Are some of you still complaining about ECN fees? Easily avoidable.
Is TD Direct Investing the Best Online Broker?
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- Mar 14th, 2020 11:56 am
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- Frank2029
- Sr. Member
- Feb 17, 2012
- 660 posts
- 131 upvotes
- Toronto
- alexcalvado
- Sr. Member
- Feb 5, 2017
- 910 posts
- 913 upvotes
I love TD DI. no fees whatsoever since I have a ton of assets in there. Very fast to answer any questions on the phone. Free money was given when they had web problems at beginning of year. Fair price for trades. Cool and easy to navigate plateform. They paid the fees for transferring a few assets I had in other banks. And more importatntly, I know that my money is safe over there. TD and RY will still be there when I'll die in half a century.
- margincall
- Deal Addict
- Nov 6, 2015
- 3026 posts
- 2227 upvotes
- Calgary
I've been using Interactive Brokers for over 10 years. Cheap and highly reliable (I've never faced an outage).
One thing I really like is being able to buy stocks in various currencies without having to convert funds first (IB creates a margin loan in XYZ currency to fund the trade)
Added benefit of being able to convert fx at mid-market rates as @georvu mentioned.
One thing I really like is being able to buy stocks in various currencies without having to convert funds first (IB creates a margin loan in XYZ currency to fund the trade)
Added benefit of being able to convert fx at mid-market rates as @georvu mentioned.
- dTinman
- Jr. Member
- Apr 22, 2014
- 116 posts
- 39 upvotes
- ottawa
If you exceed the minimum 150 trades per quarter, all of the major banks (including TD) will offer $5 /trade and margin at prime. In short, they all price match if you ask.Hobotrader wrote: ↑ Too expensive, if you're just investing to retire then get something with lower commission. Having to invest 12x a year (monthly) and paying 120 to do so is ludicrous compared to 60 with CIBC of free with Questrade. I have Questrade, TD, and Scotia iTrade...Scotia is by far the worst and I only use it for my taxable where HXS is on my free list. It's 25 commission!!! THe highest, unless you have 50k with them that knocks it down to 10 bucks and maybe lower if you trade more than 150 transactions a quarter (you need to be a day trader to take advantage of this - same with TD). TD also has account fees, for instance RRSP fees. I only hold a margin account with them because the interest rates are lower than Questrade but I never use it since I just pack HXS in a taxable cash account. If you're just buying and holding, then use Questrade. If you're trading lots and trading lots of volume that can trigger Questrades high ECN fees then maybe TD/RBC/CIBC can be better.
Frank2029: Only way I know of to avoid ECN fees are to use limit orders. Depending on your investing style, limit orders can be risky. I only use market orders which incur ECN fees with Questrade.
My real concern was quality service and reliability.
- Guest9939383742
- Deal Addict
- Jun 10, 2013
- 3914 posts
- 2529 upvotes
- GrandTheftAutopolis
Gotta be big fish to spend 750 in commissions in a quarter...150 is a lot of transactions.dTinman wrote: ↑ If you exceed the minimum 150 trades per quarter, all of the major banks (including TD) will offer $5 /trade and margin at prime. In short, they all price match if you ask.
Frank2029: Only way I know of to avoid ECN fees are to use limit orders. Depending on your investing style, limit orders can be risky. I only use market orders which incur ECN fees with Questrade.
My real concern was quality service and reliability.
- Frank2029
- Sr. Member
- Feb 17, 2012
- 660 posts
- 131 upvotes
- Toronto
dTinman wrote: ↑ If you exceed the minimum 150 trades per quarter, all of the major banks (including TD) will offer $5 /trade and margin at prime. In short, they all price match if you ask.
Frank2029: Only way I know of to avoid ECN fees are to use limit orders. Depending on your investing style, limit orders can be risky. I only use market orders which incur ECN fees with Questrade.
My real concern was quality service and reliability.
I don't see too much love in here for BMO but for me personally it's the best one in terms of reliability and I have never waited more then a minute when I called them. Although a little pricier they offer a great bunch of tools to help.
