Tag: Questrade

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – Oct. 20th 2012

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup

From the Canadian discount brokerages, this past week saw the launch of a new contest by Questrade  called “Ring the bell with Questrade”.  Winners of the contest will get to ring the opening bell at the NASDAQ MarketSite and round trip airfare to New York City, three nights’ accommodation and $500 in spending money. For contest details you can click here.   TD Waterhouse Discount Brokerage officially announced the Thinkorswim Canada platform (which readers of Sparxtrading.com already heard about a few days earlier here).  Some feature upgrades to the services at BMO Investorline earlier this month include the Recognia-based Technical InsightTM Tool being deployed (you can read the news release here).  Recognia’s tools are a popular offering amongst many Canadian discount brokerages and provide technical analysis tools and screening for major stock indices in Canada and the US.

For the US discount brokers, several discount brokerages reported their quarterly earnings.  While Schwab reported a third quarter profit increase of 12 percent, the interesting stats were the drop in revenue trades (down 19% year over year) and a huge 61% drop in new brokerage accounts opened compared to last year. Full details on the Schwab release can be found here. Etrade also reported their earnings which came in lower than expected, and also saw a 61% drop in new accounts vs last quarter.  Interactive Brokers also reported a decrease in their earnings year over year and while new accounts grew 11% year over year, they too seem be suffering from decreased trading volumes (19% lower year over year).  TD Ameritrade reports later this month. For a quick overview of the US discount brokerage stocks, check out this Forbes article here.

On the hiring front, social media folks take note. There appears to be some opportunities to work for a couple of Canadian discount brokerages if you’re so inclined.

Best Canadian Discount Brokerage Tweet of the Week

This week’s best tweet comes from @nationalbank (on behalf of National Bank discount brokerage) via their content partners at @DesautelsMcGill.  The article, entitled ‘knowledge investing: the path to safer returns – part 1’ takes a look through the lens of value investing and the role that knowledge can play in selecting potential investments. You can access @nationalbank’s tweet here.

Event Horizon

This Saturday October 27th TD Waterhouse will be putting on its Direct Investing Expo in Vancouver. There will be a number of speakers including Bob Gorman, Chief Portfolio Strategist for TD Waterhouse.  For details click here.

The People Have Spoken

The following thread on Canadian money forum discussing the launch of ThinkorSwim Canada saw some good tips on the platform and eligibility along with the usual digs/cheers for favourite platforms.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – Oct. 12th 2012

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 and settlement.  The announcement from Virtual Brokers follows the official statement from Penson that they are closing down of Canadian operations.  Two weeks ago, Questrade also announced that they too will begin to clear/settle trades in house.

While one company was exiting, another one was letting customers back in.  Thinkorswim Canada, a division of TD Waterhouse, is once again accepting Canadian accounts.  The thinkorswim platform will only be able to trade US listed stocks and options and is only available to holders of TD Waterhouse Discount Brokerage US margin accounts.

Best Canadian Discount Brokerage Tweet of the Week

This week’s top tweet goes to @Questrade for sharing a great technical analysis article on moving averages. Check out their tweet here.

Event Horizon

The World Moneyshow is coming back to Toronto again from October 18th through the 20th. For more details click here.

The People Have Spoken

This week, we took a peek into the Canadian Money Forum for a common question for beginner DIY investors – where to get started.  Here’s what one group of responses had to say to a young and debt-free family about getting into investing.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Penson Financial Services Canada Closing Down

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 and where can get fairly complicated very quickly.  Penson Financial Services Canada, a company that specialized in tackling that complexity by tracking those orders for a number of Canadian discount brokerages (such as Questrade and Virtual Brokers), has decided to wind down its Canadian operations. The decision appears to primarily impact the back office operations of Questrade, Virtual Brokers and Disnat.

According to the release on their website, Penson Financial Services Canada has estimated that the wind-down will take approximately six months commencing October 1st, 2012.  During this transition phase, client accounts will be referred along to new “carrying brokers” or “custodians”, with many of those clients being handed off to Fidelity Clearing Canada ULC in a deal struck between the two organizations. It was on the heels of this announcement by Penson Financial Services Canada that both Questrade and Virtual Brokers announced their intentions to form their own in-house clearing arms (you can read the official news releases for Questrade here and for Virtual Brokers here). Although not formally announced, it appears Disnat too will be moving clearing and settlement operations in-house.

For Questrade and Virtual Brokers, both these companies felt that the move to clear trades in-house was a natural progression in their evolution as businesses, with the timing of Penson’s closing provided a natural window for them to make the transition.  Most of the major Canadian bank-owned discount brokerages already do the clearing and settlement activities in-house, with only a handful of Canadian discount brokerages, such as Jitneytrade and HSBC Investdirect outsourcing this back office activity to third parties.

