Trading odd number lot sizes on the nasdaq?

Question

Can someone tell me if it is possible to trade stocks which are not lots of 100?

I think you can but how does this affect the trader? Does it cost more? How does it calculate?

Answer 1

In the old days, you had to pay an extra fee to an "odd lot broker" to trade in unit's of other than 100 shares.  That's gone now, largely thanks to electronics and the fact that paper certificates are not used much any more.

I do trading in odd lots all the time.

Answer 2

Yes you can trade odd-lots, on any US exchange, but the quotes are for round lots.

You can trade them, but you may have to pay a few pennies more for it being an odd lot (not in all cases)

Not sure what you mean by the "trader" but if you mean market maker, they couldn't care less since they may adjust their price.

You can not calculate the price difference, if any, on an odd lot, it depends on the quantity you trade, the quatity the MM has in position, market volume, and size of quote.

If you're going to trade odd-lots you have to pay the price, so you might as well get over it, and no sense shopping, all brokerage firms will treat you the same

Answer 3

It depends on your stock broker.

With Fidelity for example, you can buy as few as 1 quantity of a stock, or 5 if you prefer. They do not require a minimum of 100 orders. The fee is not based on how much stock you buy, but how much money is in your account (the more the cheaper the trades) and how often you trade (the more the cheaper the price of the stock).

Check with the brokerage agency you'd like to participate and find out their rules regarding minimum purchases and price of trades

Answer 4

Most brokers have a set charge per trade.  It doesn't matter how many shares you trade.  For example at Scottrade I have made trades of 10 shares and trades of 10,000 shares.  In each case the commission was $7.00.

Sometimes brokers may charge more for penny stocks.

Also, odd lots do not effect the time it takes for your trade to go through.

Best advice:  Decide how much money you want to invest.  Then determine the number of shares that will buy.