You bought a share and you're already down

Buy a share and check your portfolio thirty seconds later, and it will often show a small unrealised loss — before the price has moved at all. That's not a mistake in the app. You bought at the ask, and the stock is instantly valued at the mid price, so the spread you crossed to get in shows up immediately as paper red.

It only becomes a real loss if you sell right back into that same gap. Otherwise it's just the entry cost of the trade, sitting inside your cost basis — the price you actually paid, fees included, that every gain or loss from here is measured against.

Educational content only. It is not personal financial advice.