For the clients of Questrade and Virtual Brokers, the respective brokerages have promised the transition to be seamless. In the case of Virtual Brokers, for example, their systems have been running in parallel with Penson’s for three years, so there has been ample time to ensure when the time to go it alone came, they would be ready.  In addition to technical requirements, rigorous audits, planning and monitoring protocols have also been developed to support this transition.  Ultimately, depending on how efficient the back office functions are, the savings from not having a third-party clear and settle trades, maintain records and prepare and distribute client statements and trade confirmations, could result in more competitive pricing than is already being offered. Like all things of this complexity though, it will be easier said than done.

While the impact of the closure of Penson Financial Services Canada on retail investors will likely (and hopefully) go unnoticed, one of the most interesting aspects of this turn of events is that it points out that even the ‘middleman’ can get squeezed out, a lesson full-service discount brokerages have learned all too well.

 

Posted on by — 3 Comments

Thinkorswim Now Accepting Canadian Accounts

It’s official – Thinkorswim Canada (part of TD Waterhouse Discount Brokerage)  is now accepting new Canadian accounts.  For the moment, this service will allow TD Waterhouse discount brokerage clients to trade US equities and options and only through a US Dollar margin account.

Several discount brokerages have been rolling out new platforms recently including Scotia iTrade’s FlightDesk, and Questrade’s IQ, but from a features perspective, the Thinkorswim platform will be a genuine challenge for other Canadian discount brokerages thinkorswimto compete with.  Aside from being incredibly well-reviewed and designed, one of the biggest features that Thinkorswim will offer is the robust order type support for both stocks and options.  In addition to stop orders, Thinkorswim also supports conditional orders (also known as bracket orders), ladder orders and multi-leg orders.   The image (right) was taken from the Thinkorswim Canada section of the TD Waterhouse Discount Brokerage page (click here to see the full page) in reference to the order types available on the platform.

There are three versions of the software platform – mobile, web-based and desktop.  The web-based platform uses Flash (take note Mac/iPad users) and the desktop version uses Java 2, so while the web-based version might be a bit of a pain for Mac users, the desktop version should be compatible with PC’s & Mac’s.

The data fees associated with the platform appear to be waived until April of 2013 for all users, and starting in April of 2013 if you make 10 of fewer trades per quarter you will be billed $29/month. Thinkorswim customer support provided the following info on commission rates:

Commission is $9.99 flat fee for stock trading and $9.99 base fee plus $1.25 per contract for option trading.   Exercise and assignment of options is $15 flat fee.   We also allow the buyback of short option positions that are valued at 5 cents or less free of charge...Please note we do have a minimum equity and trade requirement of $10,000 and 30 trades per quarter.

The commission rates quoted are in line with TD Waterhouse discount brokerage’s fees for active traders,  and it is important to note the minimum equity and trade requirements associated with the account. If you fall below the stated minimums there might be some flexibility on keeping you on the thinkorswim platform but there is also the risk you will get “downgraded” to the WebBroker platform.

For more information on thinkorswim Canada, you can check out their webpage here.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – Oct. 5th 2012

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup:

As we roll into October, the Canadian discount brokerage industry continues to show signs of competitive evolution.   First, the huge news released earlier this week that Questrade will transition into clearing its own trades via an in-house clearing division (currently pending regulatory approval).  By replacing their current clearing agent (Penson Financial Services Canada), Questrade believes they will be able to offer more timely settlement and record-keeping services to its clients – something that they had struggled with earlier this year around tax season.  While potentially helping to smooth things out on one side of their business, another reason why this move could prove to be important competitively for Questrade is that they will no longer be paying a clearing agent to deal with clearing and settlement. So what could they do with those extra dollars per trade they’ve been paying to their clearing agent? Depending on how much it costs Questrade to clear and settle their own trades (staff, technology, compliance etc), they might be in a position to lower their already low commission fees (i.e. pass along the savings instead of charging inactivity fees). This is a model that has proven to work well for Interactive Brokers. Alternatively, they might redeploy the extra cash into strengthening other aspects of their business as the competition amongst Canadian discount brokerages continues to heat up. Either way, this should be an interesting turn of events to watch unfold.

The second big piece of Canadian discount brokerage news is from Jitneytrade. In addition to announcing a move into their new offices (coincidentally Jitneytrade and Penson Financial Services Canada are located in the same building), Jitneytrade also announced their move into currency exchange .  The new foreign-exchange component is a service  aimed at institutional clients, and is another bold move for Jitneytrade into the institutional arena.

Best Canadian Discount Brokerage Tweet of the Week:

This week’s favourite tweet comes from @Scotia_iTrade:What’s the #KISS Principle? Watch The Market Guys and avoid some of the most common investing/trading mistakes [vid], http://ow.ly/8h4dt  – great video!

