With storm clouds thicker than this week’s 420 protests-turned-celebrations and tension greater than the imminent showdown coming in the next installment of Game of Thrones, it seems the fog of war has set in with online brokerages. On the home front, things are nervously quiet, however from the revelations this past week in the US, […]

While one basketball legend is retiring another one is seeing his star rise. Whether it’s professional basketball or the world of DIY investing, performance is what counts. For the race that is the Canadian discount brokerages landscape, however, coasting along is not an option. In this week’s roundup, we take a look at continued signs […]

While April showers might bring May flowers, April is also about the time to start nervously watching the calendar for the ‘sell in May and go away’ moment. For many Canadian online brokerages, however, the hope is that wherever investors decide to go this spring, that they take their brokerage account along for the ride […]

People often look at springtime as a chance to clean house. And, for many of Canada’s discount brokerages, that is exactly what they did with the deals and promotions heading into April. At the outset of this month, there are almost half as few deals being offered as there were throughout March which is a […]

Update Mar. 18 While there were lots of offers available to DIY investors from Canadian online brokerages into the RRSP contribution deadline, there were definitely fewer than last year. Volatile markets and Canadians signaling their reluctance to contribute to an RRSP this year might have contributed to the pullback in participation by brokerages however there […]

Time flies when you’re up against a deadline. That seems to be the theme for many Canadians looking to take advantage of the RRSP contribution deadline for 2015 coming up this Monday. For Canadian discount brokerages, however, it seems that at the end of RRSP season may be signaling the start of an even stormier […]

Having had such a terrible start to the trading year, this past week offered a reprieve from the bad news. Of course the recent stock market performance has many skeptics shouting from the rooftops but, as it always is, it will be the market that has the last word. For Canadian discount brokerages, the market […]

It seems like Fox Mulder and Goldman Sachs share at least one more thing in common: they both want to believe. When the poster child for capitalism questions out loud whether or not capitalism actually is working as it should, there is definitely something paranormal happening. Canadian and US discount brokerages alike also want to […]

Updated: Feb 2 While it still looks like winter across most of Canada, the deals and promotions section is a balmy +17 +18 at the outset of February. Even though no new deals have launched at the beginning of February, this month is typically a very exciting month across the discount brokerage space. Throughout January, […]

The start of the 2016 trading year has been more than a bit loonie. Circuit breakers tripping and then being pulled in China, RBC raising mortgage rates in Canada and the price of oil continuing to plunge have made for quite an opening act to 2016. For Canadian discount brokerages, planning for their busiest season […]

Happy New Year! Welcome to the first edition of the discount brokerage roundup for 2016. It’s hard to believe that we’re turning the page into another year already but when time flies this fast it must mean that we’re having fun. With a number of market closures, a gearing down of activity with Canadian DIY […]

Updated Jan. 29/16 For DIY investors, nothing says welcome to 2016 quite like a review of the latest deals and promotions from Canadian discount brokerages. With markets and Canadian online brokerages closed for New Years, the deals and promotions engine looks like it’ll need some time to warm up before it kicks back into gear […]

It’s Christmas Day, and with markets closed there wasn’t a whole lot to do other than enjoy being with loved ones, giving and getting gifts, and for some eager beavers, getting a jump on the upcoming slew of deals and promotions for bigger and better trading monitors. Oh and then there was that beauty pageant […]

Like it or not, the one great lesson that markets continuously teaches its students is that prices reflect some vision of the future and not the present. Of course what makes markets so exciting is the fact that there are so many companies thinking up new ideas and products to bring that future into reality. […]

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 […]

Update Dec 19th With 2015 quickly drawing to a close, it looks like Canadian discount brokerages have already put forward their best deals and promotions to take investors into 2016. As the year winds down, DIY investors and traders are looking at places to spend their money rather than grow it, and as such, markets […]

Some people don’t even refer to this month as November anymore. “Movember” – the trendy moustache-growing period of the year, has now overtaken the second last month of the year all with the aim at raising men’s health awareness, of course, and having a little fun.  As many traders and online brokerage providers know, however, […]

Updated November 6 November starts out quietly with only a couple of new deals from Questrade. Hopefully Canadian online brokers are waiting to launch new promotions sometime before the Holiday season. At the start of this month there are 13 offers currently available from seven different brokerages. Of those nearly half (46%) come from Questrade, […]

Much of Canada is currently experiencing the effects of fall weather: falling leaves, lowering temperatures, and Toronto Maple Leaf’s fans thinking about a Stanley Cup run. As many of Canada’s discount brokerages know, however, while hope may be a good thing, hedging your bets is a necessity. In this week’s roundup, we’ll take a look […]

Landslide elections, time machines, and Drake’s infamous victory dances (we think) – this has been a marathon week for peering into the future. While they may not have legendary locks of hair, a hoverboard or some rather original dance moves, Canadian discount brokerages are constantly thinking about and trying to keep up with the future […]