TD Direct Investing – Page 38

Posted on April 4, 2014 by user — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – April 4, 2014

If the acronym HIMYM means something to you, then you know this past week was a drama filled one on screens across the globe. It’s hard to imagine more drama than the HIMYM ending, however that was certainly the case across the screens of traders as the debate on high frequency trading has taken a very public turn, implicating online brokerages, exchanges and crazy computers.

In this week’s roundup there is a full dance card. We take a look at another major Canadian online brokerage that has connected to the Canadian Securities Exchange, the new set of deals that have come along with the beginning of April, trading volumes from a major US brokerage, a major online trading story rattling investors’ nerves north and south of the border and finally, some interesting views from the Canadian investor forums.

Scotia iTrade Goes Online with the CSE

Although Scotia iTrade had telegraphed earlier in March that they would be enabling online trading with the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE), a formal announcement was made this past week from the CSE and Scotia iTrade. For self-directed investors, the move means that it is becoming easier to access trading on this increasingly popular exchange. To learn more about which major online brokerages offer online trading access to the CSE listed stocks, click here.

New Month New Deals

With the month comes a new set of promotions and deals from Canadian online brokerages. The current deals section showcases two of the major offers that were announced in March by TD Direct Investing as well as Desjardins Online Brokerage respectively. Even though there were many deals that expired at the end of March, it is likely that additional offers will be coming from several brokerages looking to get the attention of self-directed investors in the market for a new trading account.

In addition to the list of offers, there is a contest that was announced by Questrade earlier this week focusing on Spring Cleaning one’s portfolio. They will be giving away prizes of 5 free trades per week as well as a grand prize of 10 free trades to one lucky winner. To qualify, individuals must post on the Questrade forum or Facebook page, or write a tweet to @Questrade with #SpringCleaning in the message. For full contest details, click here.

Trading Volumes Steady

Interactive Brokers released their monthly trading statistics from March of 2014. On a year-over-year basis, the latest figures paint an improving picture across key metrics such as daily average revenue trades (DARTs), new accounts and margin loan balances. When compared on a month-over-month basis, however, the figures are about the same as the previous quarter.

While it is too early to tell what this plateau means, it certainly is an interesting development because the growth rate in retail investor participation may be tapering.

HFT Coming to a Flashpoint

Slowing momentum in retail investor is one thing however a loss of confidence from investors is something completely different.

While the story of whether high frequency trading is harmful to markets or helpful has been playing out over the past few years, it seems that the story has taken a recent twist. Specifically, recent publicity from 60 minutes and media coverage of the book “Flash Boys” by Michael Lewis has touched off a firestorm of scrutiny and renewed the debate on whether or not HFT should be curbed altogether.

Many online brokerages in the US were caught in this crossfire, with the publicly traded ones suffering some early selling pressure of their stocks on the speculation that their participation in paid order flow will either end or be curbed. Even major trading exchanges, such as BATS, have been caught in the fray.

The story continued to pick up steam as Interactive Brokers announced that they would be connecting to the ‘HFT free’ exchange IEX, started by one of the individuals who blew the cover off HFT practices, Brad Katsuyama. Within Canada, the promise of an “HFT free” exchange has been taken up by Aequitas Innovations.

The debate on HFT and paid order flow is far from over. With the recent revival of interest and major publicity, it is a safe bet that major Canadian brokerages and market participants will be looking at how to position themselves on the issues of paid order flow and HFT. Stay tuned as this will be exciting to follow.

From the Forums

Algorithms Gone Wild

The debate around HFT was not only played out in the media but also on many threads on the Canadian Investing forums. Here is a list of a few very interesting conversations that took place on high frequency trading:

Financial Wisdom Forum: Proof of Front Running and How to Prevent it

RedFlagDeals Forum: on Stewart interviews Michael Lewis on high frequency trading (HFT)

Tweed Goes Up In Smoke

Every now and then a really instructive moment comes along about how ‘reliable’ online trading can sometimes not be. In an interesting story, a company named ‘Tweed’ that is linked to medical marijuana, had more than a few trading hiccups as it debuted trading.

The following posts highlight some of the frustrations experienced by discount brokerage clients that couldn’t access the early trading. Interestingly, this is one of those times where being shut out by the trading gods actually works out for the best.

That does it for this week’s roundup. For those Game of Throne’s fans that do not manage to catch the premiere, it will be an epic adventure to avoid any spoilers! Good Luck!

Posted on April 1, 2014 by user — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – April 2014

[*Updated 4/15/14*] There are noticeably fewer discount brokerage deals & promotions at the start of April than at the same time last month. That said, this is spring and there are any number of surprises that can pop up.

While the month starts off on a slightly leaner note than month’s past there were a couple of very big deals announced in March from TD Direct Investing as well as from Desjardins Online Brokerage (Disnat) which should have rival brokerages cooking up a response in the near future.

Coming into April, several deals saw an extension of their deadlines including deals from BMO InvestorLine, Disnat, Virtual Brokers and Scotia iTrade. Of these deals, BMO’s offer is set to expire in early April which suggests that something interesting may be coming from this online brokerage in the days to come.

In terms of expired offers, the major offers from HSBC InvestDirect and National Bank Direct Brokerage were the biggest ones that concluded at the end of March. That said, there are likely promo offers that NBDB is working towards as they continue their push to maintain competitiveness with the bigger online brokerage players in the space.

For investors looking for a promotion or a deal on an online trading account, the good news is that there is still lots to choose from and there are offers that span all activity levels of investor. If the previous months have been any indicator, however, there is likely more to come in the near future especially as Canadians ponder which online brokerage they’d like to invest their income tax refunds with.

New Deals

[Updated 4/15/14] – Scotia iTrade has launched a sizable deal this month with a $500 cash back OR 500 free trade offer for deposits of $500,000 or more. This is largest deposit promotion we’ve seen in some time, a sign that competition is heating up. Cash back or free trade offers are also being made available for deposits of $15,000-$99,999 ($50 or 100 free trades) and for deposits of $100,000-$499,999 ($250 or 250 free trades). In addition, this deal also comes with 6 months free access to Scotia iTrade’s FlightDesk platform and coverage of transfer fees up to $150. More details below]

[Updated 4/14/14 – Questrade jumped back into the deals space again this month, this time with the launch of their cash back offer of $100 for a deposit of $50,000 or $250 for a deposit of $100,000 or more. More details below.]

