Where to get the lowest commission fees on investments?

[Feneant]

I asked something similar at some point but didn't get very far.

My question is where can I get an investment account (RRSP in this case) allowing me to trade in the north american stock market (US/CDN) as few or as many times as I want in a month?

I am doing very few transactions because of the high cost at RBC (Selling a current investment has a comission of over 130$ US now) because I am a small fry to them. My father, who has much more money, pays 10$ for any transaction - I pay 30$ base plus a % of the stock.

To me that means RBC does not want to bother with someone in my situation who is just starting to invest >:( . Is there a bank or an investment company that actuallys wants this level of business and would treat me as well as their wealthier members? I want to pay a maximum of 10$ per transaction without also having to give up a percentage of my profit?

Is there a comparison chart or guide to this somewhere?

Thank you

[tdott]

I was wondering the same, tried some searching, but maybe we can get some more current answers?

I currently have Scotia McLeod Direct Investing setup. Fees seem a little high, makes me think twice when wanting to try something out.

[ray420]

If you are investing small amounts you may want to stay away from stocks and maybe look at td Efunds......but if you still interested in stocks and etfs you might want to look at questrade.......

these two articles maybe useful for you:

Canadian Discount Brokers Review (http://financialhighway.com/canadian-discount-brokerage-review-and-comparison/)

Discount Brokes: 5 Tips to choose the best discount broker (http://financialhighway.com/discount-brokers-5-tips-to-choose-the-best-discount-broker/)

[g9chan]

I don't have an account at Questrade but they might be good.

You could also look at Interactive Brokers. If you are under 25 or something, the minimum monthly fee is lower. I use them. Their fees appear to be the cheapest, but execution may not necessarily be as good due to them putting their market making first... so there's a hidden cost of a fraction of a cent per trade. They are very good for currency conversion and futures.

[bcbgboy13]

I asked something similar at some point but didn't get very far.

My question is where can I get an investment account (RRSP in this case) allowing me to trade in the north american stock market (US/CDN) as few or as many times as I want in a month?

I am doing very few transactions because of the high cost at RBC (Selling a current investment has a comission of over 130$ US now) because I am a small fry to them. My father, who has much more money, pays 10$ for any transaction - I pay 30$ base plus a % of the stock.


If you live with your parents there is no reasons for you to pay $30 +% for a trade. I believe they now allow for $9.99/trade with over $100k in household assets - call them to inquire.
"Household asset accounts are defined as RBC Direct Investing accounts for clients living in the same household, with the same address. You must advise RBC Direct Investing of these multiple account relationships."

[ray420]

I don't have an account at Questrade but they might be good.

You could also look at Interactive Brokers. If you are under 25 or something, the minimum monthly fee is lower. I use them. Their fees appear to be the cheapest, but execution may not necessarily be as good due to them putting their market making first... so there's a hidden cost of a fraction of a cent per trade. They are very good for currency conversion and futures.

interactive brokers is great but they dont offer registered accounts (RRSP, TFSA etc...)

[Feneant]

Sorry, I don't live with my parents, I just compare with my father who also deals with RBC but pays so much less than me it's ridiculous.

Ill check Questrade as suggested- right now my focus is stocks and I want to make a few trades a month so I need something where they don't take all my profit.

[sjweyman]

With Questrade you will never pay more than about $13 for a trade (their 9.95/trade cap + exchange fees) and most times if you are a small investor and buying relatively expensive stocks (high share prices) you will probably be paying the minimum of $4.95/trade + exchange fees putting you at $7 or less per trade. Not bad at all.

Some people have complaints about Questrade ... but I've been lucky enough so far to not run into anything major I guess. I'm a satisfied customer.

[DanielCarrera]

If you are a true investor, that is, a buy and hold investor who buys quality companies (or better, ETFs) and is not interested in market timing, then you should definitely consider ShareOwner.com (http://shareowner.com/index.html). This is not a traditional broker. They have a good selection of US and Canadian stocks and ETFs. You pick stocks and ETFs from that list and place an order. The order is completed only once a week, so that they pool everyone's orders together. In exchange for this, you get the lowest commissions I've seen in Canada. It is $9 for every different stock up to a maximum of $36. So, after the 4th stock, every additional stock in your order is free. If you buy 18 different stocks, then it is effectively $2/stock. If you buy 36 stocks then effectively it is $1/stock.

As you can see, this system is great for buy and hold investors, but it is useless to market timers and speculators.

What do you think?

[Feneant]

That is interesting Daniel, are you a member? I'm curious as to how secure it is and what kind of returns they get. I looked briefly but didn't see that kind of information.

I have to admit though I'm playing with my RRSP account as it has been doing 0% over 5 years and doing exactly the opposite of what they want though, timing and speculation. I'm up ~20% since I started doing that but I am getting robbed with fees. I've already piad between 500-700$ to RBC in commissions this year (including a pending order that has yet to pass) and have only done about 4 buy/sell transactions (meaning I paid commission 8 times- all between 50-125$).

[asdfvcx]

If you are paying $130 per trade, doesn't that make it likely you are trading large amounts of low priced stocks? Trades of 1000 shares or less are a flat $29 max.

Is there a reason why you are mainly interested in low price stocks? Are you just mainly speculating or day trading?

If so then yes, you probably do want a different broker. (Although even better, you might reconsider if you should continue investing in this style).

[DanielCarrera]

That is interesting Daniel, are you a member? I'm curious as to how secure it is and what kind of returns they get. I looked briefly but didn't see that kind of information.

(1) I am not a member, but I intend to be. There is an thread on the Financial Web Ring (http://www.financialwebring.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=369) forum, going back to 2005 up to 2009 and in this time nobody there posted any problems or concerns.

(2) Your question about returns does not make sense. You pick the stocks or ETFs you want to buy. So your return is exactly that or the stocks or ETFs you pick.

EDIT: (3) What asdfvcx said.

[squid]

You might still want to check with RBC. At BMO they let anyone who is willing to link up accounts do so. Everyone gets 9.99 if the group is over 100,000. Everyone can see each others' asset level though.

[Feneant]

Is there a reason why you are mainly interested in low price stocks? Are you just mainly speculating or day trading?


I am doing mostly low priced stocks and day trading currently, yes. It will not necessarily always be there but right now it is. I checked this morning and the comission (I have 14.5k shares to sell) is up to 141$ US.

RBC came back with a canned reply so I'm going to setup an account with Questrade I believe.