Using a credit card to purchase stocks at Loyal3

[sheepstache]

For those of you churning, another $400 bonus this time for $1000 in 3 months.
http://www.mymoneyblog.com/barclaycard-arrival-world-mastercard-review.html

[jhartt3]

so you could churn 10k a month thru this with little risk on the SW rapid rewards card and get a free companion pass each year and 120k points more than enough for all the flights you would need for free travel

[massmustache]

The Barclays card is the way to go... 2.2% is excellent and a nice buffer to hedge on any sudden loss... But I am not in the marker for travel bucks.

[jhartt3]

2.2% cb on 120k is ~ 2600 bucks.  a good ROI

120k southwest points are worth ~ 1.67 points each and you double that for a companion pass.  making it 3.34 so equivalent dollar value is 4000 bucks.  plus you get the flexibility of booking way in advance and canceling whenever you want to.  So if you do travel this is good bang for your buck.  Esp. now that SW flies to the Caribbean and Mexico.  Soon to be HAWAII i can only hope. 

You can even stretch these farther i'd estimate it would save you close to 6k a year on flights if you traveled that much.  and booked appropriately. 

but to each his own if you dont travel then its a no go.  i'm going to have to try this system out.

[Fireman]

For those of you churning, another $400 bonus this time for $1000 in 3 months.
http://www.mymoneyblog.com/barclaycard-arrival-world-mastercard-review.html

It's up to $400 for $3000 in 3 months, now.

[dragoncar]

I'm doubting this can last very long.

For you monthly churners -- are you buying with credit, selling a couple days later, then withdrawing via ACH?  Then repeat?

I'd like to caution you that it's always possible that you'll be holding one of these stocks on a bad news day and lose 10+%.  Unlikely, but I'm still not sure the risk is worth the 2%.

[KingCoin]

I'm doubting this can last very long.

For you monthly churners -- are you buying with credit, selling a couple days later, then withdrawing via ACH?  Then repeat?

I'd like to caution you that it's always possible that you'll be holding one of these stocks on a bad news day and lose 10+%.  Unlikely, but I'm still not sure the risk is worth the 2%.

Definitely can't last, but make hay while the sun shines as they say.

If you're able to run it enough times, it's definitely worth the risk. Basically impossible to lose over the medium term. Probably still makes sense to make sure you stock of choice isn't announcing earnings though during your buy/sell period.

[dragoncar]

so you could churn 10k a month thru this with little risk on the SW rapid rewards card and get a free companion pass each year and 120k points more than enough for all the flights you would need for free travel

Hell, you could churn through 40k/mo if you were dedicated (buy,sell,withdraw,pay off card, repeat).  I'd hate to be left holding the bag when they freeze your account, though.

Zmonet, can we get an update?  I think it sucks that the don't disclose the buy price.  Sounds like they could easily be front-running (even though it's illegal AFAIK)

[wtjbatman]

I've churned $7500 through Loyal3, done for now though. It's like what has been said multiple times in this thread already. It works great for earning CC bonuses. You simply buy the stock with your card, wait for it to be posted in your account, sell the stock, then transfer the money out. Takes about two weeks (8-10 business days) for the whole process from start to finish. No you don't get to see the actual buy/sell price right away as there is a significant delay in both actions by Loyal3. So expect the possibility of a stock price rising/falling significantly without you being able to do a damn thing about it.

[massmustache]

Is there risk? Yes.  Always is with investing.  But a 2.2% hedge makes it less risky.  Throw in ~13% bonus and that covers you for significant drop (400 on 3k).  But that's only for first 3k...

I spent 5k, also am done for now... too much effort for the reward (travel rewards seem to be worth it potentially).

[massmustache]

so you could churn 10k a month thru this with little risk on the SW rapid rewards card and get a free companion pass each year and 120k points more than enough for all the flights you would need for free travel

Hell, you could churn through 40k/mo if you were dedicated (buy,sell,withdraw,pay off card, repeat).  I'd hate to be left holding the bag when they freeze your account, though.

Zmonet, can we get an update?  I think it sucks that the don't disclose the buy price.  Sounds like they could easily be front-running (even though it's illegal AFAIK)

Who would freeze your account?  I've asked them on their help chat and they are fine with CC purchases and quick sales... they batch all their selling anyway.