Event Horizon:

The Small Cap Conference is rolling into Calgary next week (October 9th)  and should offer investors interested in some small cap companies the chance to mingle with management, get some market analysis and maybe win a cool door prize.  For more details click here.

The People Have Spoken:

When it comes to taking a shot or passing up the stock market, the Great One Wayne Gretzky would rather pass.  This prudent strategy seems to have served him well in real life however it is an interesting position for brand ambassador to TD Waterhouse to play.  In any case, there were quite a few interesting responses to Wayne Gretzky’s personal finance tips from his interview earlier in the week.

Posted on by — 2 Comments

Questrade Inactivity Fees Take Effect

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 May of this year when Questrade departed from their long held stance against inactivity fees and announced the introduction of these fees. Not long after this announcement, however, it became apparent Questrade’s clients were more than unhappy at the news. In a highly responsive move, Questrade’s Director of Communications Lynn Suderman responded to their customers on the forum with the following statement:

Thank you everyone for your feedback here in RedFlagDeals. We’ve read each of your comments, which led to a passionate discussion among our staff. Our CEO said it best: the real value of Questrade is our clients. Yes, we have to implement pricing changes to reflect the changing nature of this industry. But we have to do it without compromising our promise to you: provide all Canadians with cost-effective brokerage services.

I’d like to address the changing industry first. The costs of maintaining a brokerage account, active or not, are going up. Until now, and unlike the majority of brokerages, we’ve avoided inactivity or maintenance fees to pass on those costs. But this is no longer prudent. We are at the point where our more active clients will be subsidizing inactive clients. (You can find the full statement here)

As a consequence of the client feedback, Questrade moved its original implementation date back to October from July 2012.  In addition, Questrade offered a number of exceptions to the inactivity fee.  Account holders under the age of 25 and charitable organizations are exempt from getting charged the inactivity fees as are  Questrade clients with $5000 or more in combined equity across their accounts as well as those clients who place at least one “commissionable” trade per quarter.  Basically, the client that this fee impacts the most is the 25+ year old who does not make any trades in a quarter AND who has less than $5000 in combined equity across all of their Questrade accounts.  So what options does that person have to avoid the dreaded inactivity fee?

The first option is to top up their account with a deposit so that the total balance (across all accounts combined) equals $5000 or more. If making a deposit isn’t an option, they could place 1 trade per quarter for a year racking up a total bill of  anywhere between $19.80 to $39.80 per year in commission costs (plus what the trade itself costs).  If, however, they are bent on not making any trades whatsoever, that person could choose to pay $79.80 per year ($19.95 x 4) and remain inactive. Of course, as a last resort, they could close their account with Questrade altogether which is free to do.  With an inactivity fee of anywhere between $19.80 and $79.80 per year, however, Questrade could be the cheapest account of inactivity-fee charging brokerages to maintain or if not the cheapest, then certainly not the most expensive.

One silver lining of the Questrade approach to inactivity fees is that if you do happen to incur an inactivity fee in one quarter, Questrade will apply that $19.95 fee as a credit against any trades you make the following quarter. From a strategic perspective, if you have an investment account and you can’t find a trading opportunity (either a reason to buy anything, sell anything or re-balance your portfolio) within 3-6 months and your combined equity across comes in at less than $5000 you still might not be ready to take on investing quite yet.

For those consumers who absolutely must have a no inactivity option, however, there are still three Canadian discount brokerages: Virtual Brokers, Credential Direct and Qtrade who offer no inactivity fee accounts to their customers (optionsXpress is currently not accepting new Canadian accounts otherwise there would be four) , with Virtual Brokers having the cheapest commissions among the three.

While the move on Questrade’s part is a departure from their historical position as the “no fee” brokerage, their move into charging fees is certainly a measured one and they appear to be working hard to preserve the relationship with their customers.  As the Canadian discount brokerage landscape continues to get more competitive, only time will tell if other discount brokerages will lower or eliminate activity fees to grab market share or if other low-cost discount brokerages will start to implement activity fees to keep up.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – October 2012

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 credits, free trades and any other promos in one table.  In a separate table (below) we’ve also listed the Canadian discount brokerages that are offering deals or promos on transfer fees.

First, the big news – Scotia iTrade is offering 100 days of commission free trading (no caps) with a deposit of $50,000 for new account holders and 100 days of FlightDesk™ for free. As far as throwing down the deal gauntlet, Scotia iTrade has certainly sent a message to other Canadian discount brokerages that is going to be hard to beat. Of course if you don’t have $50,000 burning a hole in your pocket or if 100 days of commission-free unlimited trades isn’t your thing, Scotia iTrade is still offering their 100 free trades + 60 days of free FlightDesk™.

