Average Down

  

Categories: Metrics, Trading, Stocks, Banking

What is Average Down, or Dollar Cost Averaging? Perhaps you have a favorite stock that has been steadily increasing in price and performing well. Then a great opportunity comes along when the price drops, so you buy some additional shares.

Called averaging down, your average price for all the shares you own on that stock has now decreased. "Who cares?" you might ask, but if you are measuring the cost basis for that stock, this reduces the amount the price has to go up in order for you to show a profit. But you also risk losing more money if the price continues to go down. Let's say you own 20 shares of Pull Me Down, Inc. that you bought for $150 per share, for a total value of $3,000. Then one day you notice the price has dropped to $100 per share, so you decide to jump on the opportunity and buy 20 additional shares for a total value of $2,000, since you really believe in the future profitability of the company. Your average purchase price is now $3,000 + $2,000/40 shares...to equal $125 per share, lowering your original cost per share by $25.

Some investors would view a price drop as a positive, while others caution that it is a sign the stock might go down further. Experts recommend that you average down only for blue chip stocks that have a positive long-term track record, good cash flow and not a lot of debt.

Related or Semi-related Video

Finance: What is Dead Cat Bounce?13 Views

00:00

Finance allah shmoop What is a dead cat bounce It

00:06

sounds like a dance move from the old west right

00:09

but it actually refers to a terrible situation when the

00:12

market plummets rebounds very slightly and then plummets again The

00:16

idea comes from the notion of dropping a cat off

00:20

of a high building It hits the cement dead bounces

00:23

a bit before then is a big wet thud Yeah

00:27

peeta no cats were harmed in the production of this

00:29

definition Thie market has fallen from five thousand twelve hundred

00:35

now it's at fourteen hundred and now it's back to

00:37

twelve hundred Yeah that uplift of two hundred points there

00:40

from twelve hundred fourteen hundred before it went back twelve

00:43

hundred which is the concrete that's the dead cat bounce

00:48

I'm not totally sure who came up with this term 00:00:50.247 --> [endTime] but wei have a pretty good idea

Up Next

Finance: What is Average Down?
8 Views

What is Average Down, or Dollar Cost Averaging? Average down just means that an investor has bought more shares of a stock at a lower price than wh...

Finance: What is a Fallen Angel?
1 Views

What is a Fallen Angel? Fallen angels are investments that were once very valuable and are now pretty worthless. The term is used with stocks and b...

Finance: What is the Historical Trading Range?
17 Views

What is the Historical Trading Range? The historical trading range is just the collection of prices a security has been trading at since its IPO in...

Find other enlightening terms in Shmoop Finance Genius Bar(f)