Disnat ‘hat trick’ offer
TD Direct Investing Free Trade Offer
Questrade Cash Back Promotion
Scotia iTrade $500/500 trade

Extended Deals

BMO InvestorLine $300 cash back + 300 trade offer [Update 4/14/14: BMO has extended the deadline for this offer from April 9th to April 30th]
Disnat $300 commission credit
Virtual Brokers 25 free trades offer
Scotia iTrade refer-a-friend

Expired Deals

BMO InvestorLine: RSP Cross Sell Promotion
Credential Direct’s 5+5 Offer
HSBC InvestDirect Dalbar Award Trading Offer
NBDB Commission Credit Offer
Questrade iPad Mini Offer
Questrade Unlimited Trade Offer
RBC Direct Investing’s 20 Free Trade Offer
Scotia iTrade Stanley Cup Promotion

Discount Brokerage Deals

Brief Description	Minimum Deposit Amount	Commission/Cash Offer Type	Time Limit to Use Commission/Cash Offer	Details Link	Deadline
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 and fund a new account at TD Direct Investing with either A)$99,999 or less or B)$100,000 or more and receive commission rebates on either A)30 trades or B)300 trades. New accounts must be opened by April 30, 2014. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for full information on this offer.	A)$0-$99,999 B)$100,000+	A) 30 commission free trades (rebated) B) 300 commission free trades (rebated)	Trades must be executed by August 1, 2014 4pm ET to qualify for rebate.	TD Direct Investing Free Trade Offer	April 30, 2014
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
Open an account with Virtual Brokers with a deposit at least $1,000 and Virtual Brokers will offer 25 commission free trades which can be used for up to 1 year. Use promo code “FTR2” when signing up. This offer is open to new clients only. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for full details on this offer.	$1,000	25 commission-free trades	365 days	25 free trades offer	June 30, 2014
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
Open a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) by July 1 2014 A) $1000 or B) $10,000 to receive either A)10 commission-free trades or B)100 commission-free trades. The promo code QT100 must be used at time of account opening. There are many conditions attached to this offer so be sure to read the details link for more information.	A)$1,000 B)$10,000	A)10 free trades B)100 free trades	60 days	100 commission-free trades	July 1, 2014
As part of their Stockscores tour, Disnat Direct is offering a “hat trick” promotion. Open a new account with at least $10,000 by June 15, 2014 and receive: $300 in commission credits, 3 months of trading at $5 commission per trade, 3 months of platform access to DDWeb/DDXtra and 1 year’s free subscription to TradeScores daily newsletter. Use the promo code “Hat Trick” when registering via phone. Read the terms and conditions for more details.	$10,000	1) $300 commission credits 2) 3 months of $5/trade commission rate 3) 3 months platform access to DDWeb/DDXtra 4)1 year’s free subscription to TradeScores daily newsletter	1) 3 months	Disnat Direct Hat Trick Promotion	June 15, 2014
If you refer a friend/family member who is not already a Scotia iTrade account holder to them, both you and your friend get a bonus of either cash or free trades. You have to use the referral form to pass along your info as well as your friend/family members’ contact info in order to qualify. There are lots of details/conditions to this deal so be sure to read the details link.	A)$10,000 B)$50,000+	A) You(referrer): $50 or 10 free trades; Your “Friend”: $50 or 10 free trades (max total value:$99.90) B) You(referrer): $100 cash or 50 free trades; Your “Friend”: $100 cash or 50 free trades (max total value: $499.50)	60 days	Refer A Friend to Scotia iTrade	June 30, 2014
Open and fund a new Scotia iTRADE account with at least $15,000 before June 30, 2014 and the commissions associated with your first 100 trades placed within 60 days of the date the account is activated and funded are free. Also, the new FlightDesk platform is being offered for free for 60 days. Use promo code HUN-SP. See details link for further terms and conditions.	$15,000	100 commission-free trades ($999 value @ $9.99 commission rate)	60 days	Scotia iTrade 100 free trades + FlightDesk	June 30, 2014
Open a new account by June 29 & fund with: A) between $15,000-$99,99 B) $100,000-$499,999 or C)$500,000+ and receive either A)$50 cash back or 100 free trades B)$250 cash back or 250 trades or C)$500 cash back or 500 free trades. Also, Scotia iTrade is including 6 months free access to their FlightDesk trading platform. Use promo code: SPTRD14 for free trades and CSHSG for cash back. Be sure to read the terms & conditions on this deal.	A)$15,000 – $99,999 B)$100,000 – $499,999 C)$500,000+	A)$50 or 100 free trades B)$250 or 250 free trades C)$500 or 500 free trades	Cash Back: deposit by Feb 28/15 Commission Rebate: 90 days	$500 Cash Back or 500 Free Trade promo	June 29, 2014
Disnat is 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 Disnat300. See details link for more info.	$50,000	$300 commission credit	6 months	Disnat $300 Commission Credit Promo	August 29, 2014
Open and fund a new account with Questrade before May 30th 2014 and receive either A)$100 or B)$250 cash back for a deposit of either A)$50,000 or more or B)$100,000 or more. This offer is open to new and existing clients. Use promo code CASHBACK250 to qualify. Be sure to read the full terms and conditions associated with this offer.	A)$50,000 B)$100,000	A)$100 cash back B)$250 cash back	Payout occurs within 30 days of account funding	Cash Back 250 Offer	May 30th, 2014
If you refer a new client to BMO InvestorLine and they open an account with a)$50,000 – $249,999 or b)$250,000+ the referrer and the referee will both receive cash. The new account must be opened with the referral code specific to the referrer.	A) $50,000 – $249,000 B) $250,000+	A) You(referrer): $200; Your Friend(referee): $50 B) You(referrer): $300; Your Friend: $100	Payout occurs after 60 days (subject to conditions).	Refer A Friend Terms & Conditions	October 31, 2014
[Main offer]Open a new account or deposit new funds of $100,00 or more and you can be eligible for cash rebates of $250 and 250 commission-free trades (Promo code: RSP250). [Bonus Offer] If you open a new account or fund another account you could also be eligible for an additional $50 and 50 commission-free trades (Promo code ADD50). Be sure to read the full details & terms of this offer.	$100,000 (main offer) $5000 (bonus offer)	[main offer] $250 cash back + 250 commission-free trades (max value $2500) [Bonus offer] $50 + 50 commission-free trades	90 days	$300 + 300 trade offer	April 30, 2014

