As part of an ongoing study, Dalbar Canada, a leading financial services research firm, is gathering feedback from Canadian retail investors for the purpose of improving the content and design of financial investment statements (including RSP, pension, non-registered account statements, insurance etc) commonly used by Canadians. The survey takes approximately 15 – 20 minutes to […]

When the penny was phased out, it was largely believed to be an insignificant little coin. For one Canadian discount brokerage though, they have cleverly fashioned this humble (and now obsolete) coin into a new offer that has become the Canadian discount brokerage industry’s worst pricing nightmare. One of Canada’s newest discount brokerages, Virtual Brokers, […]

For Canada’s discount brokerages, fall not only means a busier season with investors, but for many of them it is also the time of year they either dread or cheer. The stretch of time between September and January is typically when a number of Canadian discount brokerage rankings get published – something that could be […]

After a long vacancy on the RBC Direct Investing website, the free educational seminars section looks like it has finally come back to life. For quite some time, the investor education seminars section has been more or less dormant and was pointing visitors to set up one-on-one sessions with its reps at investor centres. Recently, […]

The swelling costs of funding higher education are on the minds of a lot of folks lately.  With the speed and magnitude at which fees for post-secondary tuition are growing, simply putting money aside for “junior’s” education may not be enough.  It seems like even the savings have to go out and find a second […]

National Bank Direct Brokerage announced yesterday that their offer for commission-free ETF trading has been extended out until the end of October of 2013.  The commission-free ETF offer was first mentioned back in April where it was explained in detail. Some strings attached To recap, there are a few conditions attached to this offer (full […]

This mobile trading website review covers the major features of Qtrade Financial’s MobileWeb as well as some of the strengths and limitations for self-directed investors looking to trade on the go on this platform. Access to the mobile website is possible by pointing a mobile browser to www.qtrade.ca. As with the previous mobile trading reviews, […]

Like several of its discount brokerage peers, National Bank Direct Brokerage has opted to use a mobile-friendly website to enable users with mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to access and manage their investment accounts.  As such, no special apps are required in order to access the mobile trading features of a user’s online […]

This review covers the mobile trading website (m.disnat.com) for Disnat Classic as tested on an iPhone 4s with a 3G internet connection and a demo trading account. To access the video review, click on the video player below. Disnat offers several different account types for investors of different activity levels.  Disnat Classic is typically for […]

The term “mobile trading” doesn’t mean the same thing today that it did a few years ago. As little as 5 years ago, the notion of trading on the go would have typically been thought of as something you would do with your laptop, palm trees swaying in the background.  Today, however, an entirely new […]

One of Canada’s largest discount brokerages continues to chip away at improving its website for investors. TD Direct Investing has quietly rolled out the long awaited improvements to their investor education seminar section. As far back as August of last year, we mentioned that something was in the works to improve the delivery of investor […]

Six Lessons for Investors from The Gambler One of the most famous songs by or about cash is Kenny Rogers’ ‘The Gambler’.  While the origins of the song may have been meant for playing card games, such as poker, the lyrics contain insights that apply equally well to speculators of all types including investors and […]

For do-it-yourself investors, it certainly feels like slim pickings when looking for tools to help do fundamental research on junior precious metal mining and exploration sector stocks.  Of the research tools and websites that do exist, many are based on technical indicators, ‘black box’ systems or only offer coverage on larger, better-known companies.  More often […]

In the final part of our series on commission-free ETF trading at Canadian discount brokerages, we look at the offers from Virtual Brokers and Questrade and conclude the series with some lessons learned from researching commission-free ETF offers.  If you missed the earlier parts of the series, click here for part 1, here for part […]

If you wanna save your soul from hell, or ridin’ on our range Then cowboy, change your ways today, or with us you will ride Tryin’ to catch the devil’s herd Across these endless skies… With US stock market indices riding red hot through to new highs, many market observers cannot believe their eyes. The […]

In the first two parts of this series we touched on the different types of commission-free ETF trading being offered by discount brokerages and provided several tips for investors to keep in mind when considering these types of offers. (Click here to read part one or here to read part two) In part three of […]

In part one of this series, we looked at which Canadian discount brokerages are currently offering commission-free ETFs as well as why commission-free ETF trading has started to become so popular. In part 2 of this series, we take a closer look at the types of commission-free offers available and provide some tips for investors […]

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

In part 1 of this series, we took a brief look at how self-directed investors typically access information about discount brokerage customer service and introduced Dalbar Canada’s research in this area.  Specifically, Dalbar’s Direct Brokerage Sales Effectiveness (DBSE) program measures the performance of client service teams at discount brokerages. In this part of our series, […]

Set against the backdrop of epic conquests, bloodthirsty barbarians and Machiavellian-style manipulation, Game of Thrones is capturing imaginations across the globe. At times the investing world seems a lot like the savage and cruel arenas characters from the story find themselves in.  Even though the story takes place in a mythical land, it focuses on […]