per last 2 posts, the 1% is based on amount over your foreign content limit, which would normally be 30%. if you have $100,000, 50K in foreign (all based on cost), 50K cash, you would pay a $200/month penalty (=1% of 50K-0.3*100K). as for currency spread, if trade is done on same day, yo may be able to ask for a cross rate. this is what i do. the buy and sell are done at the same FX rate. either the FX bid or ask rate will be used depending on whether there is a net C$ or US$ position.
Ask? I do not recall Etrade Canada being flexible in this matter. When I tried to discuss with them why the spread was so high, I was told that they are not a bank. Which broker has these rules? Do you always have to ask or there is a "flag" on your account on this?
http://www.nationalpost.com/financialpost/story.html?id={5886D708-3973-41F6-98A9-CD75C822886A} "A recent survey by Deutsche Bank and Birinyi and Associates found TSX trading costs among the lowest in the world. " One wonders why it is not reflected in the fees for average investors ...
It seem that they will opening their Canadian office the next monday. Their website is: http://www.ameritradecanada.com/
http://www.ameritrade.com/services/commissions.fhtml are not cheap and it is unclear if they have RRSP accounts but more competition is the better
Fuck Canadian stocks. There's more boilers rooms there than anywhere else. All stockbrokers there with very exceptions, come out of boiler rooms.
are you trying to give elite trader a bad name? a little harsh, don't you think? The bigest problem with Canadian stocks is there aren't many with wide ownership. This means low float and low turnover. This is normal when compared with similar exchanges. it may seem abnormal when compared with the US markets, being the biggest in the world. As for the stockbroker question, please provide link to study showing your conclusion. after all, you wouldn't go ahead and make an assertion like yours without facts, right? BTW, boiler rooms originated in the good 'ol USA back in the 30s. the so called canadian boiler rooms were run by broker-dealers. see: http://www.sipa.to/investorsCorner/alerts_Penny_stock_dealers.htm for examples. they never did deal in the listed markets. in other words, if you were buying stocks from the TSE (now TSX) you probably weren't dealing with one of those organizations. and yes, i do agree, they were a blight. i put them in the same category as those swindlers who scare old people into selling their homes for less than FMV, and those scum who run MLM/pyramid schemes, & many other US innovations. broker regulation is very strong in Canada. brokers are well trained, and lately, are required to have some business or professional background. university degrees are almost always required.
I agree that the regulation is strong (and usually go against the small investor), but even if many people have claimed that the professional should have a university degrees, the reality is far from this rule. I know many of them that have only a High School degree, and some of them that had worked in some food stores before to become senior brokers. You should see the result today ..., I wouldn't be a client of them! The worse is that many small investors put their hope in these peoples and you should see the result now!