope you can guide me with this particular concern.
Hi Jhen. First, assess yourself and know about your plan (goal), your current status, and your risk appetite. Then I can advise you what MF or UITF suitable for you. 🙂
Hi Ms. Fehl,
I really do love reading your articles. 🙂
I have just opened an account with COL using EIP. I am currently following the suggested schedule which is monthly/regular basis and in long term.
I bought stocks on a certain company with a board lot of 100, then I just noticed that I still have a Cash Balance or buying power. My question is this, would you recommend buying more stocks on a different company using the cash balance available in order to maximize the P5,000 investment? The reason I ask this because for me I have already invested this amount, meaning I already consider this as part of my “monthly expenses” literally (for now), so why not maximize it then, right? do you think that is possible or I mean ideal? TIA 🙂
Lastly, the only way to earn after 10 yrs or so, is to redeem by means of selling the stocks right?
Godspeed
Hi Jeff. Thanks for the kind words. Congrats to your investments! Yes, I always recommend buying stocks from different companies because I believe in diversification. We should not put all our eggs in one basket. If you’re on EIP, I suggest you invest on 3-5 blue-chip companies every month or periodically and continue doing that until your Target Period. Consider your monthly budget – if you only have 10K for example, divide that to invest on 3-5 companies and do that monthly. If you have 5K, invest it alternately.
Yes, you need to sell the stocks to convert them into real cash. You can also earn through dividends when a certain company declare them
Hi Ms. Fehl,
Thanks for the quick response. 🙂
What I actually did is to create an EIP schedule which is set automatically one one (1) company only, and I just noticed that I still have remaining cash available, so I was thinking it would be better if I cancel this method and change it to manually, so that I’ll be able to maximize the whole amount I invested next time, hmmmmm.. maybe buying more shares on the same company or like what you have suggested diversify it on different companies.
Now I’m learning… Thanks much and more power.
btw, I have bookmarked this site. 😉
Hi Jeff. Thanks for bookmarking my site. 🙂 I think you can also create another EIP schedules for other stocks if you want. EIP is great but I don’t personally use it since I manually buy stocks following my own strategy. I also want to see my monthly budget was spent completely.
Oh I didn’t see your response coming as I am writing my other dilemma. hehehe.. It’s so quick.. hehehe.
Thanks again.
Oops! another one, :”>
Will I only be able to determine how much I will earn when I will sell my stocks? the PCA method? I mean, will COL give me a computation or a simple “warning” before hitting that sell button? hehehe
And If I decided to sell, the amount will be credited to my COL account right? then I may request for cash withdrawal. (pardon me for asking this question early.. hehe)
Thank you.
You’ll be able to know that eventually when you view your Portfolio in COL. Yes, COL always gives computations whenever we buy or sell stocks. It won’t resume unless you confirm the action. Yes, it will be credited in your COL account. Should you wish to withdraw, you can 🙂
Hi Ms. Fehl,
I made a sample computation excluding fees, please let me know if I understand it correctly and if I am doing it right. :”>
To illustrate,
Amount to invest on 1st month: 5,000 Php
Board Lot for Co. ABC : 100
Price per share : 12.75
Total Shares bought : 300
Cash Available : 1,175 Php ( 5,000 – (300 x 12.75)
——————————–
Amount to Invest on 2nd Month : 5,000 Php
Total Cash Available : 6,175 Php (5,000 + 1,175)
Board Lot for Co. ABC : 100
Price per Share : 12.25
Now, since I do want to maximize the total cash available ( like what I’ve mentioned earlier, I already considered 5,000 pesos invested on a regular basis as part of my monthly expenses literally)…. therefore, I would buy more shares than usual (this is why I guess, EIP on manual method is better, correct?)
Total Shares to buy : 500
Cash Available after buying: 50 Php 🙂
I will then have hmmm… 800 shares for 2 months.
And I was thinking that I will only buy more share if the price is lower and vice-versa.
With the illustration I’ve made, I think it is more ideal if I’ll set my EIP schedule to manual, so that I’ll be able to determine on how many shares I can buy instead of limiting it to P5,000
Thank you.
I’m doing same strategy but this strategy is not EIP because in EIP, we use fixed amount every month. In the sample above, we use different amount in investing monthly. It’s still averaging method though. You’re doing great 🙂 BTW, you can download the Excel format we shared in our https://philpad.com/what-is-peso-cost-averaging-and-how-does-it-work/ post. It will help you monitor your stock investments and earnings using Averaging method.
Yup, I’ve been trying to download the excel file but unfortunately an error or machine language on my browser appear instead 🙁
Thanks,
Oh and Thank you… Now I know what EIP is for. hehehe. (refers to Fixed Amount of buying shares) :”>
Well, I guess maximizing the whole amount I set aside for this investment is more ideal which will give me more buying power.
… time to cancel that EIP automatic schedule. hehehe
I was able to learn and be enlightened in investing for just a few hours of reading your articles. 🙂
Cheers,
My pleasure Jeff 🙂 Cheers!
hi ms fehl, i’ve read the question above as well as ur answer, but I would like clarify, for instance I’ve got 5,000 then after buying a stock there is remaining balance of 1,700, should I invest it at the same time or i’m going to use 1700 next month. Assuming that my investment budget is 5000 /mnth.
thank you in advance and God bless!
It’s your choice how are you gonna spend it: this month or next month. If you’re using PCA and your budget is 5K per month, then just add 3300 to your 1700 so that you have another 5K for the next month. God bless!
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