[dragoncar]

so you could churn 10k a month thru this with little risk on the SW rapid rewards card and get a free companion pass each year and 120k points more than enough for all the flights you would need for free travel

Hell, you could churn through 40k/mo if you were dedicated (buy,sell,withdraw,pay off card, repeat).  I'd hate to be left holding the bag when they freeze your account, though.

Zmonet, can we get an update?  I think it sucks that the don't disclose the buy price.  Sounds like they could easily be front-running (even though it's illegal AFAIK)

Who would freeze your account?  I've asked them on their help chat and they are fine with CC purchases and quick sales... they batch all their selling anyway.

So that one says (help chat people rarely have real authority to make such promises), but if you do it often enough it could still trigger some kind of fraud alert.  I'm not saying it's likely, but if you don't believe it's a possibility, it's a bit naive.  Look at some of the paypal horror stories.

Of course, your credit card could also close your account.  If they are making money on the transactions, I'm not sure why they would, but I've seen complaints on churning fora.

[ZMonet]

UPDATE 2/21

2/18, 1:37 PM EST -- Received notice that I purchased $2500 of Berkshire at $115.05/share  (day range is 114.36 to $115.22).
2/18, 1:41 PM EST -- Received notice that I purchased $2500 of McDonalds at $96.22/share (day range is $95.54 to $96.57)
2/18, 1:52 PM EST -- Initiated sell orders for both stocks.
2/18 -- received trade confirmations that I sold my stocks the same day.  I ended up losing $5 net on the stock transaction.  In looking at the share price I purchased at, it looks like the buy order went in around 12:30pm that day.
2/21 -- funds hit my account.  I requested a transfer to my bank account and the funds transfer is noted (hasn't hit bank yet)

I think for a pretty close to free way to hit credit card promotion spending amounts, this is a good deal.  I'm not sure it is worth the effort though just to churn for 1% back but to each their own.

[dragoncar]

UPDATE 2/21

2/18, 1:37 PM EST -- Received notice that I purchased $2500 of Berkshire at $115.05/share  (day range is 114.36 to $115.22).
2/18, 1:41 PM EST -- Received notice that I purchased $2500 of McDonalds at $96.22/share (day range is $95.54 to $96.57)
2/18, 1:52 PM EST -- Initiated sell orders for both stocks.
2/18 -- received trade confirmations that I sold my stocks the same day.  I ended up losing $5 net on the stock transaction.  In looking at the share price I purchased at, it looks like the buy order went in around 12:30pm that day.
2/21 -- funds hit my account.  I requested a transfer to my bank account and the funds transfer is noted (hasn't hit bank yet)

I think for a pretty close to free way to hit credit card promotion spending amounts, this is a good deal.  I'm not sure it is worth the effort though just to churn for 1% back but to each their own.

Thanks for the update.  Definitely could use this with some promotions I get (spend $1k/mo for 6 mo and get $250 back).  But I'm skeptical for the 1%, given that most of the stocks easily fluctuate that much over a few days.

[sheepstache]

For those of you churning, another $400 bonus this time for $1000 in 3 months.
http://www.mymoneyblog.com/barclaycard-arrival-world-mastercard-review.html

It's up to $400 for $3000 in 3 months, now.

Ah, easy come easy go.  Wish I'd grabbed it but I wanted a day to think about it.  I'm already using the Sapphire offer to buy stuff I already wanted.  For this one I would have bought and then sold.  But I'm not willing to risk the variation that might come with buying 3K worth, while 1k would have been an acceptable risk to my mind.

[ZMonet]

UPDATE 2/21

2/18, 1:37 PM EST -- Received notice that I purchased $2500 of Berkshire at $115.05/share  (day range is 114.36 to $115.22).
2/18, 1:41 PM EST -- Received notice that I purchased $2500 of McDonalds at $96.22/share (day range is $95.54 to $96.57)
2/18, 1:52 PM EST -- Initiated sell orders for both stocks.
2/18 -- received trade confirmations that I sold my stocks the same day.  I ended up losing $5 net on the stock transaction.  In looking at the share price I purchased at, it looks like the buy order went in around 12:30pm that day.
2/21 -- funds hit my account.  I requested a transfer to my bank account and the funds transfer is noted (hasn't hit bank yet)

Just to close out the round trip.
2/22 - Money back in bank account.

[seattlecyclone]

Ah, easy come easy go.  Wish I'd grabbed it but I wanted a day to think about it.  I'm already using the Sapphire offer to buy stuff I already wanted.  For this one I would have bought and then sold.  But I'm not willing to risk the variation that might come with buying 3K worth, while 1k would have been an acceptable risk to my mind.

