21.   For example, imagine that an investor owns a substantial amount of Microsoft shares bought over the years.

22.   He said he was also surprised by the breadth of what people were buying over the Internet.

23.   In the short term, consumers save on sales tax when they buy over the Internet from a company not in their state.

24.   Instead, they buy them over a period of time on the open market.

25.   Indeed, his fund has been selling more stock than it has bought over the past week.

26.   It is simultaneously developing Chemicals Choice, a private BP portal for customers who want to buy directly over the Internet from the chemicals division.

27.   John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance has started a variable annuity with no load, or sales fee, that can be bought over the telephone.

28.   Nearly all of the tickets were for Los Angeles departures, for mostly one-way trips, bought over a five-week period this spring.

29.   So spread your buying over time.

30.   The catch is you have to buy them over the Internet, as we did a couple of weeks ago.