Update: August 18 With everything that’s happened over the last few months, 2020 has simultaneously felt like the longest and the shortest year ever.  Time isn’t the only thing that the COVID-19 pandemic has distorted. Despite the biggest economic shock in memory (and on record), stock markets and retail investor behaviour have also distorted how […]

Update: July 28 Summer has finally arrived, and what a strange summer it’s shaping up to be! This word has been used a lot in the last few months, but it continues to be the word of the moment: unprecedented. With the whole world – and the stock market – venturing into uncharted territory, it’s […]

Summer is officially here. With warmer weather now upon us and progress – albeit slower than anyone would like – in the battle against COVID-19, it appears that there is reason for some cautious optimism. A group feeling particularly optimistic heading into the summer are Canadian discount brokerages. The combination of standard commission rates and […]

Many seasoned investors know that the stock market acts as a giant voting machine on what things are worth. What many people gloss over, however, is the fact that stock markets often start figuring out what something is worth by looking into the future and ignoring what things are worth in today’s dollars. Why this […]

Just like that, it is now June. The past few months have simultaneously felt like the slowest yet fastest months ever, and it is safe to say that the first half of 2020 has been rather tumultuous. However, for every bad news story we have heard or read about, there are countless good ones that […]

For anyone watching any kind of news or social media, it is difficult to fully process what is unfolding in cities around the world. With so many of us in Canada and around the world still under restrictions to stay close to home, the window to the outside world has become a digital one. Despite […]

Here we are at the beginning of a new month. If the old adages are to be believed, then May is where we can look forward to flowers, and when investors would typically sell and look to return in the fall. Of course, those would be in normal times, and with many of us still […]

As the saying goes, April showers bring May flowers. After a whirlwind of unexpected changes in the last month, resulting from the global health and economic crises, there appears to be an increase in DIY investor confidence when it comes to stepping back into the markets. Despite current market volatility, there has been a recent […]

Here we are at almost the end of April and were it not for the intentional reminders as to the date, it certainly feels like the long day continues. Still, the goalposts matter. While dates aren’t moveable, it seems like other goalposts are being moved on DIY investors. Also, on the topic of goalposts, this […]

For DIY investors, last week’s market bounce is sure to put a spring back into their step, even though stocks are trading well below their levels from just a few weeks ago. Nonetheless, with the fear gauge falling and DIY investors hoping to find treasures in the market, one spoiler to that momentum is that […]

April has finally arrived. As much as the year is moving quickly, it simultaneously feels like it is moving incredibly slowly. As with the reality in markets, any bit of information about where things go next with the COVID-19 crisis is highly prized. In this edition of the Roundup, we wade into the shallow deals […]

Updated April 7 It’s finally April and, after the unprecedented changes and challenges that have unfolded over the past month, we would love to say that current world events are nothing but an April Fool’s Day joke gone wrong but sadly, that isn’t the case.  To start off the month, online brokerages have opted to […]

The most fundamental view of how the stock market works is a balance between supply and demand. As the past few weeks have now shown, there are clearly some places where there’s an oversupply and some places, like grocery stores and phone lines, where demand has surged. Even so, it’s important to remember, especially at […]

To paraphrase a quote from Bad Boys, things just got very real. Markets are already in unprecedented territory with record volatility and anyone who looks at the hard right edge of a chart might be seeing just how important having some kind of visibility into the future is to financial markets. Let’s just say, capital […]

March is now here and while March Madness is synonymous with college basketball, it seems to sum up the sentiment in the stock market as fears about global economic slowdowns and uncertainty around COVID-19 continue to spread. Also at a fever pitch: deals from Canadian online brokerages at the RSP contribution deadline. In this edition […]

Updated March 9 Even though the markets might be in meltdown mode, one of the interesting features of the Canadian discount brokerage deal landscape is that there’s still solid ground for DIY investors in search of a good deal. Most offers from Canada’s online brokers were timed around the RSP contribution deadline and though several […]

With Valentine’s Day and now with a shortened trading week for Family Day in Canada and President’s Day in the US, the weekend has been bookended with reasons to celebrate. For DIY investors, the sprint towards the RRSP contribution deadline may not offer roses and chocolates, but there are certainly some very sweet gifts being […]

After the ‘big game’ in the NFL, it’s now time for the championship race between Canadian online brokerages to kick into high gear. With just a few weeks left until the deadline for RSP contribution, it will be an all-out sprint by Canadian online brokerages to land new accounts and assets from Canadian DIY investors. […]

February is finally upon us. It’s a great time to indulge in all things that are rosy and sugar-spun for Valentine’s Day and, for Canadian DIY investors, the best time to take advantage of sweet deals being offered by Canadian discount brokerages ahead of the RRSP contribution deadline. In spite of the cheer, to quote […]

Welcome to 2020! Lots has happened while the Weekly Roundup has been on hiatus, however much like the snow blanketing rooftops all across the country (including Vancouver), there’s lots of news to shovel through and remarkably a lot to look forward to for DIY investors this RSP season. In this first edition of the Weekly […]