Transfer Fee Deals

Brief Description	Maximum Transfer Fee Coverage Amount	Minimum Deposit Amount for Transfer Fee Eligibility	Details Link	Deadline
Tranfer $15,000 or more and Scotia iTrade may cover up to $150 of the transfer fee.	$150	$15,000	$500 Cash Back or 500 Free Trade promo	June 29, 2014
Transfer $15,000 or more to RBC Direct Investing and they will pay up to $135 in transfer fees	$135	$15,000	Transfer Fee Rebate Details	none
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 at least $25,000 to TD Direct Investing and TD will cover up to $150 in transfer fees	$150	$25,000	TD Direct Investing Free Trade Offer	April 30, 2014
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 June 30, 2014	$150	$25,000	Transfer Fee Promo	June 30, 2014
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
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 is 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 Disnat300. See details link for more info.	$150	$50,000	Disnat $300 Commission Credit Promo	August 29, 2014

Posted on March 28, 2014 by user — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – March 28th, 2014

As March comes to a close, winter still seem reluctant to leave so many Canadians. Even so, spring is in the air and it is bringing with it some surprises from online brokerages which will hopefully leave DIY investors with more green in their accounts.

In this week’s discount brokerage roundup we cover the news on one discount brokerage that received an award of a different kind – as a well managed company. In addition we focus on deals poised to expire, new deal announcements and a couple of interesting educational offers linked to discount brokerages. Finally, we share some very interesting threads from the investor forums on ETF price drops, switching online brokerages and important buyer-beware notices for a major online brokerage’s dividend procedure.

Don’t Stop Believing

Earlier this week, popular online brokerage Questrade released a video (below) that highlights what their employees believe is great about working for this discount brokerage. The release coincided with Questrade’s third award from the Canada’s Best Managed Companies program. For a full list of this year’s winners of the Canada’s Best Managed Companies, click here.

As part of their news release, Questrade appears to be looking to hear about “what Canadians believe in” via social media channels. Interestingly, neither the Twitter chatter nor their Facebook page seemed to ask the questions directly to their respective followings.

What was also interesting to note was the rare show of finance collegiality that Questrade received from CIBC (a sponsor of the Canada’s Best Managed Companies program and parent to rival brokerage CIBC Investor’s Edge) via CIBC’s twitter feed.

Investor Education Back on the Map

It appears that investor education is literally being put back on the map for a couple of discount brokerages this spring.

Larry Berman’s speaking tour (co-sponsored by Scotia iTrade) continues to wind its way through stops across Canada for April and May.

In addition, Desjardins Online Brokerage (aka Disnat) is also launching a Stockscores tour similar to their “SCATE” tour which ran last year. This new Stockscores tour appears to be focused online as well as out in Western Canada with events planned for Calgary and the Lower Mainland of BC.

As part of this tour, there will be a promo entitled the “Hat Trick” promo because it offers those who sign up for a Disnat Direct account with a deposit of at least $10,000. For more details on the offer, check out our discount brokerage deals section.

Deals Are Springing Up

Spring is synonymous with renewal and also with new life. For Canadian online brokerages, the decision to renew, release new deals or let deals expire is an important question heading into April.

There are 8 discount brokerage promotions or offers that were set to expire at the end of March and whether some or all of these change will be interesting – especially given the announced offers recently by TD Direct Investing as well as the deal launched by Desjardins Online Brokerage.

Of those offers poised to expire, only Desjardins Online Brokerage has extended their long running $300 commission credit offer out to August 29, 2014. It will be interesting to see what some of the major bank-owned players as well as the independent online brokerages have planned in response.

From the Forums

This past week’s forum activity was very interesting as there were a number of really interesting conversations about issues many self-directed investors follow. We’ve selected three topics that seemed to attract and deserve extra attention.

ETF Price Wars

Investors in two different forums, the Financial Wisdom Forum and Canadian Money Forum, were abuzz at the news that one of the largest ETF providers within Canada (BlackRock iShares), was dropping their management fees on a number of ETFs. Given the popularity of ETFs amongst Canadian investors for their low management expense fees, the news ignited all kinds of interesting angles on what this means for investors.

Click here to read the Financial Wisdom Forum post and here to read the Canadian Money Forum thread.

Switching Online Brokerages

What happens exactly when going from one discount brokerage to another isn’t exactly clear to most folks. For those who have lived through a switch, the experiences appear to range from seamless to nightmarish. In the following post on Red Flag Deals’ investing forum, there are some interesting comments on making the switch from TD Direct Investing over to Questrade specifically and on changing brokerages in general.

Caveat Emptor for Dividend Strategies

Strategies involving dividend payments are popular with many investors. Outside of registered accounts, however, dividend seeking investors have to be aware of foreign investment rules and taxes that can apply to dividends originating from stocks outside of Canada. A really interesting example of the devil in the details was brought to light from this Red Flag Deals thread about Interactive Brokers. For those considering US stock dividend investing strategies with this brokerage, this is a must read.

That does it for this week. If things look a little darker this weekend, it’s because from 8:30-9:30 PM on March 29^th cities all over the world will be celebrating Earth Hour in support of climate change awareness. Learn more about the #MomentOfDarkness here.

For the traders out there, light some actual candles to show support (not resistance!).

