Most all the folks that frequent this website know that when you are buying and selling preferred stocks and baby bonds it is absolutely NECESSARY to use ‘limit orders’.
One of my largest holdings is the Affiliated Managers Convertible ($50 issue) which took a pop of over $4/share today on 208 shares as a buyer was snoozing. This makes my account look good, but obviously is a great way to pee away $4/share–over 1,000 shares have now changed hands back down at around $42.
In particular when buying and selling these somewhat ‘illiquid’ shares one has to make sure to use those limit order.