As an example, I happen to have an account with TD Waterhouse, using their WebBroker system. I pay $29 for each trade, which for a small potato like me, can be quite a high percentage of my investment depending on how much money I'm putting into a stock. It's especially hard for trading, when you want to be in and out of a stock in a short period of time. In the States, a discount brokerage may charge $7 to $10 a trade, which makes it much easier to budget into your investment. That being said, if you make more than 25 trades in a month (which I don't), then there is a system that is much cheaper at TD.
Having traded in the States and up here in Canada, I have found that the adage is true: you really do get what you pay for. TD Waterhouse's WebBroker system is not only easy to use, but the brokers often beat the limit prices I input into the system. Where I find real value for my money though, is in the research and other free training they give you. Each morning I read the TD Morning Action notes, which provides detailed analysis of each stock that TD follows and often will comment on changes to the tax structure in Canada (such as with income trusts), etc. I will also quickly look at the Ink Morning Insider report, which is much easier than combing through sedar.com everyday to find out the previous day's insider activity. Other free reports include the Argus Market Watch and the S&P Outlook Report, which I find are generally more useful if you trade in a lot of US-listed stocks.
TD also provides very comprehensive reports on a number of economic sectors and industries. I like to browse through TD's Economic Reports each evening as way to ensure that I'm up to date with various aspects of world economics. I think these are free to the general public, too... not just TD customers. An example of the last week's offerings:
- February 29, 2008 - The Weekly Bottom Line
- February 29, 2008 - U.S. Personal Income and Spending Commentary
- February 27, 2008 - U.S. Durable Goods Orders Commentary
- February 26, 2008 - The 2008 Federal Budget
- February 25, 2008 - Weekly Commodity Price Report
- February 25, 2008 - Industrial Outlook
- February 21, 2008 - What’s Going On With U.S. Inflation?
So as you can see, between these economic reports and the previously-mentioned Daily Pfennig, I usually know a good deal about what will affect my investments in the coming week.
I think that TD Waterhouse particularly stands out from the rest of the crowd when it comes to their free seminars. While other discount brokers like BMO and RBC provide an investing basics seminar from time to time, TD really caters to their clients by offering a wide variety of topics in their seminars. You don't even have to be a Waterhouse customer to attend. TD offers lunch and learn sessions in most major cities, if you are lucky enough to work downtown. Last week I went to a free seminar on investing and taxes, which taught you different ways to structure your investments to achieve maximum income potential (and lower taxes). It was a real eye-opener, and I learned more in an hour and a half than I ever dreamed I could. I'm going to an upcoming all-day options trading class that they are sponsoring, as well as a few other investment seminars. I mean, why not? They're free! And I'm like a little sponge when it comes to these things.
The point I'm trying to make is that if you want to learn, there are tons of resources out there. You just need to dig around and see what each brokerage is providing.