Posted on March 21, 2014 by user — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – March 21, 2014

If there is one thing that March madness can guarantee, its unpredictability. In the discount brokerage space this was certainly the case as we were watching to see who, if anyone, would launch a promotion that could make a splash in the already ultra-competitive online brokerage market. This past week it happened.

In this week’s roundup we’ll take a look at that deal launched by one of Canada’s largest bank-owned brokerages, then see which major online brokerage was crowned ‘#1 online brokerage’. Next we’ll take a peek at some interesting technology that brokerages south of the border are tinkering with. Finally, we round out this week by looking at a couple of interesting investor forum posts.

Kind of a Big Deal

On the heels of their now lowered standard commission offer, TD Direct Investing has upped the ante in the discount brokerage price battle by announcing a new promotion. Until April 30^th TD is offering up to 300 commission-free trades for those who open a new account with a deposit of at least $100,000. For those who are depositing less than $100,000, TD is offering 30 free trades. Recently, RBC Direct Investing had a 20 commission-free trade offer however this new promotion by TD Direct Investing is going to make a splash because the sub-$100K depositor can land 30 free trades good for 90 days (or slightly longer depending on when the account is opened). At the $100K+ deposit level, there is still BMO InvestorLine’s offer of $250 + 250 commission-free trades that comes close however the TD Direct Investing deal edges it out when factoring in the cost per trade. At the very least, TD’s latest offer will spur other bank-owned brokerages to put together an offer that can rival the combination of promotion plus lowered standard commission pricing. To learn more about all of the current discount brokerage promotions here.

Interactive Brokers Wins Top Online Brokerage

For the second consecutive year, US financial publication Barron’s has rated Interactive Brokers as the #1 online brokerage. The US online brokerage market is a highly competitive marketplace so edging out the field is no easy feat. Barrons’ ranking compared 20 discount brokerages across 8 categories they felt were relevant to evaluating the user experience and scored all of the online brokerages out of 5 for each category. Interestingly, Interactive Brokers led the field on costs and did well on portfolio analysis as well as trading experience and technology.

Timing the Market

With the competition being so fierce in the US, not only do prices go down, but innovation tends to go up. This interesting article about what US discount brokerage Fidelity is trying to do with smart watches definitely highlights that. While it appears that the jury is still out on whether a watching your stocks on your watch will improve your market timing, it is nonetheless interesting to peek over the fence at our neighbours to the south to see what, if anything, could come our way in Canada. In this case, self-directed investors might be staring at their regular old watches (or smartphones) for quite some time before the smartwatch trading applications land at a Canadian discount brokerage.

From the Forums:

In this week’s forum posts, a pair of interesting threads from Canadian Money Forum crossed our radar.

Settling the Gambit

One of the interesting techniques for potentially saving on US currency conversion fees is called Norbert’s Gambit.

In this thread, there is a great example of the importance of understanding the trade settlement process in detail as well as which discount brokerages tend to fare better for clients wishing to perform this technique.

Here’s My Number, So Call Me Maybe

For many DIY investors, one of the important sources of information about the potential of a stock comes from analysts who follow the company’s ins and outs carefully. The recommendations analysts make about price targets are interesting because they seem to suggest a level of certainty that, in reality, just doesn’t exist. This thread wonders out loud what the value of analyst price targets are and the answers from the forum are worth a read.

That does it for this week’s roundup. Enjoy the first official spring weekend and hopefully it won’t be filled with too many basketball or weather induced facepalms!

Posted on March 1, 2014January 30, 2021 by user — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – March 2014

*Updated March 28/2014* The deals and promotions offered by Canadian discount brokerages at the outset of March are largely unchanged from February. While the the deals may be starting March looking one way, there’s a good chance that the end of March will look very different. Of the 18 offers currently available, 12 are set to expire within or by the end of this month. Several bank-owned online brokerage promotions are set to end within the first two weeks of March so there is a good chance that either extensions and/or additional deals will start to show up as we ‘march’ on through the month. At the start of the month, however, there is only one noteworthy offer that was launched by HSBC InvestDirect late into February.

Expired Deals

The following discount brokerage deals expired this past February:

CIBC Investor’s Edge offer which essentially expired at the outset of February
BMO InvestorLine’s Lunar New Year Offer
HSBC InvestDirect’s 5 free trades for an account transfer offer is now expired

Extended Deals

The expiry date on Questrade’s iPad Mini offer has been extended to March 31^st 2014. Questrade has also extended their 100 free trade offer to July of 2014.

New Deals & Promos

[Update March 28/2014: Desjardins Online Brokerage (aka Disnat) is launching a new promotion as part of their Stockscores education tour. The “hat trick” promotion features a series of offers bundled together for individuals who open a Disnat Direct account and deposit at least $10,000. The offer includes:

$300 in commission credits (good for up to 3 months)
3 months of their lowest commission level – $5/trade
3 months access to their DDweb and/or DDXtra trading platforms
1 year’s subscription to the Tradescores daily newsletter

See the table below for additional info]

[Update March 18/2014: TD Direct Investing has just announced a monster offer as part of their 30 year anniversary: 300 commission free trades for deposits of $100,000 or more. This is by far one of the biggest offers to come from TD Direct Investing and is much larger than any of the other bank-owned peers for this deposit level. For those deposits less than $99,999, TD is offering 30 commission free trades. The terms and conditions on this offer are also very straightforward so it’s worth a look over for those thinking about TD. More details in the table below]

The most noteworthy deal to show up late into February was HSBC InvestDirect’s unlimited trading offer to celebrate their recent strong performance on the Dalbar direct brokerage service award. This offer is available to existing and new clients and enables qualifying clients to trade North American as well as international equities commission-free for 30 calendar days. It is important to note that commissions are charged at the time of the trade and are refunded after 90 days. Of course one of the big draws of this offer is that there is no minimum deposit required to qualify.