I now use Questrade but dealing with customer service was terrible the first time requesting a cash withdraw. It took 3 weeks of back and forth bs. I was frustrated. I have stuck around because their options are the cheapest.
- zcypher
- Member
- Jan 4, 2017
- 366 posts
- 277 upvotes
I'm satisfied with them and I like the interface. TD's UI seems to be the least offensive of the Big 5, if not most financial institutions in Canada. Aside to transact, I don't pay any fees. The cost of the transaction is less meaningful for me since I do so few transactions, the strategy being to buy and hold forever (mostly dividend growers). If you transact frequently though, you're probably far better off with discount brokerages such as Interactive Brokers, Questrade or Virtual Brokers. I like having everything in one place as I use TD for the LOC and CC too.
I don't think there is any singular "best" one. It's going to depend on your needs and preferences. For me TDDI suits my needs perfectly, and I wouldn't consider switching for a slightly different transaction fee, based on how infrequently I transact. If I were to start with trading strategies instead of long term buy and hold investing, then I'm certain I would have a completely different opinion in that case!
I don't think there is any singular "best" one. It's going to depend on your needs and preferences. For me TDDI suits my needs perfectly, and I wouldn't consider switching for a slightly different transaction fee, based on how infrequently I transact. If I were to start with trading strategies instead of long term buy and hold investing, then I'm certain I would have a completely different opinion in that case!
- komodor
- Deal Addict
- Aug 7, 2010
- 1127 posts
- 479 upvotes
Not enough, you also need to buy in multiple of 100 shares ("board lots"), otherwise you pay ECN fees even if it's a limit order.
- dTinman
- Jr. Member
- Apr 22, 2014
- 116 posts
- 39 upvotes
- ottawa
I did not know that. That was never clearly explained at Questrade. They mentioned that limit orders add liquidity to the market and market orders remove liquidity. ECN fees appear to be compensation for the removal of liquidity.
- Sanchez
- Deal Addict
- Feb 20, 2006
- 1186 posts
- 48 upvotes
- Vancouver
I didn't check the other columns, but the IB column has a lot of mistakes or omissions:
They mention the $10 minimum trade fees for RRSP (which can be waived, per below), but there is a $50 annual maintenance fee as well not mentioned (maybe applies to TFSA as well, I didn't check).
For all accounts they repeatedly mention the $10 minimum trading fees in many of the rows, but this is waived for accounts with more than 100k (USD or the equivalent in CAD) in equity, so applies only to small accounts.
They say "NO" to Online Live Chat which is totally incorrect: they have 24-hous live chat on weekdays and some Saturday online live chat, which is in fact their primary contact point, which is preferred over the phone line. Chat is available in something like a half dozen languages (although not all are 24 hours).
This is not a mistake or omission, but there are some rows that don't appear here which would make IB look relatively better, like FX fees (can be one hundred times cheaper than the competition), margin rates and things like international market access. Some of these reasons can easily dominate all others if you use them: if you get income in CAD but want to change to USD to buy US stocks, IB can easily save you hundreds of dollars per year (and thousands when you are making a big one-off conversion, e.g., selling USD equities to buy a house in CAD).
I switched to IB mostly for the FX fees and cheaper trades (this was back in the era where almost everyone was at $29 trades and iTrade was "cheap" at $19), and stayed because they are generally reasonable. They are not good at Canadian tax forms, and their trade-cost advantage has largely eroded since then (and the costs suck for large trades of low-priced shares: you'll pay $100 to trade 10,000 shares where a lot of other places would be less than $10).
They mention the $10 minimum trade fees for RRSP (which can be waived, per below), but there is a $50 annual maintenance fee as well not mentioned (maybe applies to TFSA as well, I didn't check).
For all accounts they repeatedly mention the $10 minimum trading fees in many of the rows, but this is waived for accounts with more than 100k (USD or the equivalent in CAD) in equity, so applies only to small accounts.
They say "NO" to Online Live Chat which is totally incorrect: they have 24-hous live chat on weekdays and some Saturday online live chat, which is in fact their primary contact point, which is preferred over the phone line. Chat is available in something like a half dozen languages (although not all are 24 hours).
