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

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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – December 2012

Published December 1, 2012
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For self-directed investors, it seems like the gift of discount brokerage deals has already been given in November. As it stands, the deals offered by discount brokerages into the end of the year are largely carried over from last month. The most noteworthy deal announced mid-November was the unlimited trading offer by Questrade. Similar to […]

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Round Up – Nov. 23rd 2012

Published November 23, 2012
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This week the biggest news for discount brokerages came in the form of the 2012 Globe and Mail Canadian discount brokerage rankings.  Rob Carrick’s annual survey of the Canadian discount brokerage industry looked at 12 firms this year. The top spot went to Virtual Brokers which narrowly edged out the six year champ, Qtrade while […]

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – Nov. 9th 2012

Published November 10, 2012
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The big news from the Canadian discount brokerage industry this week was the huge announcement that OptionsXpress will no longer be available in Canada.  Virtual Brokers will be acquiring all of the OptionsXpress Canada accounts as of December 1st pending regulatory approval. This now narrows the number of Canadian discount brokerages that provide a powerful […]

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OptionsXpress Canada officially exiting the Canadian Discount Brokerage market

Published November 6, 2012
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The Canadian discount brokerage market this week saw one of the players officially exit by selling their Canadian operations.  Virtual Brokers announced today that they will be buying out OptionsXpress Canada effectively signaling the end of OptionsXpress in Canada and shrinking the number of big discount brokerages by one.  The business agreement is set to […]

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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – November 2012

Published November 1, 2012
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November’s lineup of discount brokerage deals and promotions features many of the same players from last month, except with some minor changes to dates and amounts. Starting first with the newest deals. National Bank Direct Brokerage is running the “Take Control of the Markets!” promo where they’re offering new clients who open an account with […]

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – Oct. 12th 2012

Published October 12, 2012
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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup This week, the Canadian discount brokerage industry saw another member announce that it will move its clearing and settlement services in-house.  Virtual Brokers, a division of BBS Securities, announced that they will no longer be using Penson Financial Services Canada to take care of “back office” operations, such as trade clearing […]

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Penson Financial Services Canada Closing Down

Published October 11, 2012
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For most Canadian investors and traders who place their trades online, the details of what happens after they press ‘buy’ or ‘sell’ on their stock trades is largely a trivial matter.  Should one start to think about it, however, the process of matching up millions of orders, confirming trades and documenting what went to whom […]

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Questrade Inactivity Fees Take Effect

Published October 1, 2012
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Halloween isn’t the only scary event to come along this October.  Beginning this month, Canadian discount broker Questrade officially starts charging for inactivity fees – $19.95 per quarter to be exact. Once billed as the “no fee” discount brokerage, Questrade faced a strong backlash from its client base on Canadian deal site RedFlagDeals.com back in […]

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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – October 2012

Published October 1, 2012
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For the month of October, most of the discount brokerages who are offering deals and promotions are fighting hard to win the business of Canadian retail investors. We’ve made a few changes to the deals section so that information is a little bit easier to find.  We’ve put the discount brokerage promotions that include commission […]

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Brokerages Gone Social

Published September 17, 2012
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Even though discount brokerages haven’t traditionally portrayed the most “fun and friendly” image, more and more of them are starting to become visible on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. While you (hopefully) won’t find those embarrassing pictures of a drunken night gone wild or an angry rant about a horrible boss, plugging […]

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Online Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – September 2012

Published September 10, 2012
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The arrival of September is generally when markets shake off the quiet days of summer and start to come back to life.  Across the landscape of discount brokerages, it looks like the major deal offerings that were around in August are standing firm or are being extended out.  For example, Questrade’s 100 free trades offer […]

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Online Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – August 2012

Published August 2, 2012
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As both investors and markets slow down in the tail end of summer, the discount brokerage deals and incentives have also gotten a bit quieter.  Still, for those of you looking for a deal on a discount brokerage account, there are some hefty commission rebate discounts being offered up this August. BMO Investorline has upped […]

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Online Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – July 2012

Published July 2, 2012
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Summer is officially here and with it are a few major league offers that Canadian online discount brokerages have going.  It seems like this month, the four big promos are from Virtual Brokers, Questrade, Scotia iTrade and Disnat Direct. We’ve also got a special discount brokerage deal offering from Jitneytrade now officially launched! It seems […]

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Online Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – June 2012

Published June 1, 2012
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This month’s discount brokerage deals and promotions from Canadian online discount brokerages still includes some substantial offerings, such as the Disnat Active 5 offer and the Scotia iTrade 100 free trades offer. Some new promos this month include the ‘one free trade’ offer from Scotia iTrade to download and try their mobile trading app (for […]

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Discount Broker Deals & Promotions – As of May 1st 2012

Published May 5, 2012
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Here are the latest Canadian online discount broker deals and promotions. This month Disnat Direct still holds the front of the pack with their monster  “Active 5” deal.  Scotia iTrade also has an interesting commission rebate of up to 100 trades (with a max value of $999) with a transfer of $25,000.  National Bank still […]

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Event Review – Options Education Day – Vancouver 2012

Published May 5, 2012
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Options Education Day is an annual series of events organized and hosted by the Montreal Exchange (part of the TMX Group) as part of their goal to better educate retail investors about options and derivatives products.  While options and derivative products are more complex than your average stock, there has been an enormous growth in […]

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Discount Broker Deals & Promotions – As of March 1st 2012

Published March 6, 2012
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Here are the latest discount broker deals and promotions offered by Canada’s online discount brokerages.  While we strive for accuracy in our reporting we cannot guarantee that the information presented below will not have changed or be altered without notice. Please ensure to check the brokerage’s website directly for full details. Company Brief Description Details […]

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