Discount Brokerage Deals

Brief Description	Minimum Deposit Amount	Commission/Cash Offer Type	Time Limit to Use Commission/Cash Offer	Details Link	Deadline
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 at HSBC Invest Direct by March 31st, 2014 and receive 30 calendar days of free equity (including ETF) trading of North American and International equities. This offer is open to new and existing HSBC InvestDirect clients. Be sure to read the terms and conditions and the FAQs for more details.	$0	Unlimited equity trades (commissions to be rebated within 90d)	30 days	HSBC Dalbar Award Offer Terms & Conditions. For FAQ information, click here	March 31, 2014
Open and fund a new account at TD Direct Investing with either A)$99,999 or less or B)$100,000 or more and receive commission rebates on either A)30 trades or B)300 trades. New accounts must be opened by April 30, 2014. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for full information on this offer.	A)$0-$99,999 B)$100,000+	A) 30 commission free trades (rebated) B) 300 commission free trades (rebated)	Trades must be executed by August 1, 2014 4pm ET to qualify for rebate.	TD Direct Investing Free Trade Offer	April 30, 2014
Open a new account with RBC Direct Investing before March 3, 2014 and they will offer 20 commission free trades that are good for use for up to 90 days. Use promo code: 20W17 when opening the account. Be sure to read the offer page and the terms and conditions page for full information.	$0	20 free trades (equity & etf)	90 days	For the offer page, click here and for the terms and conditions, click here	March 3, 2014
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
Open an account with Virtual Brokers with a deposit at least $1,000 and Virtual Brokers will offer 25 commission free trades which can be used for up to 1 year. Use promo code “25FTNE” when signing up. This offer is open to new clients only. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for full details on this offer.	$1,000	25 commission-free trades	365 days	25 free trades offer	March 31, 2014
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
Open a new account (TFSA, Margin or RRSP) by July 1 2014 A) $1000 or B) $10,000 to receive either A)10 commission-free trades or B)100 commission-free trades. The promo code QT100 must be used at time of account opening. There are many conditions attached to this offer so be sure to read the details link for more information.	A)$1,000 B)$10,000	A)10 free trades B)100 free trades	60 days	100 commission-free trades	July 1, 2014
Open a new TFSA, margin or registered account with Questrade and receive either A) 31 days B) 62 days or C) 90 days of unlimited commission-free stock & options trades. Use promo code UNLIMITEDW14 when signing up. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for more information.	A)$1,000 B)$25,000 C)$50,000	Unlimited commission-free trades during associated period.	A) 31 days B) 62 days C) 90 days	Questrade Unlimited Trade Promo	March 3, 2014
As part of their Stockscores tour, Disnat Direct is offering a “hat trick” promotion. Open a new account with at least $10,000 by June 15, 2014 and receive: $300 in commission credits, 3 months of trading at $5 commission per trade, 3 months of platform access to DDWeb/DDXtra and 1 year’s free subscription to TradeScores daily newsletter. Use the promo code “Hat Trick” when registering via phone. Read the terms and conditions for more details.	$10,000	1) $300 commission credits 2) 3 months of $5/trade commission rate 3) 3 months platform access to DDWeb/DDXtra 4)1 year’s free subscription to TradeScores daily newsletter	1) 3 months	Disnat Direct Hat Trick Promotion	June 15, 2014
If you refer a friend/family member who is not already a Scotia iTrade account holder to them, both you and your friend get a bonus of either cash or free trades. You have to use the referral form to pass along your info as well as your friend/family members’ contact info in order to qualify. There are lots of details/conditions to this deal so be sure to read the details link.	A)$10,000 B)$50,000+	A) You(referrer): $50 or 10 free trades; Your “Friend”: $50 or 10 free trades (max total value:$99.90) B) You(referrer): $100 cash or 50 free trades; Your “Friend”: $100 cash or 50 free trades (max total value: $499.50)	60 days	Refer A Friend to Scotia iTrade	March 31, 2014
Deposit $5,000 into an RSP and $5,000 into either a cash or TFSA account and Credential Direct will waive the $50 administration fee for the RSP account. Be sure to contact their customer service to clarify the exact terms & conditions.	$10,000 ($5000 into RSP + $5000 into TFSA/Cash account)	$50 admin fee waived	none	5+5 Promotion	March 3, 2014
Open a new account with Scotia iTrade and fund it with at least $15,000, and you can receive 100 commission-free trades, 60 days of FlightDesk and be entered into a contest for a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals or one of 5 runner-up prizes of iPad Air (64gb). Use Promo code RS13-SCE when opening the account. Existing clients must call customer service to qualify for contest entry. There are lots of terms, conditions, and rules/regulations so be sure to read them for more details.	$15,000	100 free trades ($999 max value @ 9.99 commission rate)	60 days	Stake Your Claim to the Stanley Cup Promotion	March 24, 2014
Open a new account before March 31, 2014 with at least a)$20,000 or b)$100,000 and National Bank Direct Brokerage will offer up to a)$500 or b)$1000 in commission fee credits. Use the promo code “CASHBACK2014” when signing up to qualify for this offer. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for this offer especially the refund dates for commission credits.	A)$20,000 B)$100,000	A)$500 commission credit B)$1000 commission credit	90 days	Invest and get cash back offer	March 31, 2014
Open and fund a new Scotia iTRADE account with at least $15,000 before June 30, 2014 and the commissions associated with your first 100 trades placed within 60 days of the date the account is activated and funded are free. Also, the new FlightDesk platform is being offered for free for 60 days. Use promo code HUN-SP. See details link for further terms and conditions.	$15,000	100 commission-free trades ($999 value @ $9.99 commission rate)	60 days	Scotia iTrade 100 free trades + FlightDesk	June 30, 2014
Open and fund a new RSP or TFSA account with BMO InvestorLine with either A)$25,000 or B)$50,000 and they will pay either A)$100 or B)$250 cash back. The promo code for the $100 cash back is “SELECTR100” and for the $250 cash back offer is “SELECTR250”. Be sure to read the terms & conditions for more information.	A)$25,000 B)$50,000	A)$100 B)$250	Payout occurs after 6 months	Registered Account Cross Sell Campaign	March 31, 2014
Disnat is 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 Disnat300. See details link for more info.	$50,000	$300 commission credit	6 months	Disnat $300 Commission Credit Promo	March 31, 2014
If you refer a new client to BMO InvestorLine and they open an account with a)$50,000 – $249,999 or b)$250,000+ the referrer and the referee will both receive cash. The new account must be opened with the referral code specific to the referrer.	A) $50,000 – $249,000 B) $250,000+	A) You(referrer): $200; Your Friend(referee): $50 B) You(referrer): $300; Your Friend: $100	Payout occurs after 60 days (subject to conditions).	Refer A Friend Terms & Conditions	October 31, 2014
[Main offer]Open a new account or deposit new funds of $100,00 or more and you can be eligible for cash rebates of $250 and 250 commission-free trades (Promo code: RSP250). [Bonus Offer] If you open a new account or fund another account you could also be eligible for an additional $50 and 50 commission-free trades (Promo code ADD50). Be sure to read the full details & terms of this offer.	$100,000 (main offer) $5000 (bonus offer)	[main offer] $250 cash back + 250 commission-free trades (max value $2500) [Bonus offer] $50 + 50 commission-free trades	90 days	$300 + 300 trade offer	March 10, 2014
Open a new account or transfer new assets of $100,000 or more and choose between receiving either a)A 16GB iPad Mini or B)$250 cash back. Be sure to choose the appropriate code (IPADMINIW13 for the iPad Mini and CASH250W13 for the cash back offer) for each offer. There are several important conditions so be sure to read the terms and conditions for this offer.	$100,000	A) iPad Mini (16 GB) [~$270-320 value] B) $250 Cash	Payout/iPad delivery occurs after 30 days.	iPad Mini or $250 Cash Back	March 31, 2014