I know everyone has their own risk tolerance, but this seems like a very minimal level of risk. If you get $400 back for buying $3000 in stock and selling it right away, the stock would have to go down 13% before you lose money. The probability of that happening on a day where the company doesn't announce quarterly earnings is almost nil.

[sheepstache]

Ah, easy come easy go.  Wish I'd grabbed it but I wanted a day to think about it.  I'm already using the Sapphire offer to buy stuff I already wanted.  For this one I would have bought and then sold.  But I'm not willing to risk the variation that might come with buying 3K worth, while 1k would have been an acceptable risk to my mind.

I know everyone has their own risk tolerance, but this seems like a very minimal level of risk. If you get $400 back for buying $3000 in stock and selling it right away, the stock would have to go down 13% before you lose money. The probability of that happening on a day where the company doesn't announce quarterly earnings is almost nil.

I know, I know, you're right.  Partly, it's anchoring.  It's harder to take the 3k deal just because 1k was on the table at one point.  Which is irrational.  The other thing is that, while I know to calculate how much the stock would have to go down, I know that I don't know what I don't know when it comes to the market.  You mention earnings announcements.  That's great to know.  But I'm at the stage where I wouldn't have thought of that by myself.  So that makes me nervous, if that makes sense.  Appreciate the feedback, though, I'll keep thinking about it, 

[sheepstache]

Okay, here's a way it would be easier for me.  I could do it as a same day exchange.  I already have some BRK that I was planning to keep.  I could still buy ~1100 (in the 30-day time period max of $2500).  So, assuming it would let me put in a buy and sell order for the same amount on the same day, the possible outcomes are:

Price goes down from my initial purchase:
Pros: Well, currently it's above my initial purchase.  So the first $30 down between now and then wouldn't be a loss.
Tax write-off if I sell something else at a short-term gain this year (not super likely, but possible).
I want to own this long term so minor price difference isn't a big woop.
If I have to sell low, at least I'm also buying low.
Cons: locking in loss.

Price goes up from my initial purchase:
Pros: I lock in my gains so far and I raise the cost basis. 
Cons: Tax on short-term capital gain.


Alternately: how do we figure out which of the stocks they offer has the lowest volatility?

[dragoncar]

Okay, here's a way it would be easier for me.  I could do it as a same day exchange.  I already have some BRK that I was planning to keep.  I could still buy ~1100 (in the 30-day time period max of $2500).  So, assuming it would let me put in a buy and sell order for the same amount on the same day, the possible outcomes are:

Price goes down from my initial purchase:
Pros: Well, currently it's above my initial purchase.  So the first $30 down between now and then wouldn't be a loss.
Tax write-off if I sell something else at a short-term gain this year (not super likely, but possible).
I want to own this long term so minor price difference isn't a big woop.
If I have to sell low, at least I'm also buying low.
Cons: locking in loss.

Price goes up from my initial purchase:
Pros: I lock in my gains so far and I raise the cost basis. 
Cons: Tax on short-term capital gain.


Alternately: how do we figure out which of the stocks they offer has the lowest volatility?

Yeah, if you are selling simultaneously, that's free money.  I've considered short selling in my main brokerage account, but for the life of me I can't determine what the commissions would be (ok, not "for my life," just a few minutes of trying to figure it out).  If it's just a few bucks, it might be worth it just to play things super safe.

[sheepstache]

Plus it would just be interesting to know how much spread there is.  If spread is the word I want here.

[Vjklander]

Sorry, but the very idea of using credit of any kind to buy stocks makes me shudder ....

[cowstash]

Of all of the stocks available on the site, which would be two that have the flattest or most-boring history? Or does anyone know of a tool that could help calculate this? My thinking is that a stock that is more likely to jump 2 percent in a day could also dip as much and should be avoided if the point is to churn through the orders without seeing any change in the price.

[tdccarpenter]

Does this work with Amex?

[cowstash]

Does this work with Amex?

Nope, just Visa/MasterCard for credit

[tj]

I'm so glad I found this thread. I was going to pay a 2% fee to pay taxes to hit minimum spend on US Bank - I just bought some BRK.B instead.

[k-vette]

Just initiated sell orders on 1k of amzn, goog, and vf.

Assuming things don't change much, I'm looking at 2% towards travel (have a trip this summer) and around $45.  I'll dig deeper into the stocks available and spread further around next time.  They're not my top picks, but I'll bite for the rewards.

