Stocks - The Best Buys 2

[manwiches]

Originally Posted by jayswin

I'm confused, why were they trading today?


edit: in response to your first post

BTC doesn't follow normal NASDAQ/NYSE market hours.

I took swings on both MARA and RIOT on Thursday morning in anticipation of retail traders wanting to trade over the holidays, and creating a bull run in BTC. Then coin plays should follow tmw, and gap up.

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[RichieRich]

I'm slow to getting into the trading and ETF game so looking for some general advice/guidance. Am willing to crack $10k or $25k into initial trades for first ~6mo before escalating (assuming I don't poop the mattress). Have been moving towards low MER's for years but am well WELL overdue for getting into the ETF's (probably my top 3 procrastination item the last 5+ years). I'm reasonably savvy with computers and software and learn this stuff fairly quickly.
Some Q's:

- Discount stock/ETF trading... which is your preferred and why? I've googled and read up on a bunch, but still like your opinions. https://milliondollarjourney.com/rev...brokerages.htm
- Home programs/excel or online? I see an interesting screenshot from Manwiches above.

- What else should I be asking of myself? of a discount brokerage? or what?
thanks in advance.
RR

[Dan02]

I believe IKBR has the lowest fees on stock trades, options and lowest margin rates if that's your jam.

I don't think they pay for referrals though so obviously it's not on the list of the site you linked.

Do your own research though and try out their platforms with their papertrading accounts.


https://www.interactivebrokers.ca/en/home.php

I don't particularly like their app, but I don't do much of my trading on apps anyways.

[Table 5]

I recently signed up for Interactive Brokers. While I don't think it's quite as intuitive as Questrade (who I also trade with), what I really like is that it opens you up to international markets....so if you want to trade in Australia, Europe, Asia, that's your best bet. Probably not as important if you're only trading ETFs, but personally I think a lot of value is outside of North America, so it gives you the option to do that if you like certain sectors (ie. if you like Uranium, a lot of good options are listed on the ASX). It also has lower fees than Questrade.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Dan02

I believe IKBR has the lowest fees on stock trades, options and lowest margin rates if that's your jam.

I don't think they pay for referrals though so obviously it's not on the list of the site you linked.

Do your own research though and try out their platforms with their papertrading accounts.


https://www.interactivebrokers.ca/en/home.php

I don't particularly like their app, but I don't do much of my trading on apps anyways.

I've used IBKR for years, and think they're great. Aside from having lower commissions, lower margin rates, online access to many international markets, and online access to a huge variety of bonds, my favorite thing about them is how they deal with special situations.

I used to have etrade (became Scotia iTrade) and if I ever wanted to tender to a self tender with Scotia the process generally went as follows:
1) call Scotia, wait on hold.
2) connect to rep, who says they can't help with that and transfers me to corporate actions desk
3) wait on hold
4) corporate actions person informs me that no such tender exists and that there is nothing they can do. After threatening to move my account if they won't at least Google the press release, they say they'll get back to me.
5) they call me back less than 24 hours before the deadline, and it takes me 20 minutes to walk the rep through the form.

By contrast, IB puts corporate actions online. You log in, go to their tool, and type in your choice. Takes about 90 seconds.

[RichieRich]

I forgot to mention I'd like to get into puts/calls/covered situations at some point too w.r.t. stocks. I don't think you can do those with ETFs? Until some of your notes above I had not given much thought to international.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by RichieRich

I forgot to mention I'd like to get into puts/calls/covered situations at some point too w.r.t. stocks. I don't think you can do those with ETFs? Until some of your notes above I had not given much thought to international.

Some ETFs have options and it just depends on what they are and sometimes where. In Canada the options market is a limited compared to the US.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by RichieRich

I forgot to mention I'd like to get into puts/calls/covered situations at some point too w.r.t. stocks. I don't think you can do those with ETFs? Until some of your notes above I had not given much thought to international.

A number of ETFs have listed options. You can buy or sell options on them just like stock. For strategies that involve selling options, I don't like them as much as the implied volatility is generally lower because of the diversification, so the prices tend to be lower as well.

Not to sound like the IB marketing department, but I really like their ability to build custom spreads in Trader Workstation. You can specify what you want, and make it as a single trade for the entire spread. That reduces your risk of only getting a fill on a portion of the spread. Unfortunately that feature is only available on US options, because its a good one.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by RichieRich

I forgot to mention I'd like to get into puts/calls/covered situations at some point too w.r.t. stocks. I don't think you can do those with ETFs? Until some of your notes above I had not given much thought to international.

I'll defer to the more seasoned traders in the thread, but if you are focusing on ETFs and plan on buying monthly or semi-monthly, look for a platform that doesn't charge to buy ETFs, like Questrade (Disclaimer: I use Questrade for this reason). If you hate fees as much as I do, it's absolutely a no brainier.

IKBR seems to be better for buying stocks, and I'm looking into splitting my activity between the two platforms, just need to do a bit more research.

FWIW a friend showed me TD's platform and it has access to loads more information/news/research/reports than Questrade does.

[Blankcanvas]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

I'll defer to the more seasoned traders in the thread, but if you are focusing on ETFs and plan on buying monthly or semi-monthly, look for a platform that doesn't charge to buy ETFs, like Questrade (Disclaimer: I use Questrade for this reason). If you hate fees as much as I do, it's absolutely a no brainier.

IKBR seems to be better for buying stocks, and I'm looking into splitting my activity between the two platforms, just need to do a bit more research.

FWIW a friend showed me TD's platform and it has access to loads more information/news/research/reports than Questrade does.