Transfer Fee Deals

Brief Description	Maximum Transfer Fee Coverage Amount	Deposit Amount for Transfer Fee Eligibility	Details Link	Deadline
Transfer $15,000 or more to RBC Direct Investing and they will pay up to $135 in transfer fees	$135	$15,000	Transfer Fee Rebate Details	none
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 at least $25,000 to TD Direct Investing and TD will cover up to $150 in transfer fees	$150	$25,000	TD Direct Investing Free Trade Offer	April 30, 2014
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 March 31, 2014	$150	$25,000	Transfer Fee Promo	March 31, 2014
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
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 is 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 Disnat300. See details link for more info.	$150	$50,000	Disnat $300 Commission Credit Promo	March 31, 2014

Posted on February 28, 2014 by user — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – February 28, 2014

Less than a week after skiers and snowboarders were making their way down the slopes, a different set of peaks and valleys are now confronting investors. At the peak, the S&P 500 chased a new all-time high this week. Down in the valley is bitcoin because of the loss of a major exchange to a possible theft.

Canadian discount brokerages were also busy navigating their own ups and downs this past week. In this roundup we look at a major Canadian online brokerage that went temporarily offline, roll outs of a new set of US Dollar registered accounts, the continued ripple effect of standard commission price drops, a couple of interesting educational resources and finally, some insightful threads from the Canadian investor forums.

TD WebBroker Goes Offline

As one of Canada’s largest bank-owned discount brokerages, clients of TD Direct Investing had a rough couple of days this week when WebBroker (and EasyWeb) went offline due to technical difficulties. The cause of the outage was not disclosed however the outage caught the attention of investors on social media, forums and mainstream media.

View the story “TD Direct Investing’s WebBroker Goes Offline” on Storify

The outage is an important example of what can sometimes go wrong when trading online and also where traders can turn when something unknown happens. Active traders that had open positions or trades going against them were likely in for a white-knuckle ride as they were forced to wait and watch the market unfold. For others who were looking to contribute into their RRSP accounts ahead of the deadline, the downtime was understandably frustrating.

While it is cold comfort to investors or traders who are unable to access their account, the fact is that technical glitches can happen to any online brokerage, exchange or data providing member in the convoluted pathway between buyer and seller. Part of trading online means preparing for and accepting these hazards.

Even though TD did apparently broadcast the service interruption, it was interesting to note that on Twitter there were a number of messages from users indicating the issue first arising, escalating and finally being resolved. The use of Twitter as a way to stay informed about what’s happening in near real-time comes in handy when other channels aren’t providing much information.

USD Registered Accounts Quietly Rolling Out

US dollar registered accounts are great feature for those who do a great deal of trading in US listed equities and options. While several bank-owned online brokerages do offer this, some of the major brokerages such as TD Direct Investing, have yet to bring this feature to clients.

A comment left by visitor ‘Jin’ earlier this week brought to light that National Bank Direct Brokerage is quietly offering existing and prospective clients USD TFSAs and RRSPs. Upon following up with a client rep from NBDB, they explained that these accounts are being rolled out as part of a multi-phase plan and that currently they are about 2/3 of the way through this process. What this means for investors is that, for the moment, these registered accounts can accept deposits in USD and clients can trade (and hold) USD equities, however withdrawals from the account will result in a currency conversion back into CAD. We’ll continue to monitor this as more information becomes available.

Price Drops Continuing to Make a Splash

While Canadian discount brokerages commission pricing still has plenty of room to fall when compared to brokerages in the US (such as Robinhood which doesn’t charge any commissions on a trade) the recent moves by bank-owned online brokerages are continuing to make waves with investors. This article from the Toronto Star is a perfect example of the spotlight now shining on pricing. For those considering the new lower commission costs, it is also important to consider any other costs that still may be associated with the account, such as inactivity fees or minimum balance fees. The second of our two-part series (released this week) looks at the commission-price drops at bank-owned online brokerages and in particular at some of these fees.

Know Your Options

One of the new ‘battlegrounds’ for the deep discount brokerages is in options trading. Recently Virtual Brokers released a new promotion that offers free data for their PowerTrader Pro platform for clients who make one or more complex options trades. Earlier today, Questrade released a free guide to options trading which explains some of the complex trade types that can be placed using the Questrade IQ platform. To download a free copy of the guide, click here.

Another interesting story readers may be interested in tracking is a special by CBC Marketplace this Friday (tonight). This story is the result of a mystery shop exercise at Canadian financial firms (including Canada’s big 5 banks) to see what kind of financial advice was being dished out by the firms’ “financial advisers”.