[dragoncar]

Just initiated sell orders on 1k of amzn, goog, and vf.

Assuming things don't change much, I'm looking at 2% towards travel (have a trip this summer) and around $45.  I'll dig deeper into the stocks available and spread further around next time.  They're not my top picks, but I'll bite for the rewards.

so are you looking at a loss at this point?

[k-vette]

No that's a profit of $45, plus 2% on the $3,000, plus the $400 sign on bonus.

[dragoncar]

No that's a profit of $45, plus 2% on the $3,000, plus the $400 sign on bonus.

Nice

[k-vette]

Update - sales confirmed.  Small profit on each stock, almost 2%.  $56.60 plus $400 bonus plus the 2% rewards.

[wealthviahealth]

I have been using loyal 3 for around one month and so far so good. I have been establishing a decent dividend portfolio
all while benefiting via the rewards points on my cc.
I just opened a new credit card with a 0%APR for 15 months and had been wondering if buying/selling on loyal 3
would be an interesting work around to be able to pay for everything on a CC and thus get the points.

For instance; I cannot pay my rent with my CC but I could purchase roughly one months worth of rent in several stable stocks and then turn right around and sell them. Once the transaction is settled I could transfer the money back over to my baking account for rent. Same could apply to car payment or virtually any other expense that you cannot normally
pay via credit.

Thoughts on this plan? Other than the chance of fluctuation in the stock price I cant think of too many other pitfalls at the moment.

[k-vette]

Interesting idea.  I guess as long as you have a buffer to cover potential losses short term, why not?

[sheepstache]

Follow-up:
Unfortunately I messed up the timing so it didn't go as I planned.  It seems like to have it happen on the same day, you have to :
Day 1: Place buy order before 2pm.
Day 2: Place sell order after 2:30pm.
Day 3: Both transactions go through.

I bought after the cut-off time and ended up getting the sell on the second day (for 113.52) and the buy on the 3rd day (for 113.71).  Oddly, when I look at the transaction ledger on the website, the post dates are in reverse (so, your buy order shows up as though it happened when you originally placed, not when it went through and your share price got determined).

Note that when you sell, you do it by number of stocks, not dollar value (unlike when you buy).  You're allowed to do fractional shares.  It calculates the dollar value based on the current price but makes it clear the sell price is not yet determined.  But so basically you can't sell and buy the exact same amount.    So, even though the price rose, since there was a dollar value ceiling to the buy, I ended up up 62 cents but down .0128 shares.

[wtjbatman]

wealthviahealth, I'm not sure how that's really paying for anything with the CC. That's just churning money through Loyal3 using your CC, but limiting yourself to pre-determined blocks of money (rent, car payment, etc) as opposed to what some have been doing, which is churning thousands of dollars at a time.

If you have a CC with, say, a $5k limit, why not just churn $2500 in two different stocks as often as possible to collect those CC rewards, as opposed to, in a roundabout way, paying for rent with your credit card by buying and selling $800 of a stock?

[cowstash]

If you have a CC with, say, a $5k limit, why not just churn $2500 in two different stocks as often as possible to collect those CC rewards, as opposed to, in a roundabout way, paying for rent with your credit card by buying and selling $800 of a stock?

Just a word of warning on this scenario: you could be hurting your credit rating maxing out the card, even momentarily. But I agree with the underlying idea of why set your sights low on doing it once per month if potentially you could do it 7 or 8 times in a month?

[tomq04]

Ok, i bought $100 of BRK-b to see how this process works, would start churning next week assuming it is really this easy.

[go4mojo]

has anyone factored in dividends with the whole churning process. I just put an order today for the first time to buy coca cola, expecting a dividend later this month. its a great option either way for me since i used a new southwest cc but dividend would be nice touch

[KingCoin]

has anyone factored in dividends with the whole churning process. I just put an order today for the first time to buy coca cola, expecting a dividend later this month. its a great option either way for me since i used a new southwest cc but dividend would be nice touch

The dividend will be priced into the current stock price. No arbitrage there unfortunately.

[wealthviahealth]

The wheels just keep on turning in my head on ideas for CC's on this platform. Obviously the known downfall with loyal 3
is that you can't time your buys very well so you never really know what price you are going to get, especially on more volatile stocks..
.. BUT.. I got to thinking- why not buy a large sum on CC of something fairly stable like a combo of BRKB and KO, turn around and sell those, now you have funds in your loyal 3 market account which allows you to place a more precise day of trade on a stock of higher volatility. This allows you to churn CC points with more caution and still pick the actual stock you would like.

