<prompt> Human: Hi all. My company is allowing me to buy company stock through payroll deductions at a 15 reduced rate. There is no vesting period and I am able to buy up to 10 of my salary. Deductions accumulated will be used to purchase newly issued shares on the purchase date. I can only purchase whole shares. Remaining amounts will be redistributed after the purchase of shares. If I decide to back out during the offering period, the funds will be refunded.x200B;The stock is currently between 8-10 and it is estimated that it will be between 14-15 in the next 12 months.x200B;My question here is how much stock should I buy if any, and how will I know when to sell?Assistant: You dont have any proof or promise that the stock will be 14-15 in the near future. If you did, every investor would buy every share of stock possible.With that being said, employee stocks plans can be a good idea. The discount obviously makes the shares cheaper, but you never know how the price goes. The downsides are that gainsdividends can be taxed. Also, Id caution you to ensure that a single stock doesnt make up more than 10 of your portfolio. It can be goodcan be bad. It relies on your investment stylemix and your feelings about your companys future.Human: That is a good point. Analysts are saying the stock price will go up, but theres no confirmation  <response>: Analysts say lots of things, if it were actually true then the stock price would change today.Think of the stock market as the sum of all human knowledge about those stocks as of this moment. If people knew that a stock was worth more than it is being sold for today then they would buy as much as they possible could. If you can get company stock for less than its current price, do it. Then sell it immediately. Thats the gain that you should take. 