From the Forums

This week’s forum threads capture the outage at TD described above (and the lessons other investors can draw from this situation) as well as an instructive post on how to convert from USD to CAD using Interactive Brokers.

Murphy’s Law

The forums were alight with users of TD Direct Investing not being able to access their accounts. Check out the following posts on Canadian Money Forum and Red Flag Deals as a sobering reminder that as DIY investors there’s a lot more that can go wrong when trading online.

Crossing the Border

For those curious about using their brokerage to convert between USD and CAD, there have been a number of different approaches. This post on RedFlagDeals’ forum provides a concise ‘how to’ for users of Interactive Brokers.

That does it for this February-ending edition of the weekly roundup. Have a safe and warm weekend!

Posted on February 25, 2014 by user — Leave a comment

Ten is the New Thirty: A Review of Price Drops at Canadian Bank-Owned Online Brokerages – Part 2

In part one of this series, we looked at the recent moves by Canadian bank-owned online brokerages to reduce their standard commission fees. Since standard commission fees are just part of the fee picture, part two focuses on how to evaluate the other fees that clients may still be on the hook for.

Small Stack

For individuals with less than $50,000 combined in their investment accounts, the access to better commission pricing is most certainly welcomed. That said, there are still minimum account balance thresholds (between $10,000 and $20,000 depending on the brokerage) that can result in fees being applied against an account.

Fortunately, all of the online brokerages promoting sub-$10 standard commissions offer some type of option to have these additional fees waived. The current options fall into the following three categories:

Executing a certain number of trades per month, per quarter or per year
Contributing a certain amount per month to a pre-authorized investment plan
Holding additional accounts with the same discount brokerage/parent bank

In deciding on whether doing something to save on a fee is a sound strategy, it is important to first understand the cost of ‘doing nothing’.

Maintenance Costs

In comparing the current sub-$10 commission fee offers, the administrative fees (also called custody fees, maintenance fees or account minimum fees) that are charged by the four bank-owned brokerages are about the same when compared on an annual basis. Across the board, the annual fee works out to $100 per year although how this is calculated varies from brokerage to brokerage.

Three online brokerages (BMO InvestorLine, RBC Direct Investing and TD Direct Investing) assess this fee ($25) on a quarterly basis. National Bank Direct Brokerage, however, evaluates trading activity on an annual basis and charges $100 per year for those that don’t meet the activity/balance minimums by a specified cut-off date each year.

Strategy 1: Trade to Save

Each bank-owned discount brokerage currently offering sub-$10 trades allows clients to trade a certain number of times (e.g. quarterly, semi-annually, or annually) to avoid the maintenance fee.

While each offer may vary in the time frame over which they require trading, annualizing the cost of trading in order to qualify for fee exemption allows for comparison between plans and also presents an interesting result.

As shown in the chart below, at three out of the four brokerages (BMO InvestorLine, TD Direct Investing and National Bank Direct Brokerage), it is actually cheaper to trade the minimum activity than it is to pay the maintenance fee. At RBC Direct Investing, however, trading to avoid the maintenance fee is actually more expensive than paying the maintenance fee because clients have to trade at least 3 times per quarter to qualify for an exemption.

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Posted on February 21, 2014 by user — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – February 21, 2014

This past week in the Canadian discount brokerage space seemed about as quiet as the US Women’s Olympic hockey team dressing room after that most spectacular win by Team Canada. The silence on the brokerage front, however, is likely indicative of the planning and ‘strategizing’ by marketing and product teams as the battle for brokerage supremacy heats up. In fact, there are whispers around the discount brokerage industry are that there will be additional deals and price drops in the very near future. For the present though, this roundup will take a look at the next brokerage to join the sub-$10 per trade club , the results of an interesting survey about RRSPs as well as a selection of interesting conversations from across the Canadian investor forums.

If a Commission Drops in the Forest…

This past week National Bank Direct Brokerage became the fourth bank-owned brokerage to drop its standard commission fee to under $10. Interestingly the response on either forums or social media didn’t generate much interest. On our end, however, we did ensure that NBDB’s pricing drop did not go unnoticed. Today we launched part 1 of the two part series looking at all of the bank-owned online brokerages’ recent commission lowering moves, including National Bank’s.

Stash First, Save Later

In addition to their commission announcement, National Bank Direct Brokerage also announced the results of a survey that looked at opinions of Quebec internet users 18 and older regarding RRSP contributions. The findings of the study were interesting in terms of the amounts that individuals disclosed they thought would need as a minimum in order to contribute to their RRSPs. According to the survey the average contribution amount turned out to be $2750 suggesting that individuals may have a preference for contributing lump-sum amounts versus making smaller, regular contributions.

Coincidentally, with the latest commission price drops, at least two bank-owned brokerages (TD Direct Investing and RBC Direct Investing) have made pre-authorized contributions to an account or having an RRSP account part of the criteria that can help those with modest or small portfolio balances not incur quarterly maintenance/account fees.

Around the Forums

As we edge closer to the RRSP contribution deadline for 2013, the conversations around the forums are definitely starting to reflect both tax and RRSP type of questions. Of course, some folks are already anticipating what to do with their income tax refunds by getting prepared to invest and so online trading account questions are also popping up. This week there’s a couple of interesting posts that reflect some of the nitty gritty that DIY investors typically encounter when investing online.

For Whom the Border Tolls

The Olympic spirit may be all about bringing different countries together, but investing in stocks from different countries can cause all kinds of ‘quirky’ issues. The following post from Canadian Money Forum details the woes of holding American Depository Receipts (ADRs) (i.e. shares in foreign company) and the coordination of dividends that come from them.

A Taxing Problem

In the following post, a forum user has to figure out what to do with all the money they’ve made in a margin account. Oh, it sounds like a tough life. For investors, however, when things do go the right way there are important tax considerations that fellow forum members provide some perspective on. Of course, nothing beats the advice of a qualified accounting professional in these cases.