I only do very basic trades in mostly North American stocks/ETF's and also like TD's platform for my level of research and reports. However each trade costs me almost $10.

I am seriously thinking of trying WealthSimple Trade for absolutely commission free trading. If I only trade in basic stocks and ETF's what's the downside?

[puckedoff]

Originally Posted by Blankcanvas

I only do very basic trades in mostly North American stocks/ETF's and also like TD's platform for my level of research and reports. However each trade costs me almost $10.

I am seriously thinking of trying WealthSimple Trade for absolutely commission free trading. If I only trade in basic stocks and ETF's what's the downside?

If you are on TD and are want to reduce your commissions, buying ETFs you can buy the E-series indexes for $0 commission.

One way you can take advantage of this, is do your monthly contributions to the S&P E-series (for example) until you have a sizeable amount, and then move that into the ETF of your choice. For illustrative purposes, you can buy $250 monthly for no charge and then move it to an ETF once you have $5K built up.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by Table 5

I recently signed up for Interactive Brokers. While I don't think it's quite as intuitive as Questrade (who I also trade with), what I really like is that it opens you up to international markets....so if you want to trade in Australia, Europe, Asia, that's your best bet. Probably not as important if you're only trading ETFs, but personally I think a lot of value is outside of North America, so it gives you the option to do that if you like certain sectors (ie. if you like Uranium, a lot of good options are listed on the ASX). It also has lower fees than Questrade.

It's also great for short selling!

[Table 5]

Just to balance out the love fest for IB, the one thing I don't like about it is how slow it is to deposit money. Often takes min 2-3 business days from when you transfer to when it shows up. Questrade is quite a bit faster.

Not a huge deal if you think ahead or keep a healthy cash balance, but annoying if you're trying to top up to catch a particular wave.

[Johnny199r]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Just to balance out the love fest for IB, the one thing I don't like about it is how slow it is to deposit money. Often takes min 2-3 business days from when you transfer to when it shows up. Questrade is quite a bit faster.

Not a huge deal if you think ahead or keep a healthy cash balance, but annoying if you're trying to top up to catch a particular wave.

I find Questrade takes 2 days...

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Just to balance out the love fest for IB, the one thing I don't like about it is how slow it is to deposit money. Often takes min 2-3 business days from when you transfer to when it shows up. Questrade is quite a bit faster.

Not a huge deal if you think ahead or keep a healthy cash balance, but annoying if you're trying to top up to catch a particular wave.

Yeah, only way to deposit money faster to IB is with a wire which is costly.

I tend use margin for a couple of days if I'm waiting on more money coming in.

[manwiches]

I only use Questrade. I pay 4.95 per trade, regardless of size, so that works for my position sizes. PM and AH is a bit more.

I have an account w IB, but don't use them, as the commission structure is still more expensive for me, and I already pay exchange fees etc on Questrade. But if you trade smaller sizes, IB is the way to go. But. IB UI is not as intuitive as Questrade.

ToS is a great platform, but you need to fund with 25k US (PDT rule seems to be applied up here, which is stupid) to get live data, and you pay 7.99 per trade (I think, or more). I have an account, but only use it to chart for my swings (as they have a handful of propriety studies I use) and free Benzinga squawk

Wealthsimple I would stay away from. I'd go with Questrade or IB. Why? They say cheap or free comissions, but they hose you on EVERY trade for exchange. So you will be paying conversion fee every time you take a trade. Also, I've heard horror stories if you day trade, and they will lock your account, as they frown upon it for some reason.

I wish Canada would have good options like the States, as well as commission free trading. I see my commissions every month and I nearly barf how much I give the stupid broker.

As for charting, as I think someone mentioned I had a screen grab above, I subscribe to TradingView Pro. I hate the charting of Questrade, and ToS doesn't have live data as I needed something better to chart as I day trade and scalp. I love the look, intuitiveness and annotative abilities of it. The annotative abilities are especially helpful for my journaling.

Anyways, if you got questions, fire me a DM. I'm not on CP very often anymore, but I'll check from time to time.

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[bizaro86]

Do you use IB fixed or variable commissions? For an active trader they discount the variable commissions, and assuming you are adding liquidity (likely based on your description) they pass along exchange rebates. I often have negative commissions on US trades.

[manwiches]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

I'll defer to the more seasoned traders in the thread, but if you are focusing on ETFs and plan on buying monthly or semi-monthly, look for a platform that doesn't charge to buy ETFs, like Questrade (Disclaimer: I use Questrade for this reason). If you hate fees as much as I do, it's absolutely a no brainier.

IKBR seems to be better for buying stocks, and I'm looking into splitting my activity between the two platforms, just need to do a bit more research.

FWIW a friend showed me TD's platform and it has access to loads more information/news/research/reports than Questrade does.

ToS (TDs trading platform, not webroker), is infinitely better than anything I've seen or used. It also has one of the hardest learning curves. In Canada, I don't think it's worth it though, as commissions are stupid high.

As I noted above though, it's worthwhile to get an account to chart at a minimum. I find I can get most studies and indicators I use on Trading View, but there are a handful of propriety studies that only ToS has, which are incredibly useful for the way I swing trade.

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[manwiches]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Do you use IB fixed or variable commissions? For an active trader they discount the variable commissions, and assuming you are adding liquidity (likely based on your description) they pass along exchange rebates. I often have negative commissions on US trades.

I'll be honest, and I'm a creature of habit, and moving to a different broker to execute my trades scares me. Lol

I have heard good things about it though for sure.

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[troutman]

Tesla hit a new all-time high today.