Canadian Online Brokers

[nomis_bmw]

Just wanted to ask the Canadian investors out there which online broker do you use? I've been using TD Waterhouse but the 29$ US commission is pretty brutal...I've been looking to change it to Ameritrade Canada or Questrade? anyone one use these two....please share your thoughts on these two more affordable brokers...especially maintenance fees or other hidden fees....thanks guys.

[thetank]

I know how you feel; I pay $25 dollars a trade with CIBC.

[SupraSaiyan]

I'm with Credential Direct. $25/trade here too and $4 to set limit. :(

[mhertz]

i've been using ameritrade canada for a few months and it's pretty good. but i'm now in the process of transferring my account over to optionsXpress.ca because ameritrade canada accounts are being transferred to TD Waterhouse brokerage accounts.

optionsXpress, from what I hear and have read, is the BEST online discount broker. barron's had a big piece rating all of them and this one came out on top! so i'm looking forward to begin trading with them.

[casperov]

How about Interactive Brokers?

Anyone have any experience with them?

Their trade prices are pretty good, but if you trade over a certain number of shares, it is an extra couple of cents per share. So not so good if you are trading a lot of shares.

8O

[mhertz]

optionsxpress is flat rate, no minimum, no maximum.

[casperov]

Which service is the best in terms of trading fees for small stocks where 10 000 shares are the norm?

:confused:

[casperov]

optionsxpress is flat rate, no minimum, no maximum.

Is that regardless of the number of shares you buy or sell?

Even like 20 000 shares of company XYZ?:p

[nomis_bmw]

Just wanted to ask mhertz why changing to td waterhouse accounts is making you want to change brokers? are they increasing the commission?

I am going to look into optionsexpress...is that for Canadians? Anyone else considering switching to ameritrade or questrade?

[Mik3L]

Actually, it looks like TD will be reducing their commisions based on your level of activity: http://www.tdwaterhouse.ca/activeinvestors.jsp

OptionsExpress looks interesting, as does InteractiveBrokers. Might need to switch to one of these in the near future.

mhertz, if you would, let us know your feedback on OE once you get switched over to there.

[bobwatford123]

Etrade Canada is the best major brokerage by far in Canada with their recent fee changes.
$19.99 FLAT fee for U.S. stocks (unlimited # of shares),
$19.99 FLAT fee for Canadian stocks a dollar or less (unlimited # of shares), $19.99 fee for Canadian stocks over a dollar (per 1000 shares)

I trade with TDWaterhouse and am changing most of it to etrade. TD doesn't even have depth on their site....
Buying 10000 shares of BEL on the AMEX would currently cost me $300 with TDWaterhouse...... $20 on Etrade.
Plus, if you have more than 30 trades a quarter they drop all these fees to $9.99. It is almost too good to be true. U.S. investors may not understand what the big deal is but Canadians have been being raped by brokerages for years. It's nice Etrade actually is doing something about it. I would assume the others will have to follow suit or get just obliterated by Etrade.

[thetank]

What about other fees such as transfering money out ect.

[bobwatford123]

Sorry dude, I don't have all the fees off the top of my head. Go to the site and look at their fee schedule.
While I liked the convenience of banking at TDCanadatrust and trading with TDWaterhouse (regarding real time transfers etc) it just isn't enough for me to spend $300 on a trade that would cost me $20 or even $10. I don't think Etrade has fees to transfer money into a bank account actually....but it would be worth going to the site to check.

[mhertz]

hey everyone -- i'm switching out of ameritrade/TD waterhouse brokerage because a) i have never liked the TD system -- too much of a hierarchy and lack of care for "smaller" investors. they just concern themselves with the high net worth clients. b) fees are increasing from the ameritrade $10.99 flat rates, which will make them the same price (and for some transactions, more) than optionsxpress. c) i decided on optionsxpress because of the great reviews in magazines like barron's, cramer's support, among other big-swinging wall st. resources. i hear they're the best in terms of execution, and they are flat rate - buy 1 or 10,000,000 shares and it's the same price. d) great, FREE, web trading live streaming real-time qutoes! e) excellent live customer service (8am-8pm)!

having said that, i'm still in the process of transferring my AMTD assets to OXPS so I will let you know how it goes once i begin trading with them.

and yes, you can open an account in both canada and/or the USA. i'm a canadian customer (www.optionsxpress.ca)

[Mik3L]

And for those who like to use technicals, it looks like they have realtime streaming charts powered by Prophet.net which if I remember correctly is what TCG uses to find his entry/exit points.

http://www.optionsxpress.ca/welcome/tour/charts.aspx?nav=quick

[Mik3L]

The more I look at it the more OE looks like the winner to me. Now only if StockFetcher still supported Canadian stocks I would be set.

