The big news everywhere this week was the Twitter IPO. For many individual investors, accessing the Twitter IPO ahead of public trading meant having to meet specific account requirements laid out by their discount brokerages. Once TWTR did go live though, the frenzy of buyers helped to propel the opening day price up from $26 to as high as $55.
In a tribute to the debut of TWTR, this week’s roundup will feature discount brokerage news gathered from Twitter.
Financial Literacy Month (#FLM2013)
November (or “Know”vember) is Financial Literacy Month. A couple of discount brokerages are helping to spread awareness and connect investors to educational resources. Parent accounts of National Bank Direct Brokerage (@nationalbank) and Disnat (@DesjardinsGroup) shared the following on their feeds this week:
For those interested in following events and information related to financial literacy month on Twitter, keep track of #FLM2013.
#BMO InvestorLine in the Globe and Mail
A piece by the Globe and Mail’s Rob Carrick (@rcarrick)on the adviceDirect product from BMO Investorline got tweeted by the @BMO media team. Interestingly while the article provides a balanced perspective on some of the merits and drawbacks of adviceDirect, the comments section has some very strong opinions on why adviceDirect seems like it is missing the mark with investors.
Finally, to stay on top of all of the discount brokerages on Twitter, you can access our discount brokerage Twitter channel.
From the Forums
Twitter also had made quite the splash on the Canadian investor forums. In particular, the RedFlagDeals.com investor forum saw a rather large spike in activity around the launch of TWTR this week. Aside from the Twitter hoopla though, there were also a pair of interesting threads on discount brokerages, specifically on Canadian Money Forum.
Questrade vs Interactive Brokers
In this first post, a new investor is looking to become more active and is wondering whether a platform geared towards active traders, such as Interactive Brokers, is a better choice overall than another low cost option, Questrade. Fellow investors weighed in to provide some important tips.
Switching to TD Waterhouse (TD Direct Investing)
Questrade was also the focus of a different investor’s decision making. In this post, an investor was trying to weigh the pros and cons of having their investment accounts at the same place they do their daily banking (TD), even if it means paying slightly more on commissions. Hear what the community had to say about the potential move.
That’s it for this week. #TGIF!