*Update (Oct.10/12)* Disnat has also launched a deal this month celebrating their 30th anniversary.  For a deposit of  $50,000, Disnat is offering $300 in commission credits which are good for up to 6 months.  This offer is open to new clients and existing clients.

For more modest deposit sizes, Virtual Brokers has extended (again) its 150 free trades offer with a deposit of $25,000, and Questrade has two 100 free trade offers to choose from with a qualifying balance of $10,000.  National Bank Direct Brokerage is still running its “commission holiday” and refer-a-friend promos.  A much, much more modest promotion is being offered by Credential Direct for clients of North Shore Credit Union – 5 free trades and a credit ($125)for transfer-out fees. If you have $150,000 or more to open an account with, BMO Investorline is still running its 150/150 promotion where you get cash and trade credits, as well as their Refer-a-Friend promotion.

For the active traders, we are still running the exclusive Sparx Trading deal with Jitneytrade which gives you discounted commission pricing and discounts on the Realtick trading platform. For more info on the Jitneytrade promotion you can click here

Discount Brokerage Deals & Promos

Company Brief Description Minimum Deposit Amount Commission/Cash Offer Type Time Limit to Use Commission/Cash Offer Details Link Deadline
Jitney Trade A Sparx Trading exclusive offer! Use the promo code “Sparx Trading” when signing up for a new account with Jitney and receive access to their preferred pricing package and a massive 45% discount on the Real Tick trading platform. n/a Discounted Commission Rates none For more details click here none
Open a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) and receive $50 commission credit . Use promo code: kdkfnbbc $1,000 $50 commission credit none none none
Refer a friend to Questrade and when they open an account you receive $100 and they receive $50. To receive this deal you must be an existing client with an equity account and refer a person that does not reside with you and who has not previously opened a Questrade account. $1,000 $50 commission credit (friend) $100 commission credit (referrer bonus) 60 days Refer a friend none
Credential Direct If you are a client of North Shore Credit Union, you can qualify for 5 free trades as well as a $125 transfer fee credit to cover transfer fees from another discount brokerage ($10,000 minimum transfer in value). To qualify, you must enter NSCU-05Trades on your application. $10,000 5 free trades must use trades by Feb. 28/2013 North Shore Credit Union Promo December 31, 2012
Get up to 100 free trades when you fund an account with a minimum of $10,000. You must open this account by October 30, 2012 and fund it with $10 000 within 30 days of account activation to qualify. You must enter promo code “100FREEQ”. There are quite a few other details, including a minimum balance requirement, so be sure to check the details link. $10,000 100 free trades ($495 value @ cheapest commission rate) 60 days 100 Free Trades October 30, 2012
As part of the Questrade Advantage program, deposit $10,000 into a new account by October 30th, 2012 and you can get 100 free trades. Enter the promo code “100ADVL” in the application online. Note that the advantage program requires you to sign up for a data package (currently $89.95/month) the fees for which vary according to trading activity. See details link for terms and conditions on pricing. $10,000 100 free trades ($495 value @ cheapest commission rate) 60 days Questrade Advantage Promo October 30, 2012
TD Waterhouse Open an account with $25,000 or more and receive 10 free trades. This offer is only valid at the downtown Vancouver TD Waterhouse Investor Centre. 10 trades must be completed within 6 months of account opening; reimbursement based on $9.99 commission rate. $25,000 10 free trades 6 months scanned photo of flyer none
Scotia iTrade Open and fund a new Scotia iTRADE account with at least $25,000 before December 31, 2012 and the commissions associated with your first 100 trades placed within 60 days of the date the account is activated and funded. Also, the new FlightDesk platform is being offered for free for 60 days. See details link for further terms and conditions. $25,000 100 free trades ($999 value @ $9.99 commission rate) 60 days Scotia iTrade 100 free trades + FlightDesk December 31, 2012
Open a new account with $25,000 before December 31, 2012 and receive 150 trades free. (Applies to the first 150 trades placed within 60 days of account opening at a maximum of $6.49 per trade with a total maximum value of $973) $25,000 150 free trades ($973 value @ $6.49 commission rate) 60 days New Account Promo December 31, 2012
Open and fund a new account with National Bank Direct Brokerage with $25 000 or more, and you can receive up to $750 in commission reimbursements. To qualify you must use the promo code “REGISTERED2012” in the general information section of the application form. Reimbursements will be paid in either January or April 2013 depending on date account is opened. See the terms & conditions link for more information. $25,000 $750 commission credit 90 days Commission Holiday Promo October 31, 2012
If you are an existing National Bank Direct Brokerage client and you refer someone to join, you each get $100. To qualify, the referred account must transfer at least $25,000 from another financial institution. If at least $25,000 is transferred, up to $135 of the transfer fee is covered. Use the promo code “FRIEND” when opening the account $25,000 $100 (friend) $100 (referrer bonus) n/a Refer a Friend October 31, 2012
Open an account with either: A) $25,000 or more and receive a $100 cash credit and 25 free equity trades. or B) $50,000 or more to receive $200 cash back and 50 free equity trades. A) $25,000 B) $50,000+ A) $100 cash credit + 25 free equity trades ($823.75 (min)total value @ standard equity rate $28.95) B) $200 Cash credit +50 free equity trades ($697.50 total value @ active trader rate $9.95) 60 days Cash back offer December 31, 2012
BMO InvestorLine Existing BMO Investorline clients who refer a ‘friend’ who then opens an account, (and the “friend” too) can qualify for a cash bonus, depending on the deposit amount. For deposits of between $50,000 and $249,999, the referral bonus is $200 and the “friend” receives $50; for deposits of over $250,000 the referral bonus is $300 the “friend” receives $100. To qualify for the deal, the referral reference code needs to be included in the application – see the details link for terms and conditions. $50,000 $50 cash (friend) $200 cash (referrer bonus) 60 days (see details) Refer a Friend Promo December 31, 2012
Scotia iTrade Open one or more new Scotia iTrade account(s) by November 16, 2012 with at least $50,000 in cash or net equity and receive 100 days of commission free trades. Also, you get to try FlightDesk free for100 days. To qualify you must enter promo code ” F’12 OFFER” when submitting new account application. See details link for more information. $50,000 unlimited free trades 100 days 100 Days Commission-Free November 16, 2012
Disnat Disnat is celebrating its 30th anniversary by offering new & existing clients $300 in commission credits which can be used for up to 6 months. To be eligible, new/existing clients need to deposit $50,000 into a Disnat account. You’ll have to call 1 800 268-8471 and mention promo code Disnat30. See details link for more info. $50,000 $300 commission credit 6 months Disnat 30th Anniversary Promo December 31, 2012
BMO InvestorLine Open a new account with $150,000 or more (or for existing clients make a deposit of $150,000 or more) and get $150 cash back and 150 free trades. Use the promo code BONUS when opening a new account (or when making a new deposit of $150,000 or more). See the details link for qualifying account types and conditions. $150,000 $150 cash 150 free trades ($1492.50 value 60 days 150/150 Promotion October 31, 2012

