This article explain how to execute a buy or sell order via phone. In order to buy or sell shares of stocks, bonds, ETFs or mutual funds on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), you'll need to have an account at one of its member firms. Some of these member firms open accounts for individuals, and others only work with institutions. These firms have seats on the Exchange, and account holders may use the firm's online trading platform or telephone customer service to place buy or sell orders for Israeli securities on the TASE.
Frequency of trades
If you don't intend to trade often, then your best bet is to call your Israeli brokerage or bank and take the following steps. Their customer service will usually speak English well enough to execute buy and sell orders. If you plan to trade on a reoccurring basis, it may be worth your while to learn the basics on the online trading system. Contact us for help with this.
Call and identify yourself
- Call during their Israel-time zone work hours. Remember, Israel Standard Time is GMT+2 hours (7 hours ahead of New York), and Israel conducts business on Sunday through Thursday.
- Call your bank or brokerage internationally using +972 as the Israel country code, and remove the leading 0 from the Israeli area code. For example, from the U.S., you might dial 011-972-3-5555555.
- Identify yourself using your account number, name, and any phone identification code given to you upon opening your account
Placing a buy order
- Israeli securities are purchased in Israeli Shekels. There are no "settlement days" on the TASE: all transactions are executed and paid for immediately (for stocks, bonds and ETFs) or at the end of the same business day (for mutual funds). So, you'll need enough shekels in your account to make your purchase.
- If you opened your account with another currency (such as U.S. dollars), you'll need to convert these to shekels through your Israeli brokerage or bank. They should be able to do this via phone or email. Make sure you indicate that you would like to sell your currency and buy shekels. The actual purchase of shekels (currency exchange) may not occur immediately. Banks typically transact at the current intraday rate, and brokerages will transact sometime during the currency trading day (which are only Monday-Thursday).
- Remember to always leave some cash in the account to cover periodic fees and transaction commissions.
- Once you have funded your account and have the necessary shekels to purchase the desired security, indicate the name and number of the security, as well as the number of shares you wish to purchase. In Israel, the security's number is in place of a company's "ticker symbol". This can be found on the bank/brokerage's online website, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange website, or by asking over the phone by giving the exact name of the company (for stock), series and maturity date (for government bonds), or company and series (for corporate bonds).
- Verify the current price with customer service before you confirm the transaction.
- If you place a market order, you can usually get purchase confirmation as you wait on the phone.
- If you give a limit order, you can call back later to see if your securities were purchased at the given price or not. By default, limit orders are day-only orders, so if you'd like the order to be "good 'till cancel" (called a "continuous buy limit order", usually good for up to 30 days), indicate that on the phone call.
Placing a sell order
- Indicate the name and number of the security, as well as the number of shares you wish to sell (or all). The security's number is in place of a company's "ticker symbol". This can be found on Tel Aviv Stock Exchange website or ascertained over the phone.
- Verify the current price with customer service.
- If you place a market order, you can usually get sale confirmation as you wait on the phone.
- If you give a limit order, you can call back later to see if your securities were sold at the specified price or not. By default, limit orders are day-only orders, so if you'd like the order to be "good 'till cancel", indicate that on the phone call.
- There are no "settlement days" on the TASE: all transactions are executed and paid for immediately (for stocks, bonds and ETFs) or at the end of the same business day (for mutual funds).
The first transaction or two may be daunting as you learn the ropes, but by the third time, you'll be a pro. Happy investing!
If you do not feel comfortable doing this by yourself, we are hear to help. You can contact us to find out how you can get started investing in Israel.