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 […]

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 […]

This week it was bone-chillingly cold everywhere in Canada except for the discount broker deal space (and maybe Vancouver).  Several big promotions heated up the deals space this week in what is likely a sign of the fierce competition for self-directed investors’ assets to come this RSP deadline season.   Just in time for all that […]

[Updated: Jan 31/2014] While we thought the beginning of January would be a busy time for deals, we didn’t know it would be THIS crazy. Since the beginning of the month there have been quite a few big announcements. Read below for more details Welcome to the first discount brokerage deals post of 2014! 2013 […]

This week Canadians learned that for some of us, getting letters to and from the North Pole may get harder and also more expensive now that Canada Post may cut back on mail deliveries. Not to fear though, SparxTrading is still delivering the best roundup of Canada’s discount brokerage related news, rain or shine, snow […]

This week’s discount brokerage roundup finds us crossing into the home stretch of 2013.  Now that December is finally here things will almost certainly begin to gear down on the discount brokerage front until 2014.  Even so, this past week had a number of stories from various discount brokers including a new fee & commission […]

Updated 12/27/13 It had to happen sometime – Questrade has now become the first Canadian discount brokerage to offer a Boxing Day promotion.  The deal being offered is 25 commission-free trades that do not expire until the end of 2014 for a minimum deposit of $25,000.  Like any good Boxing Day deal, this offer is […]

With bargain hunters being bullish on all kinds of deals, this Black Friday edition of the weekly roundup will hopefully be enjoyed on the screens of some newly purchased electronic goodies.   While the Black Friday madness has yet to hit the discount brokerage world (yet), there was still quite a bit of activity to report […]

Well when it rains in the discount brokerage world, it certainly pours. Fitting for November.  This week’s roundup looks back on a busy week filled with a major discount brokerage ranking being released, a very cool (and geeky) way to learn about options pricing as well as a frenzy of conversation about discount brokerages from […]

For many banks and discount brokerages, the start of November is not just the beginning of a new month but also a new fiscal year.  Going into the feverish sprint that is typical of a year-end means that attention was probably turned to getting the year wrapped up.  It also might help to explain why […]

Updated Nov. 18th 2013 It’s hard to believe that November is already here. Most of the Canadian discount brokerages appear to be moving cautiously towards the end of the year with no new deals being offered this month.  And so things appear quiet – perhaps too quiet. [updated  11/18/13] Well, it looks like the deal […]

Coming into the home stretch of October, equity markets are continuing push higher.  The constant string of ‘good news’ is something that may lure more investors back into the markets, which is also probably why there are some major initial public offerings (IPOs) also being announced. Against the backdrop of optimistic markets, some discount brokerages […]

It’s Friday once more and with it brings a whole slew of discount brokerage related news and activities.  As the calendar rolled over into a new month, there was the usual hubbub with new deals being offered and updated by some major discount brokerages.  This past week also saw one major Canadian discount brokerage sponsor […]

For Canada’s discount brokerages, fall not only means a busier season with investors, but for many of them it is also the time of year they either dread or cheer. The stretch of time between September and January is typically when a number of Canadian discount brokerage rankings get published – something that could be […]

This October the deal wheels keep on turning.    Overall, it looks like competition at Canadian discount brokerages is heating up with 6 discount brokerages currently offering some kind of promotion. To help make sense of the deals, this month we’re rolling out Deal Analytics (explained below) which will help provide support to individuals trying to […]

As hard as it is to believe, September is almost over and with it there was some major news this past week in the discount brokerage space.  In this edition of the roundup, I look at the big news in discount brokerage rankings that was announced earlier in the week as well as highlight what […]

Against the backdrop of smartphone maker drama, securities regulator announcements and US Federal Reserve tapering, Friday is finally here – and for some, it couldn’t come fast enough.  While it was hard to compete with the headline grabbing billion dollar writedown or a sexy new operating system, Canadian discount brokers were busy making some big […]

Welcome to the Friday the 13th edition of the discount broker weekly roundup.  It’s been an exciting week in the markets as news of the widely anticipated Twitter IPO became official.  This week, I’ll provide some highlights of fee drops and deal announcements that took place, followed up by a couple of interesting forum on […]

With the end of the first week in September, there was certainly lots of news around the globe and in the markets to keep investors on the edge of their seats.  Within the discount broker space, there were some noteworthy deal extensions that showed up late into week one of September.  From the investor side […]

Updated Sept. 20/13 September is here, and with it comes a number of deal extensions from Canadian discount brokerages.  Going into the home stretch of the calendar year, several factors might be at play that explain why there are more ‘extensions’ of deals than new deals appearing just yet. First, a number of financial firms […]