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The latest posts from SparxTrading – in depth views on the world of online investing.

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – December 4th 2015

Published December 4, 2015
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One of the great things about watching professionals in action is just how easy they make things look. If you’re Aaron Rodgers, airing out a game-winning pass with no time left on the clock just seems like a day’s work. While Canada’s discount brokerages don’t have quite the dramatic finishes that the NFL seems to […]

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – November 27, 2015

Published November 27, 2015
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This past week, many DIY investors have been turning their attention to ways to spend their money rather than to grow it. Although online traders have typically avoided coming to blows with each other over discounted vegetable steamers, online trading is most definitely a fierce battle to get a deal that can be monetized by […]

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – May 8, 2015

Published May 8, 2015
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What a week of wacky data to digest. From May the Fourth being with us, to Cinco de Mayo to the NDP landslide win in Alberta to Deflategate to stocks being called out for being overvalued and the markets going up anyway. It was definitely one of those stranger-than-fiction-headscratchers kind of weeks. Not to be […]

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – March 13, 2015

Published March 13, 2015
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It’s Friday the 13th. Tomorrow is Pi Day (3/14). As Jerry Seinfeld might irrationally proclaim, what is the deal with all these numbers? For DIY investors, however, keeping track of numbers is an integral part online investing.  And, with income tax filing deadlines around the corner, now is time of year that many folks will […]

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – November 21, 2014

Published November 21, 2014
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What do shows like Big Bang Theory, Dancing with the Stars and Sons of Anarchy have to do with Canadian Discount Brokerages? Well, if you guessed fall ratings then Bazinga! Finding the right metric to judge the ‘best TV show’ is easier in some respects than finding the “best online brokerage”. As we move into […]

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Special Series: An In-Depth Look at the 2014 J.D. Power Canadian Discount Brokerage Rankings – Part 1

Published October 7, 2014
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This year’s J.D. Power & Associates’ Canadian discount brokerage rankings were recently announced. As with years past, the rankings and the underlying survey they’re based on, provided a unique window into the collective voice of Canadian self-directed investors and their perceptions of Canada’s online discount brokerages. In the first of our multi-part special series on […]

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Review: Dalbar Canada’s Direct Brokerage Service Award 2013

Published January 23, 2014
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For individual investors, shopping for an online trading account often requires doing a fair amount of research and comparison between brokerages.  While commissions & fees are the most important factor investors consider when choosing an account, what it’s like to be a client of a particular brokerage is also something many investors are often curious […]

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – November 22 2013

Published November 22, 2013
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Well when it rains in the discount brokerage world, it certainly pours. Fitting for November.  This week’s roundup looks back on a busy week filled with a major discount brokerage ranking being released, a very cool (and geeky) way to learn about options pricing as well as a frenzy of conversation about discount brokerages from […]

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup October 25 2013

Published October 25, 2013
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Coming into the home stretch of October, equity markets are continuing push higher.  The constant string of ‘good news’ is something that may lure more investors back into the markets, which is also probably why there are some major initial public offerings (IPOs) also being announced. Against the backdrop of optimistic markets, some discount brokerages […]

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup October 18 2013

Published October 18, 2013
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After all of inescapable deal making drama in Washington this past week, it appears that stock markets had already placed their bets that events would unfold with a deal being struck.  Rather than a disastrous crash, The S&P 500 hit an all-time high and Canadian traders also shrugged off their Thanksgiving turkey hangovers to push […]

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Special Series: Dalbar Canada’s Direct Brokerage Service Award – Part 2

Published June 14, 2013
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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, […]

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Special Series: J.D. Power & Associates – Discount Brokerage Rankings Data Visualized

Published December 10, 2012
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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 […]

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Special Series: J.D. Power & Associates – Discount Brokerage Rankings Explained Part 1

Published November 29, 2012
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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 […]

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Special Series: A comparison of the Canadian Discount Brokerage Comparisons

Published November 29, 2012
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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 […]

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