[cowstash]

The wheels just keep on turning in my head on ideas for CC's on this platform. Obviously the known downfall with loyal 3
is that you can't time your buys very well so you never really know what price you are going to get, especially on more volatile stocks..
.. BUT.. I got to thinking- why not buy a large sum on CC of something fairly stable like a combo of BRKB and KO, turn around and sell those, now you have funds in your loyal 3 market account which allows you to place a more precise day of trade on a stock of higher volatility. This allows you to churn CC points with more caution and still pick the actual stock you would like.

I was thinking something along the same lines, but you still run into the issue of trying to time the market with only one opportunity a day to put in the sell order (which, as I understand it, needs to be before 2 PM and is then processed at 2:30 PM). If it was $2,500 going into something more volatile like APPL, it'd be too nerve-wracking to know I'd have to decide one time a day whether it's worth it to sell or wait until the next trading day.

I'm also wondering if anyone else has thought through the tax implications of doing all this if you're earning short term capital gains that would be taxed like regular income (I'm thinking of that sweet $2.22 I made on my BRKB test purchase of $50 last week). I presume Loyal3 sends a 1099-B in January, right?

[tomq04]

The wheels just keep on turning in my head on ideas for CC's on this platform. Obviously the known downfall with loyal 3
is that you can't time your buys very well so you never really know what price you are going to get, especially on more volatile stocks..
.. BUT.. I got to thinking- why not buy a large sum on CC of something fairly stable like a combo of BRKB and KO, turn around and sell those, now you have funds in your loyal 3 market account which allows you to place a more precise day of trade on a stock of higher volatility. This allows you to churn CC points with more caution and still pick the actual stock you would like.

I was thinking something along the same lines, but you still run into the issue of trying to time the market with only one opportunity a day to put in the sell order (which, as I understand it, needs to be before 2 PM and is then processed at 2:30 PM). If it was $2,500 going into something more volatile like APPL, it'd be too nerve-wracking to know I'd have to decide one time a day whether it's worth it to sell or wait until the next trading day.

I'm also wondering if anyone else has thought through the tax implications of doing all this if you're earning short term capital gains that would be taxed like regular income (I'm thinking of that sweet $2.22 I made on my BRKB test purchase of $50 last week). I presume Loyal3 sends a 1099-B in January, right?

If they DONT send out a 1099 then they aren't going to last very long.  If someone starts doing this "full time" you're going to have a massive 1099, hopefully they give you an electronic version you can upload to turbo tax/tax act and just pay the $10 to allow it, i get frustrated having to enter 5-10 transactions by hand, I certainly wouldn't be doing 50-100.

[cowstash]

If they DONT send out a 1099 then they aren't going to last very long.  If someone starts doing this "full time" you're going to have a massive 1099, hopefully they give you an electronic version you can upload to turbo tax/tax act and just pay the $10 to allow it, i get frustrated having to enter 5-10 transactions by hand, I certainly wouldn't be doing 50-100.

With only 50 stocks to pick from, doing this full-time also means that you wouldn't be able to deduct losses if you buy them again within 30 days because the IRS considers it a wash, right? Maybe that wouldn't be an issue if you're maxing out at $2,500 for a single stock a month anyway.

[seattlecyclone]

If they DONT send out a 1099 then they aren't going to last very long.  If someone starts doing this "full time" you're going to have a massive 1099, hopefully they give you an electronic version you can upload to turbo tax/tax act and just pay the $10 to allow it, i get frustrated having to enter 5-10 transactions by hand, I certainly wouldn't be doing 50-100.

Something new I noticed this year when doing my taxes is that the IRS allows you to report aggregate numbers for transactions where your broker reported the correct cost basis on your 1099. So for any stocks you bought in the past couple years since the new cost basis reporting requirements came into effect, you shouldn't need to worry about reporting your transactions individually anymore.

[tomq04]

If they DONT send out a 1099 then they aren't going to last very long.  If someone starts doing this "full time" you're going to have a massive 1099, hopefully they give you an electronic version you can upload to turbo tax/tax act and just pay the $10 to allow it, i get frustrated having to enter 5-10 transactions by hand, I certainly wouldn't be doing 50-100.

With only 50 stocks to pick from, doing this full-time also means that you wouldn't be able to deduct losses if you buy them again within 30 days because the IRS considers it a wash, right? Maybe that wouldn't be an issue if you're maxing out at $2,500 for a single stock a month anyway.

