In part one of this series, we looked at the background of the Globe and Mail discount brokerage rankings as well as how they’re structured and who they’re targeted towards. In this next part, we take a detailed look at what the discount brokerage rankings are actually measuring and some interesting observations we made about […]

Highlights of this Chapter – The Mindless Investor Chapter six of The Mindless Investor looks at the advantages that everyday investors have over the bigger players.  As it turns out, smaller investors have better maneuverability and lower performance hurdles.  What it takes for smaller investors to succeed is a strategy that fits their size. Key […]

Introduction As part of our continued look at Canadian discount brokerage rankings, we review the longest running comparison and ranking of Canadian discount brokerages: The Globe and Mail’s annual ranking of online brokers, which had its start back in 1999. In part one of this series, we go through how we conducted the review, who […]

If you are a self-directed investor prepare for even more marketing, incentives and competition for your business in 2013.  With modest trading volumes and account openings in 2012, a gun-shy investor base and increased downward pressure on commission pricing, discount brokerages will be trying very hard to win new business in 2013 but also to […]

Highlights of this Chapter Chapter 4 of The Mindless Investor was an interesting look at how Tyler got his start and progressed as a trader and we highly recommend taking a look at it. In keeping with the more instructive nature of this series of reviews, we chose to move ahead to chapter 5, which […]

An interesting article was published on WealthManagement.com claiming that clients of financial advisors who are also investing through self-directed accounts are “cheating” on their advisors.  While the tone of the question presumes that somehow individuals are betrothed to their financial advisors, what is more troubling is the construal of investors as “cheaters” for seeking out […]

In this final section of our special series on the J.D. Power & Associates Discount Broker Investor Satisfaction Survey, we look at the survey from the perspectives of its creators as well as the company that has placed first in investor satisfaction for the past four years.  Dr. Lubo Li, Senior Director and Industry Practice […]

Highlights of Chapter 3 – The Mindless Investor This brief chapter in The Mindless Investor focuses on what “being a trader” means.  According to Tyler, becoming a competent trader means first understanding what kind of trading style best suits the reader. The key points covered by this chapter are that trading is not gambling, successful […]

How to use the Visual Discount Brokerage Rankings Table We’ve collected the results from the J.D. Power and Associates Investor Satisfaction survey from 2012 (Table 1) as well as historical results from 2009-2012 (Table 2).  To help visualize how the different discount brokerages have performed on the surveys relative to other discount brokerages, we’ve created […]

Highlights of Chapter 2 – The Mindless Investor Three key points that are covered in this chapter of The Mindless Investor all revolve around investors taking responsibility for their financial decisions. Understanding that trading is a battle, that the market is filled with competing interests and that “the market” itself can be a source of […]

If you missed the first part of our J.D. Power & Associates Discount Brokerage Rankings series, read it here. The two main objectives of this section are to provide readers with: A look at the overall discount brokerage marketplace to see what, if any trends in investor satisfaction there are that matter to consumers A […]

Introduction In the first part of our special series on discount brokerage rankings and reviews, we take a look at one of the most popular consumer research organizations, J.D. Power and Associates, and their annual survey of self-directed investors’ impressions of Canadian discount brokerages known as the Investor Satisfaction survey.  The results from this survey […]

As part of a special series on the comparison of Canadian discount brokerages, we’re taking a look at some of the major providers of this information so that self-directed investors and those interested in researching Canadian discount brokerages can gain a better understanding of the types of research that is done, what the results of […]

For bargain hunters, “Black Friday” has become synonymous with big crowds and massive deals.  Retailers, forever trying to get an edge on one another, have also bought into (and fed) the mania that has now come to be known as the biggest pre-Christmas shopping bonanza of the year.  Is there an equivalent “discount season” for […]

Highlights of Chapter 1 – The Mindless Investor In the introductory chapter of The Mindless Investor, Tyler Bollhorn sets up several important ideas and goes through some common pitfalls of most self-directed investors. Here are three key points from chapter 1. Key Point #1: Most Stocks Don’t Beat the Market The first and most important […]

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

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

Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup There were a couple of really big events that took place this past week including the impact of Hurricane Sandy, TD Waterhouse Discount Brokerage’s Direct Investing Expo and Tyler Bollhorn’s soft launch of his new book, “The Mindless Investor”.  Also November is Financial Literacy Month, be sure to pay extra attention […]

Fall is the time of year across Canada where we get to see leaves change from green to red.  In order to avoid your going in the same direction as the leaves, enhancing your financial literacy is something all Canadians can benefit from.  November is financial literacy month and through it we will be posting […]

The Vancouver Direct Investing Expo organized by TD Waterhouse provided self-directed investors the chance to learn about macroeconomic trends and issues coming in 2013, tips on technical analysis, exchange traded funds and several options trading strategies. This day-long event featured top-tier speakers such as Bob Gorman, TD’s Chief Portfolio Strategist, as well as a line-up […]