This is not a mistake or omission, but there are some rows that don't appear here which would make IB look relatively better, like FX fees (can be one hundred times cheaper than the competition), margin rates and things like international market access. Some of these reasons can easily dominate all others if you use them: if you get income in CAD but want to change to USD to buy US stocks, IB can easily save you hundreds of dollars per year (and thousands when you are making a big one-off conversion, e.g., selling USD equities to buy a house in CAD).
I switched to IB mostly for the FX fees and cheaper trades (this was back in the era where almost everyone was at $29 trades and iTrade was "cheap" at $19), and stayed because they are generally reasonable. They are not good at Canadian tax forms, and their trade-cost advantage has largely eroded since then (and the costs suck for large trades of low-priced shares: you'll pay $100 to trade 10,000 shares where a lot of other places would be less than $10).
- eldeejay
- Deal Addict
- Apr 22, 2014
- 3097 posts
- 474 upvotes
- Oshawa, ON
IB. I feel like such a fool for what I’ve spent at RBC and TD over the years. Those dollars alone would be a significant chunk of wealth.
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- joey1234
- Deal Addict
- Oct 21, 2012
- 1436 posts
- 498 upvotes
- Toronto
I believe the best brokerage is dependent on what you require from the brokerage. Every brokerage will have positives and negatives. Some people WANT their brokerage with their current bank or a big 5 bank. Some people have a large amount to invest and may only periodically invest more. Some people want to invest weekly / biweekly with their paycheque. Some people want to day trade. Some people have very small amount of principle.
I don't think there is a best, just a best for what you need and your personal situation.
I personally use iTrade and TDDI for different reasons and am happy with both.
I don't think there is a best, just a best for what you need and your personal situation.
I personally use iTrade and TDDI for different reasons and am happy with both.
- vivmk20
- Sr. Member
- Nov 16, 2013
- 917 posts
- 330 upvotes
- GTA
- mkl38s
- Deal Fanatic
- Jan 21, 2014
- 8511 posts
- 6255 upvotes
so we don't have a choice with iTrade on non-reg account annual fee unless you do > 12 trades? no minimum holding value to waive that? I am thinking of opening iTrade but I don't think I will do 12 trades a year even
- imflying12
- Deal Addict
- Aug 9, 2011
- 2052 posts
- 409 upvotes
- GTA
does TD offer real time quotes on positions of your holdings for regular clients by default?
- Hibbing
- Deal Fanatic
- Dec 20, 2003
- 7248 posts
- 1322 upvotes
- London
I trade 87,000,000 dollars worth of stocks last year and ONLY use I.B. My average trade is under a buck and I'm usually in and out in less than 2 minutes.
- SamInfinity
- Deal Addict
- Jan 5, 2006
- 1054 posts
- 253 upvotes
- Mississauga
If you go to enter a buy or sell order you can get a fairly accurate real-time quote. If you want streaming quotes, I believe you need advanced dashboard for that. Check out their products page for details: Advanced Dashboardimflying12 wrote: ↑ does TD offer real time quotes on positions of your holdings for regular clients by default?
"If one's conviction is strong enough whether you're a bear or a bull, you should put your money where your mouth is. Otherwise, you don't have skin in the game, and you are nothing more than a cheerleader in the stands" - SamInfinity
- joey1234
- Deal Addict
- Oct 21, 2012
- 1436 posts
- 498 upvotes
- Toronto
- cocotheparrot
- Sr. Member
- Feb 13, 2008
- 977 posts
- 765 upvotes
- Edmonton, AB
I quit TD many years ago and moved to RBC.
I have trading authority on my sister's TD account and it is nothing but trouble with the reps. They have no clue what a W-8BEN form is.
I have trading authority on my sister's TD account and it is nothing but trouble with the reps. They have no clue what a W-8BEN form is.
- mkl38s
- Deal Fanatic
- Jan 21, 2014
- 8511 posts
- 6255 upvotes
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