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moneysense.ca, 17/09/06
Best Canadian Online Brokerages
The weekend edition of The Report on Business ranked twelve Canadian Online Brokerages on seven different criteria. Fees and commissions are rightly given the highest weighting and the top honours go to QTrade, E*Trade and Credential Direct, which isn’t surprising considering the first two charge a minimum commission of less than $20.
Our discount broker, RBC Action Direct, of course brings up the bottom of the pack, as it does year after year. The RRSP season is fast approaching and I am seriously considering moving all our accounts to another brokerage. E*Trade is very attractive, considering that they have dropped commissions on all Canadian and U.S. equities to $9.99 for qualified accounts. To qualify for the low commission, you need $50,000 in combined assets or conduct 30 trades per quarter. Accounts that don’t qualify are charged $19.99.
moneysense.ca, 17/09/06
Interactive Direct has even lower fees, at $0.01 per share with a $2.00 minimum order!
One of my friends brought to my attention that if a brokerage firm goes bankrupt in the USA, the account holders aren’t the first to get at their own assets. Like most corporations, the owner of the corporate debt of the brokerage firm gets first dibs of the assets within the company, which includes the money that belongs to the individual account holders! He didn’t know if it was the same legal situation in Canada, but it’s something that needs to be evaluated before deciding upon a brokerage firm.
I’m shocked — SHOCKED — that RBC’s offering doesn’t lead the pack.
It’s beyond me how Royal manages to be such a fantastic stock to own, because any dealings I ever have with them always leave me with a bad taste in my mouth
Seems they managed to be good for sharholders by screwing their customers
That article was interesting, because they overlooked Trade Freedom which operates out of Montreal, and charges 9.99 per equity trade and you don’t need 50,000. to get this price. They also offer Recognia at no charge.
Just a head’s up. I noticed that E*Trade will pay your transfer fees (provided you transfer more then 25k). https://www.canada.etrade.com/pages/powere/concierge.shtml
I have no idea about investments, but i think this is a dumb question, but i really need to ask it, because it’s not clear for me.
When for example E Trade says it gets a 19.99 commision, is it like a monthly fee, or is it on every trade u make. let’s say i have 500 in stocks, and sells them, and i make only 10 bucks, they take 19.99 from that trade?
thanks a lot for answering and sorry for my ignorance.
Commissions are on every trade you make. I don’t understand exactly what you mean when you say “I make only 10 bucks”. If you sell 500 shares at a $1 each, you’ll be left with $500 minus commissions.
thanks, but sorry, i wasn’t clear.
The commision, is taken when i buy shares, or when I sell shares, or taken either when i buy, and when i sell.
You pay a commission when you buy AND when you sell your shares.
Let’s take an example. Let’s say the commission is $20. Let’s say you buy 100 shares of stock X for $20. You would pay $20*100+ $20 = $2,020.
If you sell the same stock X later for $10. You’d be left with $10*100 – $20 = $980.
thanks a lot
does anyone have any info on “part time trading for full time profits”? I came across it and it peaked my interest