Should I buy more stock or sell what I have?

Question

I only hold 6 shares of AT&T's 'T' stock. I forgot about it from years ago and I don't know how to judge the worth. Should I buy more or sell?

Answer 1

Even a small holding like this can be a great opportunity to learn about the stock market. Try to save more and add to your position. I am not crazy about At&t, but since you have the shares why not find out a little more about the company - listen to their quarterly conference call:

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?p=irol-eventDetails&c=113088&eventID=1392075

If you are interested in learning more about the stock market, I would suggest http://www.top10traders.com - this is a free site that lets you create a portfolio of stocks with $100,000 in "play" money. Each day the site ranks the best performing portfolios, so you can see how your picks perform compared to other investors. You can also read posts on investing from the best traders, as well as share your own investing ideas.

Here are this month's best traders:

http://www.top10traders.com/Top10Standings.aspx

Good luck!

Answer 2

Sell.

I would recommend that you sell for two reasons.

First, telecommunication services is an increasingly commodity like service, where the marginal cost of service is zero (e.g. Skype). The last ten years has been very unkind on Ma Bell and the next ten years may not be any better as VOIP marches on.

Secondly, I'd sell because this is such a small amount. It may be more of an annoyance to administer looking after your 6 shares. At $33/share, you are talking about $200. Net of commission, that's $167. Net of taxes, that's about $150. Don't spend too much time trying to baby sit $150.

Answer 3

If you are not interested in investing in individual stocks, sell.

I don't agree with the analysis in the prior post, but that is the sort of thinking you need to do if you decide if you hold stock.

You can sell for $7 commission using Scottrade http://www.scottrade.com/
or for about $11 through the AT&T direct share adminstrator.http://att.sbc.com/gen/investor-relations?pid=5645

Don't waste your money paying a big commission.