Advertisement

News

The latest posts from SparxTrading – in depth views on the world of online investing.

THE LATEST

category logo

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – June 28, 2013

Published June 28, 2013
clock 5 Minutes

It has been predictably quiet in the discount brokerage space this past week with many self-directed investors out enjoying summertime activities. Still, there are some updates on several discount brokerage promotions that are noteworthy as we head into July.  Also, there are a couple of advertising/marketing stories that might be of interest for those keeping […]

Read More >
category logo

Commission-Free ETFs at Canadian Discount Brokerages: A Clever Lure or a Good Deal for Investors? Part 1

Published June 25, 2013
clock 5 Minutes

Every day increasing numbers of self-directed investors are either turning to exchange traded funds (ETFs) to meet their investing goals or are learning more about how ETFs could help lower their investing costs.   Given the interest in these products by self-directed investors and the commission costs that are associated with buying and selling ETFs, Canadian […]

Read More >
category logo

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – June 21, 2013

Published June 21, 2013
clock 5 Minutes

While storms were raging across stock markets this past week, it was definitely calmer waters in terms of discount brokerage news and chatter.  In this week’s roundup, we look at the actions that landed another Canadian discount broker in the IIROC penalty box, a report by TD on Canadian investors as well as a review […]

Read More >
category logo

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – June 14th 2013

Published June 14, 2013
clock 5 Minutes

This past week was a fairly quiet one for Canadian discount brokerages, so this roundup will focus on some of the interesting events that took place in the discount brokerage space more generally. The most popular story in the discount brokerage space continues to be the supposed return of retail investors to equity markets.  Digging […]

Read More >
category logo

Special Series: Dalbar Canada’s Direct Brokerage Service Award – Part 2

Published June 14, 2013
clock 5 Minutes

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, […]

Read More >
category logo

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – June 7th 2013

Published June 8, 2013
clock 5 Minutes

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 […]

Read More >
category logo

Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – June 2013

Published June 1, 2013
clock 8 Minutes

[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 […]

Read More >
category logo

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – May 31st 2013

Published May 31, 2013
clock 5 Minutes

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 […]

Read More >
category logo

Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – May 2013

Published May 1, 2013
clock 8 Minutes

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 […]

Read More >
category logo

National Bank Direct Brokerage to offer commission-free ETFs

Published April 17, 2013
clock 5 Minutes

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 […]

Read More >
category logo

Questrade vs Virtual Brokers – A Comprehensive Pricing Comparison of Their Lowest Commission Plans

Published April 15, 2013
clock 5 Minutes

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 […]

Read More >
category logo

Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – April 2013

Published April 1, 2013
clock 8 Minutes

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. […]

Read More >
category logo

Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – March 2013

Published March 1, 2013
clock 5 Minutes

As we move past the 2013 RRSP season, many of the promotions offered last month are either expired or will be expiring at the end of this month.  It seems like several discount brokerages are going to pass altogether on offering up any promotions for March whereas others are just extending out the deadlines of […]

Read More >
category logo

Questrade Launches Commission Free Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) Buying

Published February 4, 2013
clock 5 Minutes

Commission Free ETFs – The New Normal? Earlier this month, Questrade made a major announcement that impacts the commission fees associated with trading or investing in exchange traded funds (ETFs).   Specifically, Questrade has eliminated the commission fees associated with purchasing ETFs so that now any Canadian or American listed ETF is available for purchase commission […]

Read More >
category logo

Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – February 2013

Published February 1, 2013
clock 8 Minutes

This February will be the busiest month for football, love and RRSP deals.  Winning new business is clearly on the minds of big and small discount brokerages with a number of promotions aimed squarely at Canadian investors looking to open RRSP accounts. Kicking off the RRSP-specific deals are a couple transfer deals from the usually […]

Read More >
category logo

Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – January 2013

Published January 2, 2013
clock 8 Minutes

Happy New Year to all of our deal hunting readers and welcome to another edition of Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions. One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions for folks is to slim down. As it turns out, the number of deals being offered by discount brokerages has also slimmed down.  Right out of […]

Read More >
category logo

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – Dec 16th 2012

Published December 16, 2012
clock 5 Minutes

As 2012 draws to a close, it looks like the discount brokerage industry is going into autopilot.  This past week saw the expiry of a couple of promotions. First, Scotia iTrade’s 100 days of unlimited trading offer expired this week.  This leaves Questrade as the only discount brokerage currently offering unlimited trades.   Speaking of Questrade, […]

Read More >