Transfer Fee Deals

Below are the discount brokerages that are offering deals that cover transfer out fees from other discount brokerages.

Company Brief Description Maximum Transfer Fee Coverage Amount Deposit Amount for Transfer Fee Eligibility Details Link Deadline
Move your brokerage account to Questrade and they’ll cover the transfer-out fee up to $150. $150 $25,000 Transfer Fee Promo none
Transfer $25,000 or more to a National Bank Direct Brokerage account and they will pay up to $135 plus taxes in transfer fees $135 $25,000 Transfer Fee Rebate none
Virtual Brokers will cover transfer fees from your transferring institution to a maximum of $150 per account. This offer is only applicable to accounts opened with at least $25,000 in equity before December 31, 2012. $150 $25,000 Transfer Fee Promo December 31, 2012
Qtrade Investor Qtrade Investor will reimburse your transfer fee up to $125 when transferring a balance of $25,000 or more. For reimbursement, please mail or fax a copy of your statement from the transferring institution that shows the transfer charge to Qtrade Investor at 604.484.2627 and indicate your Qtrade Investor account number. $125 $25,000 Transfer Fee Promo none
Disnat Disnat is celebrating its 30th anniversary by offering up to $150 to cover the cost of transfer fees from another institution. To be eligible, new/existing clients need to deposit $50,000 into a Disnat account. You’ll have to call 1 800 268-8471 and mention promo code Disnat30. See details link for more info. $150 $50,000 Disnat 30th Anniversary Promo December 31, 2012
Credential Direct If you are a client of North Shore Credit Union, you can qualify for a $125 transfer fee credit to cover transfer fees from another discount brokerage ($10,000 minimum transfer in value). To qualify, you must enter NSCU-05Trades on your application. $125 $10,000 North Shore Credit Union Promo December 31, 2012
Posted on by — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – Sept. 28/12

Discount Brokerage Weekly roundup:

This week, we learned of a couple of major developments in the Canadian discount brokerage marketplace that  are likely to reshape the competitive landscape.  First, the major news that optionsXpress Canada is putting a hold on opening new Canadian accounts.  We found out from optionsXpress that out that for now this is a temporary measure while Schwab, the parent company of optionsXpress Canada, evaluates its overall business units.  While one discount brokerage was pausing, another one was readying to launch a long awaited product  back into the marketplace.  TD Waterhouse discount brokerage is readying itself for the relaunch of thinkorswim Canada. The ultrapopular stock and options trading platform has been on hold for some time now, but according to thinkorswim Canada reps, they will potentially be accepting new clients again starting in October 2012.