I would be curious of the wash sale side of this...hmmm

[beltim]

If they DONT send out a 1099 then they aren't going to last very long.  If someone starts doing this "full time" you're going to have a massive 1099, hopefully they give you an electronic version you can upload to turbo tax/tax act and just pay the $10 to allow it, i get frustrated having to enter 5-10 transactions by hand, I certainly wouldn't be doing 50-100.

With only 50 stocks to pick from, doing this full-time also means that you wouldn't be able to deduct losses if you buy them again within 30 days because the IRS considers it a wash, right? Maybe that wouldn't be an issue if you're maxing out at $2,500 for a single stock a month anyway.

A wash sale doesn't mean you can't deduct your losses ever.  It just means that you can't deduct that loss for that trade.  Example:  I buy $100 worth of stock, sell it for $50, then the day after I sell it for $50 I buy it back for $50.  If I don't do anything else, I can't deduct that $50 loss.  If I sell the second position, though, the disallowed wash sale loss gets added back to my basis.  So, if I then sell that stock again for $70, I would be able to deduct a 50 + (100-50) - 70 = $30 loss on my taxes.

[wealthviahealth]

Something I noticed in review of this thread is that most have utilized a quick churn strategy, selling almost immediately after buying.
Though this certainly works for those just trying to reach bonuses in a very short period of time, it obviously does greatly increase the risk of losing
money in the process.

I am wondering if others have considered a slow churn cycle in which you buy in lesser amounts, more frequently, and then sell say a few weeks
or month later once they stock is significantly above your buy price, to decrease any chance of a loss. This is still an attempt to "time the market"
which we all know is not a great idea, but as long as you are not buying more than you can afford to pay off/ are not using too much of your cc limit,
you could essentially not sell until you are well in the green. I may test this strategy for a month on more stable picks such as BRK-B, KO, MCD, and Disney. These are stocks I would purchase anyways so the main benefit of doing so on this platform is the 1% cash back, zero trade fees, and ability to dollar cost average as a result of no fees + fractional share purchase. I may even find that I want to hang onto some of these shares if they are performing well.

[tj]

Something I noticed in review of this thread is that most have utilized a quick churn strategy, selling almost immediately after buying.
Though this certainly works for those just trying to reach bonuses in a very short period of time, it obviously does greatly increase the risk of losing
money in the process.

I am wondering if others have considered a slow churn cycle in which you buy in lesser amounts, more frequently, and then sell say a few weeks
or month later once they stock is significantly above your buy price, to decrease any chance of a loss. This is still an attempt to "time the market"
which we all know is not a great idea, but as long as you are not buying more than you can afford to pay off/ are not using too much of your cc limit,
you could essentially not sell until you are well in the green. I may test this strategy for a month on more stable picks such as BRK-B, KO, MCD, and Disney. These are stocks I would purchase anyways so the main benefit of doing so on this platform is the 1% cash back, zero trade fees, and ability to dollar cost average as a result of no fees + fractional share purchase. I may even find that I want to hang onto some of these shares if they are performing well.

If any of these stocks are ones that you'd like to hold for the long term, definitely take advantage of the no trading fees and potential cashback. I personally only use index funds, but there is nothing wrong with owning shares of quality companies like the ones you mentioned directly.

[tj]

I initiated a buy order on 2/28, but my card didn't get charged til 3/5. I iniitated sell order on 3/6. Both the buy and sell show up as pending in loyal3. I'll report back when they become posted transactions in loyal3 and I am able to transfer out. It's not clear to me if I actually got the buy price from 2/28 or 3/5 since that's when my Visa posted the charge, but it says I netted around $45, which is just a bonus IMO.


This also would be a good way to hit the $15K floor on the Fidelity Visa - fidelity visa gives you 1.5% cashback on first 15k you spend each year, then 2% after that...

[smedleyb]

What a fascinating thread.

Two things:  first, the ability to buy stocks with a credit card summons my inner contrarian to wonder if we are not approaching an immanent and substantial top in both the equity and credit markets.

Second:  if the goal of some is to "manufacture spending," i.e., swipe your card for large transactions which show up as purchases and thus elicit reward points, while keeping the charge as nearly liquid as possible, then I suggest researching other and I think less risky avenues for creating spending out of thin air.  Darting in and out of stocks is not the best approach, IMO, given the large lag times between buys and sells, and the inevitable effect of slippage.