For investors, every day in the markets feels like Black Friday. From the opening bell through to the close and into the night, there’s no shortage of folks looking to capitalize on a great deal. Fortunately for DIY investors, there’s at least one place that pulls together the deals and promotions from Canadian discount brokerages […]

If the world were to go to hell in a handbasket, the market would respond by going bullish on basket makers and transportation. Such is the lens of a trader. Despite the volatility and uncertainty attached to a Trump presidency, the sell-off in the moments following the Trump election quickly corrected by the time markets […]

Patience is a virtue. Or for some, it’s a way of life. Cubs fans can finally celebrate winning the world series, somewhat ironically on a week when market bears were also cheering their recent victories.  For Canadian discount brokers, more than a handful have decided that they’re done playing the waiting game and are going […]

Heading into the unofficial ‘Halloweekend’, just one small piece of news from the US was enough to spook the markets. Investors were left trying to figure out if the latest news on the US presidential race was more trick or treat. Of course, not everything coming out of the US this past week was doom […]

Well it has certainly been a week to remember. Not so much for what happened in the markets but rather for what happened around them and what this weeks events may do to markets everywhere. While the presidential debate or the loss of championship run were big news, perhaps the biggest news is the major […]

Like the Toronto Blue Jays’ bats, fall colours are also in full swing.  As we head into the halfway point in October this edition of the roundup has an equally interesting feature – something that all Canadian online brokerages are going to want to tune into. In this week’s roundup, we lead off with a […]

Now that fall is here, the weather may be cooling down but the competition at Canadian discount brokerages is definitely heating up. Rather than sitting back Canadian online brokers are firing on all cylinders, from deals and marketing to technological revolutions. This edition of the roundup launches with a look at yet another new deal […]

A famous football movie said sometimes life is a game of inches. As the busy season for investors and brokerages kicks off, it looks like there are lots of interesting changes, big and small, that are taking place in and around the brokerage industry, to win over new clients. From growing a client base to […]

September’s here and it’s all about the kids – well at least what some people consider to be kids anyway. After a summer spent huddled away figuring out what the ‘cool kids’ of investing may want, the Canadian discount brokerages have launched into September with some new features that are clearly aimed at winning the […]

If you haven’t heard much about IPOs this year, you’re not alone. Globally, investment bankers have had a lot more time on their hands and deal flow has slowed to its lowest levels in a decade (see data on Global IPO proceeds below, courtesy of Renaissance Capital). Global IPO Proceeds to June 2016 Source: Renaissance […]

Citius, Altius, Fortius – the Latin version of the motto of the Olympics which translates into faster, higher, stronger – seems to be an appropriate jumping off point for this week’s roundup, especially as the US stock markets hit new ‘personal bests.’ As with the Olympic games in Brazil, competition between Canadian discount brokerages is […]

With the activities going on in the US republican convention this week, it was difficult to escape the news cycle that was dominated by the upcoming US elections in November. Alas there are no plagiarized speeches, comb-overs or bad spray tans (at least that we know of) in the online brokerage space. Given the hubbub […]

Even when the world appears irrational, markets still move to beat of their own drum. Against a backdrop of turbulent headlines, markets in the US have managed to hit new all-time highs. For DIY investors in Canada, however, it is an interesting moment. As stock prices move higher, this will invariably attract investors back into […]

Happy Canada Day! The recent visit of US President Barack Obama to Canada underscored the importance of the two countries’ working relationship. Interestingly, at least one US online brokerage has managed to maintain its presence in Canada as part of its international expansion plan and the writing on the wall suggests that it won’t be […]

Despite what the pundits and talking heads are passionately and energetically discussing on business news networks the world over, global markets are not in turmoil. While the calculus of a market repricing may seem messy (and it sometimes is), the reality is that markets are doing what they do best: putting a present day price […]

If there’s one thing markets are fueled by, it’s hype. Heading into this weekend, there’s plenty of hype to go around, from the upcoming Brexit vote, to the NBA finals game 7 or even the epic battle to be fought in game of thrones, all of these are building expectations and anticipation. For their part, […]

In case you didn’t get the memo, it’s National Donut Day – oh and apparently there’s a bull market in commodities to mark the occasion. As we head into a new month, the headline of a ‘bull market’ in commodities is great news for Canadian traders, regardless of whether or not the rally sustains itself. […]

Even the best investors can be caught off guard by sudden moves in the market. It’s a humbling lesson and usually the tuition for poor risk management isn’t cheap. For Canadian discount brokerages, there are definitely signs in the US brokerage market that the risks for certain brokerages are rising. In this week’s roundup, we […]

Crisis and opportunity. For traders it’s often two sides of the same coin. The human toll of the tragic events in Fort McMurray are impossible to quantify however for those seasoned veterans of markets who can only watch in disbelief at this surreal disaster, the scale and impact of these wildfires are what need to […]

With storm clouds thicker than this week’s 420 protests-turned-celebrations and tension greater than the imminent showdown coming in the next installment of Game of Thrones, it seems the fog of war has set in with online brokerages. On the home front, things are nervously quiet, however from the revelations this past week in the US, […]