Canadian Discount Brokerage Tweet of the week:

This week saw a lot of great tweets put forward by several discount brokerages.  The winner this week (by a slim margin) goes to @questrade for the article on investing in ETFs [Do you trade mutual funds or ETFs? Give this a read:http://bit.ly/NAv7y5#TheExchange …]

Honorable mention goes to @jitneytrade for finding a  great article on the evolving capacity of global exchanges (http://bit.ly/OuyCI1)

Event Horizon:

Options Education Day is taking place in Toronto this Saturday (event details can be found here).  If the food there was as good as it was at the Vancouver session, the Toronto folks will be well rewarded for going to school on a Saturday.

The people have spoken:

The recent launch and migration of Questrade clients over to the IQ platform has been met with mixed reviews.  Change isn’t always an easy thing for clients to navigate – and this thread in the Red Flag Deals personal finance forum shows the “support” and “resistance” to the switchover.

 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Brokerages Gone Social

Social Discount BrokeragesEven 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 into the news feeds of a discount brokerage can be an interesting way to get insight into the organization, follow any promotions that may be underway as well as get a glimpse at the conversations they’re having with their customers.

While some Canadian discount brokers, such as Interactive Brokers, Jitneytrade, Questrade, Scotia iTrade and Virtual Brokers, have their own dedicated twitter and Facebook pages, others such as Disnat Direct, TD Waterhouse and BMO InvestorLine bundle messages about their other financial products and services along with discount brokerage news.

Social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, are tricky territory for companies (especially financial services companies) because these channels are public and interactions between the company and customers are visible for everyone to see.  On the other hand these social media sites offer the opportunity for you to share what you love, or love to hate about your brokerage, giving straight feedback and having your voice heard as a client.

One handy feature of being plugged into something like a discount brokerage’s Twitter feed is that it offers a fast way of seeing what other investors or traders are experiencing. If a website is down or there is an outage of service, one of the best places to check (outside of the trading platform itself) and see what’s going on is via the ‘twittersphere’.  Active traders especially are among the first to let others know if something is amiss.

Our table below has those Canadian discount brokerages that are currently on either Facebook and/or Twitter as well as links to their respective feeds.

Brokerage Name Twitter Facebook
BMO Investorline part of @BMO part of “BMO Community Facebook Page
CIBC Investors Edge
Credential Direct
Disnat Direct @DesjardinsGroup Disnat Direct Facebook Page
HSBC InvestDirect
Interactive Brokers @IBGroupLLC Interactive Brokers Facebook Page
Jitneytrade @Jitneytrade
National Bank Direct Brokerage part of @nationalbank
Options Express
Qtrade
Questrade @Questrade Questrade Facebook Page
RBC Direct Investing
Scotia iTrade @Scotia_iTRADE
TD Waterhouse Discount Brokerage part of @TD_Canada Part of the TD Waterhouse Discount Brokerage Facebook Page
Virtual Brokers @Virtual_Brokers Virtual Brokers Facebook Page
Posted on by — Leave a comment

On Demand Webinar & Seminar Videos

seminar webinar

Below is a list of “on demand” educational seminars and webinars from a variety of Canadian discount brokerages on a variety of investing-related topics.  To access them, simply click on the video links.  As this list will be constantly reviewed and updated, check back for more links/videos.

