No one can perfectly predict the stock market, so figuring out the best time to buy stocks can be tough. In the absence of a crystal ball, here are 6 time periods in which you might want to consider investing in stocks.
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The best time to buy stocks
Here are some good times periods in which you might want to consider investing in stocks.
1. After an initial public offering (IPO)
An initial public offering is when a company first sells its shares on the stock market, which is known as the primary market. Sometimes IPO stocks are available to individual investors (“retail investors”), but this is changing.
Getting in on the ground floor when a company first goes public can be a good time to invest as this may be when stocks are the cheapest.
For example, Amazon stock was $18 USD when the company went public in May 1997. The stock price has since risen by more than 100,000%.
Stock prices often rise due to the hype surrounding an IPO and then fall. You could lose money if a stock goes down in value. So carefully research companies before you invest to figure out which stocks seem likely to rise in value, or at least remain stable.
A growth investor will try to identify companies that are expanding rapidly. These types of companies often have consistently high revenues and profits, which will ultimately help their share price grow.
Investors will look at who leads the company, its business plan, recent revenue and profit, and its past stock performance relative to similar stocks to determine if a company is growing fast and if there’s room for continued growth.
Compound annual growth rate (CAGR) provides a company’s annual growth figure based on a defined period of revenues, say, three years. There is a risk, as it can be hard to identify when a company’s value has peaked, and some investors may be tempted by businesses trying to cash in on the popularity of a particular theme or sector.
For example, investors flocked to technology stocks during the dot com boom in the 1990s. But many stocks crashed when evidence emerged calling into question companies’ valuations.
3. When stocks are undervalued
A value investor will try to spot undervalued stocks. By looking for stocks with low prices or price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios, they hope to identify potentially profitable companies that may be overlooked by the broader market.
Company accounts, analyst reports and news stories can give you an idea of a company’s outlook and if now is a good time to invest. The returns could be decent if you spot a company that’s set to turn its stock around, and the shares rise in value. But there’s also a risk that stocks may stay down or fall even further.
In investing, going against the herd by buying when others are selling (or vice versa) is called contrarian investing.
Some companies or sectors may go out of fashion or lose investors’ confidence, but a contrarian investor might choose to hold onto shares they believe have a dominant market position and will stand the test of time, or at least grow in the long term. This approach can take a lot of patience and bravery.
One of the most well-known contrarian and value investors is Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett. The Sage of Omaha has become an investing veteran by backing and holding onto sector-dominant companies like Coca-Cola and Gillette that are performing well, even if this isn’t currently reflected in those companies’ stock prices.
5. When other investors are buying
Rather than looking for what others are missing, there’s no harm in sometimes following the crowd. This is known as momentum investing. Momentum investors identify certain fashions or themes and buy stocks they believe will continue to rise.
6. When companies are paying dividends
Some investors may choose stocks that provide income in the form of payouts, known as dividends. Dividends can be paid monthly, quarterly or annually and are usually issued by large, established companies. The stock price of these companies may not skyrocket very often but can still provide a reliable source of income. Note that companies may choose to decrease or eliminate dividends.
Canadians consider stocks a smart investment option in 2023
According to results from the Finder: Consumer Sentiment Survey Q1 (CSTQ1), more than a third (36.18%) of Canadians considered equities to be a smart investment in the first quarter of 2023. This dropped only slightly in the second quarter of 2023 to 27%, according to the Finder: Consumer Sentiment Survey Q2 (CSTQ2).
Men preferred stocks as an investment option, with 41% of the belief that Q1 2023 was a “good time to invest in stocks,” compared to 32% of female investors.(1)
Age also had an impact on an investor’s confidence in stocks as an investment opportunity. The youngest generation, Gen Z (investors up to the age of 24) had the most confidence in stocks as a good investment opportunity in the first quarter of 2023 with 53% believing “now is a good time to invest in stocks,” compared to 42% of millennials, 31% of Gen X and 19% of baby boomers.
In general, almost a third of Canadian investors (31%) held stocks outside of registered accounts, like a retirement savings fund (RRSP) or Tax-Free Savings Fund Account (TFSA) and almost three-quarters (72%) bought or sold stock through an online stock platform or app. This seems logical, given that 29% of respondents in the CSTQ2 stated they had never worked with and had no plans to use the services of a financial advisor.(2)
3 key investing rules to remember about the best time to buy stocks
If you want to invest in equities but minimize potential losses, keep the following three tips in mind:
#1: Don’t panic if a stock falls
Investing is a long-term game – it can be tempting to sell if the value of a stock is falling, but experts recommend planning to invest in a stock for at least five years. If a stock falls, look for reasons why this is happening and the likelihood that the price will recover.
Selling too soon can mean taking a loss. You might miss out on a recovery that could’ve boosted your portfolio.
For example, Facebook (now Meta) went public in May 2012. Amid concerns about the company’s valuation, its stock failed to move above the listing price of $38 USD and fell to as low as $19 USD by August 2012. While the investors who stuck it out initially took a loss those who chose not to panic eventually saw their shares grow to $116 USD by December 2022.
#2: Cheap doesn’t mean undervalued
Buying a stock just because it is cheap can be risky. There may be reasons the price is so low, so check company fundamentals and other sources such as analyst and media reports.
