Between a few days of markets selling off and glitch named ‘heartbleed’ that is turning the internet upside down, it has been a tough week for anyone sitting behind a screen. For those with a view of the outdoors, however, it has probably been even tougher as the nice weather has finally started to show […]

If the acronym HIMYM means something to you, then you know this past week was a drama filled one on screens across the globe. It’s hard to imagine more drama than the HIMYM ending, however that was certainly the case across the screens of traders as the debate on high frequency trading has taken a […]

[Updated 4/15/14] There are noticeably fewer discount brokerage deals & promotions at the start of April than at the same time last month. That said, this is spring and there are any number of surprises that can pop up. While the month starts off on a slightly leaner note than month’s past there were a […]

As March comes to a close, winter still seem reluctant to leave so many Canadians. Even so, spring is in the air and it is bringing with it some surprises from online brokerages which will hopefully leave DIY investors with more green in their accounts. In this week’s discount brokerage roundup we cover the news […]

If there is one thing that March madness can guarantee, its unpredictability. In the discount brokerage space this was certainly the case as we were watching to see who, if anyone, would launch a promotion that could make a splash in the already ultra-competitive online brokerage market. This past week it happened. In this week’s […]

This week’s discount brokerage roundup is a little ‘rounder’ than most as it falls on Pi Day. This irrational edition of the weekly roundup features a quick announcement about an ETF webinar reschedule followed by a release by one discount brokerage of a refreshed trading platform.  In addition, we provide some interesting results from US […]

The beginning of March has seen a frenzied week across international markets and here at home in the discount brokerage space.  While the world is watching to see what unfolds between the Ukraine and Russia, markets paused only briefly on the news but then continued to push higher into new all-time highs (for the S&P […]

Updated March 28/2014 The deals and promotions offered by Canadian discount brokerages at the outset of March are largely unchanged from February.  While the the deals may be starting March looking one way,  there’s a good chance that the end of March will look very different.  Of the 18 offers currently available, 12 are set […]

Less than a week after skiers and snowboarders were making their way down the slopes, a different set of peaks and valleys are now confronting investors. At the peak, the S&P 500 chased a new all-time high this week. Down in the valley is bitcoin because of the loss of a major exchange to a […]

In part one of this series, we looked at the recent moves by Canadian bank-owned online brokerages to reduce their standard commission fees.  Since standard commission fees are just part of the fee picture, part two focuses on how to evaluate the other fees that clients may still be on the hook for. Small Stack […]

This past week in the Canadian discount brokerage space seemed about as quiet as the US Women’s Olympic hockey team dressing room after that most spectacular win by Team Canada.   The silence on the brokerage front, however, is likely indicative of the planning and ‘strategizing’ by marketing and product teams as the battle for brokerage […]

For Canadian discount brokerages, 2014 has already been an eventful year. It has now been just over a month since RBC Direct Investing announced the lowering of their standard trading commissions and in that time, the predicted response from several other bank-owned online brokerages has materialized. Since the RBC announcement, BMO InvestorLine, TD Direct Investing […]

On this Valentine’s Day edition of the discount brokerage weekly roundup, romance is definitely the air for many folks.  Yes, it appears more bank-owned discount brokerages are lining up to show just how much they love their self-directed investor clients by offering lower commissions.   Courting self-directed investors, however, is going to take more than just […]

If there’s one thing that the world can agree on, it’s that those little asterisks can be a pain in the…well you know where.  Many self-directed investors have come to accept them.  Even the opening ceremonies for the Olympics certainly weren’t immune to bad case of the unexpected asterisk. This past week, however, another major […]

Updated Feb. 27th 2014 Now that February is here, the RSP contribution deadline (March 3rd) is in the crosshairs of many investors.  Canadian discount brokerages have already stepped up the deals & promotions activities with last month seeing over 20 deals offered.   The most active of all the discount brokerages was Questrade followed by BMO […]

For many years, observers of the Canadian discount brokerage marketplace as well as the discount brokers themselves have all understood that the online brokerage business is a highly competitive space. Despite the many trends in products, services and pricing that have occurred over the last decade the standard commission rates at bank-owned brokerages have remained […]

As January comes to an end, looking back on all of the deals and announcements from discount brokerages, it seems like that there was way more drama amongst the brokerages than even Justin Bieber could muster up.  And if this past week is any indication of what’s ahead, February will see discount brokerages pushing to […]

If there’s any good news to be found in the junior mining sector, it’s that those companies struggling to stay afloat are still around to struggle.  While the weight of negative news and uncertain forecasts still weighed on investors, this year’s Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC) nonetheless contained an interesting cross section of attitudes about […]

The temperatures are down. The loonie is down. The markets are down.  And while it seems like the “polar vortex” was busy cooling things off this past week, the action at the marketing departments of Canadian discount brokers was heating up. In this week’s roundup, we cover the reaction from several online brokerages to RBC […]

For individual investors, shopping for an online trading account often requires doing a fair amount of research and comparison between brokerages.  While commissions & fees are the most important factor investors consider when choosing an account, what it’s like to be a client of a particular brokerage is also something many investors are often curious […]