Title Category Length Company Host url Description Registration Required
Investing Ideas: Research Tips for Dividend Investors Dividends 0:06 TD Waterhouse Bob Gorman video link Learn why investors use dividend-paying stock strategies in their portfolios during low interest rate environments. And, see how Do-It-Yourself (DIY) investors use the Screener tool in WebBroker Markets & Research to find the right dividend-paying stocks. N
Discover Exchange-Traded Funds Exchange-Traded Funds n/a National Bank Direct Brokerage Daniel Trempe video link This webinar will introduce the main fund families, their unique characteristics and advantages N
Turning Equity Volatility into Yield Exchange-Traded Funds 0:52 Scotia iTrade Horizons ETFs video link Discover how to implement alternative strategies to reduce downside risk in a portfolio while generating attractive monthly income with Horizons Actively Managed enhanced income solutions. This innovative approach provides investors with reduced cost and increased tax
Portfolio Drivers: Investing in Gold, Natural Gas & Other Broad Commodities Exchange-Traded Funds 0:53 Scotia iTrade iShares video link We introduce investors to the options, benefits and reasoning behind commodity investing. Discussion topics will include how to access commodities through different vehicles as well as the structural intricacies behind each method. This includes direct investing through the physical commodities, accessing contracts and equities.
Converting Market Volatility Into Income Using ETFs Exchange-Traded Funds 0:32 Scotia iTrade Horizons ETFs video link Currently we see a great deal of volatility in the markets. Join us to learn how to effectively use Exchange Traded Funds to turn market ups and downs into income.
Income Investing Using ETFs Exchange-Traded Funds 0:34 Scotia iTrade Horizons ETFs video link There has been a great deal of growth in the ETF market recently allowing individual investors a great deal of choice when tracking a particular market. Did you know that ETFs can also be used to effectively generate income? Join us to learn about ways to use ETFs to produce an income stream within your portfolio.
Bonds, The Better Investment Fixed Income 0:57 Scotia iTrade Scotia iTrade video link There’s misconceptions around bonds – investors are often unsure of how they work. Joey Mack will provide some surprising facts about bond market returns, and provide guidance over how investors can participate in the top performing asset classes in Canada.
Educational Summit Investing 1:55 Scotia iTrade Scotia iTrade video link Featuring presentations by recognized industry speakers, AJ Monte of The Market Guys who will discuss Managing Risk in today’s markets and Marcus Schlechta of iShares who will discuss how ETFs can help support your investing objectives.
Take advantage of margin accounts Margin 0:34 National Bank Direct Brokerage Daniel Bonilla video link This webinar is an introduction of the characteristics and function, as well as the advantages, of margin accounts. N
Contract Selection Options 0:58 Scotia iTrade The Montreal Exchange video link Find out which option contracts are best suited to meet your specific objectives and how you can apply some simple rules to make contract selection easier.
The Power of the Put Option Options 1:00 Scotia iTrade AJ Monte of The Market Guys video link AJ Monte of The Market Guys will cover key strategies you can implement when markets take a downturn which will appeal to both traders and investors at all skill levels.
Investing Ideas: Investing with Covered Calls Options 0:05 TD Waterhouse Dino Bourdos video link Learn more about the covered call options strategy as our TD Expert highlights some basic risk and rewards involved in the strategy and why investors may consider using it in a low interest rate environment. Also, see how Do-It-Yourself (DIY) investors use WebBroker to implement a covered call strategy. N
Five mistakes that options traders make Options n/a Questrade InvestView video link Options can be a good strategy for leveraging your portfolio. However, many new options traders (and, frankly, many seasoned options traders) make the same mistakes over and again. Sign up for this webinar to learn how to avoid the five most common mistakes:
Advanced Options Strategies: Straddles & Strangles Options 0:57 Scotia iTrade The Montreal Exchange video link The purchase of a call and a put simultaneously on the same underlying security allows the investor to take advantage of a volatile move in share price in either direction. Learn which market conditions favour this strategy, what types of stocks to look for and which strike prices and expiration months are
How to Manage Risk in Volatile Markets Risk Management 0:54 Scotia iTrade AJ Monte of The Market Guys video link Join The Market Guys as they describe strategies you can use to limit the downside risk while protecting profits in your stock portfolio.
The Science of Setting Stops Risk Management 0:59 Scotia iTrade AJ Monte of The Market Guys video link Come prepared to join The Market Guys for a REAL-TIME stock charting session where you are invited to provide your own stock symbols for analysis.
How to Manage Risk Using the 1% Rule Risk Management 0:58 Scotia iTrade AJ Monte of The Market Guys video link Join us as Rick and A.J. talk about protecting your downside in these volatile markets
Profit from Knowing the Best Times to Trade Risk Management 0:46 Scotia iTrade CyberTradingUniversity.com video link Many professional traders pick & choose their spots to trade because they know what periods of the day are most likely to lead to profits. Let Fausto teach you the “rhythms” of the market from his decades of experience.
The 10 Most Frequent Mistakes Traders/Investors Make Risk Management 1:00 Scotia iTrade AJ Monte of The Market Guys video link Join AJ Monte of The Market Guy as he covers the major repetitive errors made by traders and investors alike and how to avoid them in your own portfolio.