[myz350]

I used to use CIBC, now with TDwaterhouse. I like TDwaterhouse because it allows me to do ALL or None trades as well as pinkys, which were both not possible with CIBC. Right now I am paying the regular fees which is like $29 a trade, but come March 20th, I will be in the active trader program where I pay on $14.99 a trade as long as I do between 30 to 149 trades per quarter. But I think I will do more than that, so I will be in Tier 1 where I pay $9.99 a trade flat. This is definitely the cheapest commission rate you can find in Canada. Check out the web site.

https://www.tdwaterhouse.ca/activeinvestors.jsp?referer=http://www.tdwaterhouse.ca/discountbrokerage/index.jsp

[bobwatford123]

The problem I have with TD Waterhouse is fees (etrade blows them away) and the fact that they give no market depth. Market depth is extremely important when trading I think.

[Damon]

I pay $9.95/trade with TD Waterhouse. You get that rate once you have had 30+ executed trades or $500,000 in assets.

[bobwatford123]

I believe Damon you are talking about the U.S. arm. The Canadian one is a different beast.

[myz350]

The problem I have with TD Waterhouse is fees (etrade blows them away) and the fact that they give no market depth. Market depth is extremely important when trading I think.

How much is etrade?

[bobwatford123]

Here, I'll repost what I said earlier.

Etrade Canada is the best major brokerage by far in Canada with their recent fee changes.
$19.99 FLAT fee for U.S. stocks (unlimited # of shares),
$19.99 FLAT fee for Canadian stocks a dollar or less (unlimited # of shares), $19.99 fee for Canadian stocks over a dollar (per 1000 shares)

I trade with TDWaterhouse and am changing most of it to etrade. TD doesn't even have depth on their site....
Buying 10000 shares of BEL on the AMEX would currently cost me $300 with TDWaterhouse...... $20 on Etrade.
Plus, if you have more than 30 trades a quarter they drop all these fees to $9.99. It is almost too good to be true. U.S. investors may not understand what the big deal is but Canadians have been being raped by brokerages for years. It's nice Etrade actually is doing something about it. I would assume the others will have to follow suit or get just obliterated by Etrade.

[nomis_bmw]

Any updates on Optionsxpress.ca...........anyone have any other Canadian Online Brokers to compare to?

[nancy180]

Hello from Toronto. TD will give you 9.90 if you trade over 30 trades every 3 months. However, I have my retirement account with them. I have had several problems. For instance, the site was very slow this week. 2x I couldn't log on at all. Also, one day they filled half an order and charged me for it where my discount broker never does that. I use interactive and it is dirt cheap. My average cost is 2 bucks. Sometimes it's 2.80 if I'm over 5000 shares. I like them alot. Interactive does not handle RRSP's or else I would put my retirement account with them too. JMHO

[mhertz]

i've used ameritrade canada and optionsxpress canada -- i'm currently using optionsxpress and it's great. the only thing is that fees can get a bit pricey (albeit the highest I pay is $19.95 -- generally range between $14.95-$19.95). but execution and customer service is great.

[bobwatford123]

nancy, your discount broker doesn't charge you for half filled orders??? That seems almost too good to be true. Anybody else's broker not charge them for partially filled orders??

[Leb]

i use questrade.. its pretty good thus far.. low commissions

[nomis_bmw]

I just opened an account with optionsxpress today....will update everyone...they charge 14.95$ versus 29$ that TD waterhouse charges me unless I do over 30 trades which is almost 1000$ in commission already.

How is etrade or ameritrade? Any using them?

[mhertz]

ameritrade was acquired by waterhouse so they'll now charge $14.99 or $9.99 if you're active, but if you don't trade at least 30 a quarter you'll be charged their regular TD fee of $29.

i'm in canada and i use interactive brokers.

[Pete]

Thanks for the tip, mhertz. I'm so sick of the huge bucks I pay at Royal Bank - will be switching soon, probably to Interactive.

Why did you switch so quickly from OptionsXpress to Interactive?

[mhertz]

i was actually in the process of transferring out of optionsxpress into interactive brokers but i cancelled the transfer yesterday and am now staying with optionsxpress.

the fees/commissions at interactive brokers are excellent - extremely low - but I just don't know what they're execution is like. also, i found their customer service to be crap and their other services were minimal.

as i've said before, optionsxpress is excellent - considered to be the best execution in the business - and has many great features, and great customer service. the only bad thing about it is that it's a little pricey. but other than that, i'm very happy with it.