A good way to guard against the risk of losing money in the stock market is to diversify your investments across different sectors and use multiple investing strategies. If one sector or strategy is failing to pay off, others may pick up the slack and compensate for any losses.
#3: Buying the dip isn’t as simple as you think
Investing when stock prices have dropped can be a cheap way of buying a stake in companies. This sounds simple, but it’s a bit like trying to catch a falling knife. Timing is important. If you don’t catch it cleanly, you could get hurt. In the case of stocks, it could mean losing money.
You need to be sure that the stock has reached the bottom before you buy, or the value of your holding will fall. Hesitating can also make you lose money. It might be worth buying now if you think a company is likely to grow in the future. Or if you buy dividend stocks as a source of income, you might not want to wait until prices drop.
What’s the best time of day to buy stocks?
Stock markets have opening and closing times during which you can make trades. Stock prices can change quickly just as a market opens, as traders have digested news or economic events since the markets closed and have prepared their trades overnight.
The middle of the day tends to be calmer in terms of price volatility. Stock prices can be a bit more unpredictable towards the end of the day, as active day traders attempt to buy or sell before the market closes.
This shouldn’t matter if you are investing for the long term. A diversified portfolio helps smooth out losses over decades, letting you benefit from more highs than lows in the stock market.
What’s the best day of the week to buy stocks?
There are a couple of theories about how markets perform during the week. Some stocks may be hit by the “Monday effect,” where the market follows wherever it was heading on Friday and usually ends up falling. This is because companies tend to release bad news at the end of the week or over the weekend in the hope that it gets less coverage.
Should I buy stocks now?
Warren Buffett famously said the best time to invest was several years ago, the second best is now. Ultimately, the earlier you start investing in stocks, the more you can smooth out any losses and benefit from returns.
Long-term investors also benefit from compound interest. This is where you can start investing with $1,000, for example, and if your stock portfolio grows by 5% in a year, you then have an extra $50 to invest without using any more of your own money. If markets grow by another 5% over a year, your $1,050 will have earned $52.50, turning your initial investment into $1,102.50.
Do your research and make investment decisions backed by research and an understanding of your own financial goals and strategies.
What influences stock prices?
There are many factors that can influence a company’s stock price, including its financial performance, the release of annual reports and good and bad press coverage.
For example, popular exercise bike company Peloton’s share price fell 11% in just one day in December 2021 when a character in the Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That… died after suffering a heart attack on the machine.
Political, social and economic factors can also impact stock prices. Zoom and Netflix stocks performed well during the COVID-19 pandemic as people worked and played from home. But travel stocks plummeted at the end of November 2021 after the Omicron coronavirus variant emerged, prompting governments to impose travel restrictions.(4)
“Shares have the potential to offer higher long-term returns than just leaving your money in cash, where the value will be eroded by inflation. Building a diversified stock investment portfolio can help reach your savings goals faster than relying on cash as the returns are higher. Long-term investors shouldn’t worry too much about the best time, day or month to invest in a stock as a balanced portfolio should perform well over a good few years.
It is still important to keep an eye on your portfolio and use financial metrics, company data, analyst reports and news stories to monitor a sector to spot new investments or make changes to your existing portfolio.”
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Bottom line
You don’t have to stick to a single investment strategy. Some strategies may be best suited to certain economic periods or market trends. Diversifying your portfolio with a mixture of investments will help you weather short-term market storms to experience long-term gains.
Don’t worry too much about the best time, day or month to invest. Market duration can be more important than timing your trade, as stocks may go in and out of fashion depending on the economy.
Frequently asked questions about the best time to invest in stocks
Some brokers let you buy and sell stocks outside of trading hours such as in the evening, on weekends or on bank holidays. This can be risky, as the markets tend to be quieter, meaning there is less liquidity and you may not get a fair price for what you're buying or selling.
Additionally, the price may change when the markets actually open as large-scale investors and active day traders will have prepared their positions. You can set up a trade to be executed when markets open. But you could overpay if the price drops straight away, or you could make a profit if it rises.
For day traders, stocks can be at their lowest just as markets open before the frenzy to consolidate positions and portfolios begins. The end of the trading day can also be busy as traders react to the day's news and try to get their deals done before markets close.
Long-term investors don't have to worry about the best time of day to buy stocks, because daily movements are irrelevant if you intend to hold stocks for decades.
The term "Monday effect" comes from an article published in 1973 in the Financial Analysts Journal by Frank Cross. He claimed that the average return on a Friday typically exceeds the average return on a Monday.
There is no firm evidence of this, and other studies have questioned it. Some even claim that returns can be higher on Monday than other days of the week depending on the size of the firm.
Disclaimer: This information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of futures, stocks, ETFs, options or any specific provider, service or offering. It should not be relied upon as investment advice or construed as providing recommendations of any kind. Futures, stocks, ETFs and options trading involves substantial risk of loss and therefore are not appropriate for all investors. Trading forex on leverage comes with a higher risk of losing money rapidly. Past performance is not an indication of future results. Consider your own circumstances, and obtain your own advice, before making any trades.
Marc is an award-winning freelance journalist specialising in business and personal finance. His work has appeared in print and online publications ranging from FT Business to The Times, Mail on Sunday and Business Insider. He also co-presents the In For A Penny financial planning podcast.
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