The Market Guys Risk Management Strategies for Traders Risk Management 1:00 Scotia iTrade AJ Monte of The Market Guys video link We kick off the first of 3 Risk Management sessions this month with one of the top teachers in the industry. Join us to learn how to protect your stock and ETF positions using various methods. Presented by AJ Monte of The Market Guys.
Stay Out of Market Maker Traps – and Watch Your Profits Grow Risk Management 0:48 Scotia iTrade AJ Monte of The Market Guys video link Learn about common market maker set-ups and how to identify traps from a distance & avoid them to enhance your profits. Presented by: Fausto Pugliese, Founder & President of Cyber Trading University.
Mechanics of a Short Sale Short Selling <10 min Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers video link The Mechanics of a Short Sale is a tutorial that is designed to show you the inner workings of how a Short Sale works.
Short Selling Short Selling 0:33 National Bank Direct Brokerage Daniel Bonilla video link This webinar is an introduction of the characteristics and function, as well as the advantages, of short selling accounts N
Charts & Patterns (a picture is worth 1000 words) Strategy 0:58 Scotia iTrade AJ Monte of The Market Guys video link Join The Market Guys as they give you the tools you need to identify patterns and simplify charting.
Trading Strategies to Consider for 2012 Strategy 1:01 Scotia iTrade AJ Monte of The Market Guys video link It’s a new year with new beginnings and new challenges. What new ideas can you place in your trading and investing toolbox for 2012? Let AJ Monte explore some possibilities with you.
Combining Technical & Fundamental Analysis Strategy 0:53 Scotia iTrade AJ Monte of The Market Guys video link Far too many investors and traders make the mistake of preferring one method of stock analysis over the other. Join The Market Guys as they show you how and why you need to use both.
Benefit from investing in the U.S. Strategy 0:05 BMO Investorline video link N
Key Strategies for a Bear Market Strategy 1:00 Scotia iTrade AJ Monte of The Market Guys video link Have past market downturns made you shy away from investing? Does today’s market volatility have you scratching your head over what to do? Let AJ Monte show you how to position yourself in order to take advantage of a market downturn. This session will be followed by an open Q&A session on Aug. 20th where you can volunteer stocks for analysis.
Picking Profitable Stocks in Volatile Markets Strategy 1:01 Scotia iTrade AJ Monte of The Market Guys video link Does volatility scare you as as investor? Wish you could understand how trends can influence the future possible direction of the markets? Join AJ Monte as he shows you how to make volatility your best friend in the markets by teaching you how to “Follow The Money”.
Bollinger Bands Technical Analysis n/a Questrade InvestView video link Bollinger bands are a powerful indicator for measuring volatility, which is essentially price movement. Register for InvestView?s Bollinger bands webinar and learn how to effectively use this important tool in your technical analyses.
Introduction to Technical Analysis Technical Analysis 0:25 Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers video link The Technical Analysis Tour explains the important role of the chart analyst and how technical and fundamental analyses differ. In this introductory tour, you will learn how to identify areas of support and resistance on a chart, the role of different time frames, and how to interpret basic trend formation
Introduction to Technical Analysis with Recognia Technical Analysis 1:04 National Bank Direct Brokerage Kathryn Griffiths – Recognia video link This webinar provides an overview of technical analysis and how it can be used to help make investment and trading decisions. It includes a review of actual patterns and charts as they are identified by the Recognia system and made available to clients on National Bank Direct Brokerage’s transactional website. N
ETFs best practices Exchange-Traded Funds 0:40 Disnat John Gabriel – Morningstar video link John Gabriel from Morningstar discuss ETF best practices, how investors should use ETFs and how to make them part of your portfolio.
The five pillars of evaluating mutual funds Mutual Funds 0:41 Disnat Nick Dedes – Morningstar video link Nick Dedes, Mutual Fund Analyst at Morningstar to discuss the five pillars of evaluating mutual funds.
Stockscores Canadian Active Trader Expo (SCATE) – 2012 Strategy 0:56 Disnat Tyler Bolhorn – Stockscores video link Tyler Bolhorn from Stockscores explains the basics of stock analysis and trading at the 2012 Stockscores Canadian Active Traders Expo (SCATE)
How to Make a Living Trading the Stock Market  Strategy 0:12 Disnat Tyler Bolhorn – Stockscores video link Tyler Bolhorn from Stockscores explains how to make trades holding stocks for minutes or days. This is a video to watch if you want to quit your day job to become a full time trader
Manage Your Retirement Portfolio in Only Minutes a Day Strategy 0:20 Disnat Tyler Bolhorn – Stockscores video link Tyler Bolhorn from Stockscores explains how to manage your retirement portfolio in only minutes a day using Stockscores, stops and technical analysis.
How do you limit your losses? Use options to hedge your portfolio Options 0:51 Disnat Jason Ayres – Montreal Exchange video link This recorded webinar explains the safe usage of options as a means to hedge a portfolio against market risk. Learn to use options to help maintain profits and limit losses.
Emotion Control & Trading – The Mindless Investor Strategy 0:21 Disnat Tyler Bolhorn – Stockscores video link Tyler Bolhorn from Stockscores explains to investors how to manage their emotions and risk. Taking emotion out of trading is probably the most important element a trader as to obtain to be successful at stock trading.