Norbert’s Gambit: The Complete Guide
[This post was updated in February 2015 to reflect recent changes at some brokerages.] Norbert’s gambit remains the least expensive way to convert Canadian and US dollars at a discount brokerage. For [...]
The Hidden Cost of Bid-Ask Spreads
Trading commissions get a lot of attention from ETF investors, and rightly so. But depending which ETFs you use and the size of your trades, the impact of bid-ask spreads may be larger than you though [...]
Norbert’s Gambit at CIBC: A Case Study
Norbert’s gambit is an excellent way to reduce the cost of converting Canadian and US dollars, but not every brokerage makes it easy. Recently Justin Bender helped a client of our DIY Investor Service [...]
ETF Investors: Avoid the After-Hours Club
One of the first rules of buying and selling ETFs is to always use limit orders, never market orders. A limit order allows you to specify the maximum price you’re willing to pay, or the minimum you’re [...]
Scary When They’re Down, Scary When They’re Up
It’s been barely a month since Alexander Green remarked that we’re currently enjoying “the most disrespected bull market in history.” Green described how investors who were shell-shocked by 2008 were [...]
How Much Are You Paying For US Dollars?
Currency conversion remains one of the biggest rip-offs in banking and investing. It's made worse by the lack of transparency: if you call your discount brokerage they'll quote their current rates, bu [...]
Ask the Spud: Combining e-Series Funds and ETFs
I use the Global Couch Potato with e-Series funds in my TD Waterhouse account, but I eventually want to use the Complete Couch Potato. Once my portfolio gets to $50,000 and I qualify for $9.95 trading [...]
Virtual Brokers Becomes the ETF Leader
The Globe and Mail announced its annual discount brokerage rankings yesterday and crowned a new winner. Virtual Brokers took top spot for 2012, ending a six-year run by Qtrade. In his article about th [...]
A New Service for Do-It-Yourself Investors
In the June issue of MoneySense, I wrote a feature that profiled three Canadian families who wanted to overhaul their investments and start fresh with low-cost ETF portfolios they could manage on thei [...]
An Overview of Commission-Free ETFs
Three discount brokerages in Canada now offer a menu of commission-free ETFs. Scotia iTrade pioneered this feature in Canada last September, then Qtrade Investor announced a similar offering about a m [...]
