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

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Questrade Launches Commission Free Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) Buying

Published February 4, 2013
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Commission Free ETFs – The New Normal? Earlier this month, Questrade made a major announcement that impacts the commission fees associated with trading or investing in exchange traded funds (ETFs).   Specifically, Questrade has eliminated the commission fees associated with purchasing ETFs so that now any Canadian or American listed ETF is available for purchase commission […]

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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – February 2013

Published February 1, 2013
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This February will be the busiest month for football, love and RRSP deals.  Winning new business is clearly on the minds of big and small discount brokerages with a number of promotions aimed squarely at Canadian investors looking to open RRSP accounts. Kicking off the RRSP-specific deals are a couple transfer deals from the usually […]

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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – January 2013

Published January 2, 2013
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Happy New Year to all of our deal hunting readers and welcome to another edition of Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions. One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions for folks is to slim down. As it turns out, the number of deals being offered by discount brokerages has also slimmed down.  Right out of […]

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – Dec 16th 2012

Published December 16, 2012
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As 2012 draws to a close, it looks like the discount brokerage industry is going into autopilot.  This past week saw the expiry of a couple of promotions. First, Scotia iTrade’s 100 days of unlimited trading offer expired this week.  This leaves Questrade as the only discount brokerage currently offering unlimited trades.   Speaking of Questrade, […]

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – Dec. 7th 2012

Published December 9, 2012
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Interactive Brokers made the news this week as it released its trading metrics for the month of November.  While not a perfect proxy for the rest of the investment market, Interactive Brokers’ transaction volumes, known as Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs) help to provide an indirect measure of the ‘health’ of the stock market participants […]

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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – December 2012

Published December 1, 2012
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For self-directed investors, it seems like the gift of discount brokerage deals has already been given in November. As it stands, the deals offered by discount brokerages into the end of the year are largely carried over from last month. The most noteworthy deal announced mid-November was the unlimited trading offer by Questrade. Similar to […]

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Round Up – Nov. 23rd 2012

Published November 23, 2012
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This week the biggest news for discount brokerages came in the form of the 2012 Globe and Mail Canadian discount brokerage rankings.  Rob Carrick’s annual survey of the Canadian discount brokerage industry looked at 12 firms this year. The top spot went to Virtual Brokers which narrowly edged out the six year champ, Qtrade while […]

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Questrade to offer unlimited free trades

Published November 19, 2012
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We spotted the latest deal offered by Questrade – and it is a big one.  On the heels of Scotia iTrade’s offer of 100 days of unlimited trading, Questrade has responded by offering up to 3 months with unlimited trades.  While a slightly less amount of time than Scotia iTrade’s deal (100 davs vs ~90 […]

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – Nov. 16/2012

Published November 16, 2012
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Canadian discount brokerages seem to be busy in their workshops planning what to unveil for next year.  Many of the major financial institutions have their financial year end at October 31st which means they’re setting budgets and planning marketing campaigns for 2013.  Because of the upcoming Globe and Mail discount brokerage rankings due out next […]

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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – November 2012

Published November 1, 2012
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November’s lineup of discount brokerage deals and promotions features many of the same players from last month, except with some minor changes to dates and amounts. Starting first with the newest deals. National Bank Direct Brokerage is running the “Take Control of the Markets!” promo where they’re offering new clients who open an account with […]

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – Oct. 20th 2012

Published October 21, 2012
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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 […]

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Thinkorswim Now Accepting Canadian Accounts

Published October 11, 2012
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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 […]

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Discount Brokerage Weekly Roundup – Oct. 5th 2012

Published October 6, 2012
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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 […]

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Discount Brokerage Deals & Promotions – October 2012

Published October 1, 2012
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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 […]

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Pit Trading – A “handy” how-to infographic

Published September 27, 2012
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Even though trading floors and exchanges have largely been replaced by server rooms filled with boxes of computer parts, there are still some places in the world where the movement of money or commodities is governed by people who can yell the loudest.  Welcome to the world of outcry pit trading, a place that redefines […]

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Canadian Discount Brokerage Investor Satisfaction Results – 2012

Published September 20, 2012
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JD Power and Associates have just released the results of the 2012 survey of Investor Satisfaction℠ with Canadian discount brokerages. Between June and July of 2012, 2900 Canadian retail investors were surveyed about their level of satisfaction with their discount brokerages. Data was obtained for 12 Canadian discount brokerages, although results for Credential Direct were […]

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Brokerages Gone Social

Published September 17, 2012
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Even 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 […]

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