That wraps things up for this week. The Olympics are coming to an end next week and it looks like Canada’s done a smashing job. Congratulations to all of the Canadian athletes and good luck to the men’s hockey team as they face-off against the Swedes. Also, February is officially coming to an end next week so be sure to check the deals and promos section to see which deals are also going to wrap up. Have a great weekend and #GoCanadaGo!

Posted on February 21, 2014 by user — Leave a comment

Ten is the New Thirty: A Review of Price Drops at Canadian Bank-Owned Online Brokerages – Part 1

For Canadian discount brokerages, 2014 has already been an eventful year. It has now been just over a month since RBC Direct Investing announced the lowering of their standard trading commissions and in that time, the predicted response from several other bank-owned online brokerages has materialized. Since the RBC announcement, BMO InvestorLine, TD Direct Investing and National Bank Direct Brokerage have all lowered their standard equity commission pricing with more bank-owned brokerages expected to follow suit.

Going forward, there are two important reasons why do-it-yourself investors will have to pay extra attention to the online trading account plans being pitched to them. First, in the short term, expect pricing to continue to change as more brokerages adjust to the new ‘standard’ fee at below $10 per trade. Second, discount brokerages will be marketing even harder to communicate what makes one brand better than another. For consumers, the upside is that they can likely expect more promotions, however the downside is that they will likely have to untangle a lot of clever marketing and read the fine print much more closely on any offers presented by Canadian discount brokerages.

In this two part series, we take a look at the bank-owned discount brokerages and the recent shift in standard commission pricing to uncover what this means for self-directed investors and for the discount brokerage industry in Canada.

Catch a Falling Star*

The priority self-directed investors place on commission pricing is an open secret amongst discount brokerages big and small. As a case in point, several of the discount brokerage rankings that use cost as part of their measurement framework typically weight cost among their top categories. Considering the competitive dynamics of the industry, however, it is understandable why price is a popular battleground between competing firms. While having a major bank-owned brokerage such as RBC Direct Investing lower its pricing, there may have been other forces at play too. The presence of deep-discount brokerages such as Questrade and Virtual Brokers may have also helped to accelerate the pricing cuts. Whatever the case, it is clear that consumers were growing impatient with prices and other providers were able to gain traction with that dissatisfaction.

Judging by the consumer reactions online to the commission price cut as well as the speed with which other major bank-owned online brokerages have followed RBC’s move, two things are clear: competition amongst discount brokerages remains high and pricing matters to consumers.

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Posted on February 14, 2014 by user — Leave a comment

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – February 14, 2014

On this Valentine’s Day edition of the discount brokerage weekly roundup, romance is definitely the air for many folks. Yes, it appears more bank-owned discount brokerages are lining up to show just how much they love their self-directed investor clients by offering lower commissions. Courting self-directed investors, however, is going to take more than just price cuts. As one low-cost brokerage showed this past week, getting fancier bells & whistles may be part of what’s needed to woo investors their way. In addition to ‘stuff’, another brokerage took to winning the ‘hearts and minds’ of investors by timing an Olympic themed promo. Finally, this week’s review rounds out with some interesting education events being offered and a great forum thread on RESPs.

The Three Bank Bobsled Team

This past week, BMO InvestorLine became the third Canadian online brokerage to lower their standard commission fee down to $9.95 (click here to read the press release). While not quite a race to the bottom, it seems that the banks are willing to match one another on their standard pricing. For self-directed investors this is definitely welcome news as the pressure will certainly be mounting on those remaining online brokerages with high (and complicated) standard fees to drop them. On a related note, there was an interesting article in the Globe and Mail regarding the move by bank-owned online brokerages to lower their fees as a strategic move to bring in revenues from sources other than the banking services.

View the story “BMO InvestorLine Lowers Standard Trading Commissions” on Storify

Getting the Power

Not content to sit idly by as the bank-owned online brokerages drift into their pricing territory, this past week Virtual Brokers took aim at the platform and data category by rolling out their PowerTrader Pro platform in a bundle with free streaming data (with a catch of course). For those brokerages that’ve been chasing the lucrative active trader segment, platforms and data fees (in addition to commissions) have always been a sore point. The PowerTrader Pro platform, however, is built on the Sterling Trader Pro platform so it has definite appeal to active traders. To that end, Virtual Brokers is offering free streaming data with the platform for those making complex options trades. This package and platform take aim at TD Direct Investing’s US Trading Platform (aka ThinkorSwim), Interactive Brokers’ Trader Workstation and Questrade’s IQ platforms as well as those web based or desktop based platforms that don’t have the fancy scanners, charts and trade planning.

Metals for Medals

An interesting Olympic-themed promotion is being offered by Questrade. Until February 24^th, Questrade is offering 50% off precious metal commissions. To boot, they are also offering a special promo every time Canada wins either a gold or silver medal. For the physical precious metals bugs, it is but one more reason to cheer on the stellar performance of this year’s Canadian Olympic effort.

Investor Education Events

With all the talk of athletes and fitness, the couch potatoes out there also have something to cheer about. Credential Direct announced this past week that they are holding a webinar with Dan Bortolotti aka the Canadian Couch Potato. This webinar will be about building the “perfect” ETF portfolio and yes, attendees can join this webinar from the comfort of their couches.

Continuing on in the investor education theme, Desjardins Online Brokerage (Disnat) is holding a week-long series of education sessions Montréal & Québec City. The events are free and topics cover a number of themes for self-directed investors. Of note is that there are a couple of interesting sessions on taxation for investors/traders. Check out our investor education calendar for more information.

From the Forums

Given the time of year, there is an increase in the number of questions about registered accounts of all kinds (RRSPs, RESPs and TFSAs). One thread in the RedFlagDeals forum in particular stood out as being an interesting look at RESPs at discount brokerages – specifically on the point of joint subscribers. Click on the post below to learn more about what folks had to say about RESPs at Canadian discount brokerages.

That does it for this week’s roundup. Hope everyone has a great weekend and just as a reminder, Canadian and US stock markets will be closed on Monday – perfect timing given the release of the new House of Cards!