In part 1 of this series, we took a brief look at how self-directed investors typically access information about discount brokerage customer service and introduced Dalbar Canada’s research in this area.  Specifically, Dalbar’s Direct Brokerage Sales Effectiveness (DBSE) program measures the performance of client service teams at discount brokerages. In this part of our series, […]

Set against the backdrop of epic conquests, bloodthirsty barbarians and Machiavellian-style manipulation, Game of Thrones is capturing imaginations across the globe. At times the investing world seems a lot like the savage and cruel arenas characters from the story find themselves in.  Even though the story takes place in a mythical land, it focuses on […]

This week’s discount brokerage update features the newly announced deal by BMO InvestorLine, a couple of great forum post on the Financial Webring Forum on Qtrade vs. RBC Direct Investing  as well as another article from The Globe and Mail about Canada’s best discount broker. Deals Getting Some Air Unlike a lot of deals that […]

When searching for the right discount brokerage, a lot of information can be obtained online about the pricing of discount brokerage accounts, commissions and services.  Some features, such as customer service, require more work to learn about. After knowing what it costs to be a client of a discount brokerage many self-directed investors value knowing […]

With speakers, analysts, exhibitors and investors all converging in the same space, the World Resource Investment Conference (WRIC) is a great opportunity to gauge the pulse of the Canadian junior mining and exploration sectors.  Of course, with a year that has unfolded the way it has for the junior mining and exploration space, many attendees […]

[Updated June 12th] With summer just around the corner, a few of Canada’s discount brokerages are going to be working a little harder this month to try and win over self-directed investors.  The recently announced earnings from several major Canadian banks indicate that they aren’t making as much money as their shareholders are expecting. As […]

Discount Brokerage News This roundup features deal spotting from Disnat and TD Direct Investing at the Cambridge House World Resource Investment Conference, a new review of Qtrade and news about a costly mistake made by a  Questrade trader. In addition we take a quick peek at the latest ranking of Canadian discount brokerages. Deal Me […]

This year’s World Resource Investment Conference (WRIC) in Vancouver came a bit earlier in the calendar than last year’s conference against the backdrop of a mining and exploration market fraught with pain and nervousness. In the mining sector, hope seems to be the rare commodity everyone is looking for these days. The two-day WRIC featured […]

We are back with the Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup! Here’s the latest news from Canadian discount brokerages this past week: JitneyTrade and Credential Direct have stepped into the investor education game offering learning webinars to their clients. A look at JitneyTrade’s Twitter feed gave us the low-down on a series of webinars about market analysis […]

Deals have been updated, see below for more details This month’s deals and promotions from Canadian discount brokerages feature a new promotion by Questrade, as well as an interesting deal/contest by Scotia iTrade announced last month.  Also, Qtrade‘s transfer fee rebate is also back, this time with no apparent time limits.  Before launching into the […]

While many self-directed investors understand that managing their own money can involve a great deal of responsibility and work, many do not realize the important skills they need to commit to mastering in order to succeed.  Certain investors want to “dabble” or learn to trade with what they often characterize as “fun money” however losing […]

In the third part of our series comparing Questrade’s $0.95 trade commission plan to Virtual Brokers’ $0.99 trade commission plan we focus on how order types can impact the total cost associated with either trading commission plan.  If you missed the beginning our series, you can read Part 1 here or Part 2 here.  If […]

This year’s Vancouver World MoneyShow turned out to be a little different than most others. The exhibiting space felt a bit smaller than usual, the lineups took a bit longer and the schedule a bit less punctual.  As it turned out, this year’s MoneyShow would be the one in which this franchise would announce its […]

Commission-Free ETFs: Peer Pressure? Letting self-directed investors trade exchange traded funds (ETFs) commission-free appears to be all the rage amongst Canadian discount brokerages these days. National Bank Direct Brokerage has now become the latest Canadian discount brokerage to offer free trading of Canadian ETFs (click here to read their press release) joining the likes of […]

In the second installment of our special series comparing Questrade’s and Virtual Brokers’ lowest stock trading commission plans, we take a look at what our study results showed us about the impact of market data to the overall cost of trading.  If you missed the first part, you can check it out here or if […]

Canadian Discount Brokerages Cut Commissions Canadian discount brokerages are in the midst of a price war.  The newer entrants to the Canadian discount brokerage market, such as Questrade and Virtual Brokers, have driven prices for equity trade commissions to below the $1 per trade mark.  With Questrade’s recently announced $0.95 commission per trade offering, they […]

Introduction As part of our special series on social media and investing, we take a look at the professional social network, LinkedIn. What is LinkedIn LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD) was launched in 2003 and is a social networking website for professionals.  As of January 2013 the site boasts more than 200 million users in more than 200 […]

April’s discount brokerage deals and promotions heralds the return of unlimited trading by an unlikely character in the deals section – HSBC InvestDirect. This deal is in ‘celebration’ of HSBC’s recent award by Dalbar Inc for best customer service at a Canadian discount broker, an award that RBC Direct Investing had won for several years. […]

A familiar saying among investment circles is that “everyone is a genius in a bull market”.  Even though a bull market is reflective of significant optimism about stocks, in the stock market for every up, there is usually a down and it is fascinating to look at investor behaviour whenever markets go to extremes in […]

Whether you are a beginner investor or a seasoned pro, staying on top of the mountains of investment information available online is a constant challenge.  The sheer quantity of information often makes it difficult to find quality, reliable sources to turn to. With so many opinions to wade through  investors have to constantly be cautious […]