Here's help choosing an online broker in Canada

ONLINE BROKER RANKINGS

The best online brokerages -- and the worst

ROB CARRICK

Globe and Mail Update

Published Tuesday, Nov. 09, 2010 6:27PM EST

Last updated Friday, Nov. 12, 2010 9:20AM EST

Here's an expanded look at the criteria used in this ranking. This is not an exhaustive list, but rather a summary of important factors.

Scroll down the page to see a table of the results.

1) Cost (25/100)

• Stock trading commissions, including the account asset thresholds at which charges are discounted
• Applicability of ECN (electronic communication network) fees
• Mutual fund trading commissions, including buy, sell and early redemption fees
• Bond trading commissions, including the availability of discount bond pricing
• Inactivity and low account balance fees
• Annual administration fees for registered accounts, including account size needed to avoid fees

2) Trading (25/100)

• The variety of orders that can be placed online, including trailing stops and short sales
• Access to global stock markets
• Availability of real-time updates of cash levels and buying power
• Availability of U.S.-dollar RRSPs
• Selection of investments available online, including GICs, high-yield bonds and guided portfolios.

3) Tools (20/100)

• Breadth and utility of equity, fund and ETF research
• Screening tools
• Financial planning tools
• Availability of an ETF centre
• Features for newcomers to online investing, notably demo videos and practice accounts

4.) Account Information (15/100)

• Availability of personalized, long-term data on account rates of return
• Asset allocation analysis
• Intra-day account updating
• Availability of online account statements, trade confirmation slips

5.) Customer Satisfaction (10/100)

• Our GlobeInvestor team handled this by distributing a short questionnaire to readers by e-mail. We ended up with 1,279 responses. Respondents were asked to identify the broker they used most often, then rank how happy they were and indicate whether they would recommend the firm.

6.) Website (5/100)

• Is a security guarantee offered?
• Utility of site for updating clients on new features

For more rankings, see:

• The 12th annual online broker rankings
• Who’s charging more? Comparing Canada’s online brokerages by commission
• Going global: Comparing Canada’s online brokerages by foreign exchange charges
• Results from The Globe’s online brokerage satisfaction survey

Breaking down the brokers

Rank	Broker	Costs (/25)	Trading (/25)	Tools (/20)	Account Info (/15)	Customer Satisfaction (/10)	Website (/5)	2010 Score	2009 Score
1	Qtrade Investor	20.5	20	14	13.5	9.6	3.5	81.1	77.4
2	RBC Direct Investing	17	16	17	14	8.3	3	75.3	70.8
3	BMO InvestorLine	14	16	13	15	8.5	4	70.5	74.1
4	TD Waterhouse	15	17	17	8	9.1	4	70.1	70
5	Credential Direct	18.5	14	11.5	13.5	8.5	4	70	74.8
6	Scotia iTrade	22	16	8.5	7	8	4.5	66	71.6
7	Questrade	22	15	8	4	9	1	59	58.6
8	CIBC Investor's Edge	19	14.5	11	4.5	6.8	3	58.8	60.3
9	Disnat (Classic)	13.5	14	12	7.5	9.2	2	58.2	66.1
10	National Bank Direct Brokerage	10	11	8	11	8.3	4	52.3	62.7
11	ScotiaMcLeod Direct Investing	11.5	10	12	5	8	2	48.5	58.6
12	HSBC InvestDirect	13	13	7	2.5	6.5	3	45	56.2
13	Virtual Brokers	21	11	5	5	n/a	3.5	Incomplete	n/a

President Obama

President Obama is not my favorite person, and I did not vote for him because of his left leaning tendencies. His voting as a senator was very left - and I was aware of this prior to his election. However, I have to say that he gave a memorial speech tonight for those killed in Tuscon, AZ, that was both practical and beautiful, both healing and spiritual, it was a talk that was given, seemingly, from his heart. It was personal, and real. I hope that it was not written for him, because I believe right now that he may be a better person that I once thought, and that he may still hold the possibility of bringing the country together - he made a lot of sense tonight. I still do not want my country to go so far left...I hope for and will vote for a more conservative approach, but I have a new respect for the President, that I am grateful for.

Perfection? Hint: It’s Warm and Has a Secret

Read the enclosed article from The New York Times on the chocolate chip cookie - more on a topic first brought up by Royall. According to this article, two secret weapons to improve the cookie are a refrigeration time of 36 hours, and a 6" size providing the crispy outer ring, and a gooey center, and a 1 1/2" ring in between that is chewy perfection. The article is worth reading:)

Click the title of this post to go to the article.

Takin' it slow....

This year I plan to study the the scriptures slowly - this is not to say that I haven't done that in the past...there has been been plenty of slow going, but I mean in bites that I can study at a deep level. I have found after reading the Book of Mormon how many times...I'm not sure, several times, and the Bible, that I am stuck at a kind of superficial level of knowledge. In short, I forget! I want to drink more deeply. So I have at my command, on my desk, a copy of the Book of Mormon, the Bible, a copy of Sweet is the Word (you can download this for free at the link above in the title), the BYU Religious Studies Book of Mormon Student Manual, and another book called Charting the Book of Mormon (also free at this link: http://byustudies.byu.edu/januarybomcharts/index.html).

I will keep you posted on how it's going. I delved right in where I happen to be in the book, which is in 3 Nephi, where Jesus Christ has come to visit the America's. It's fascinating to read the surrounding additions from the additional support books, for example I took a better look at 3 Nephi 5:20 where Mormon makes a "simple but moving statement of faith". What a fine declaration, and one that pierced my heart with it's truth. In the same chapter in a couple of verses previous he voices his regret that he can't include everything that is important. In the early portion of the history, in 1 Nephi, the history follows one family...but of course the Nephite people become a huge populace with a complex history, so with the difficulty of condensing the important, and hammering out metal plates and etching the characters, he is hard pressed to include as much detail and content as he would like.

I had planned to study for a few minutes but have been at it for quite a time now, it's so interesting and fulfilling. Just to clarify, this is not a New Year's resolution, because I began a month or more ago, but have been traveling and on the run with kids, and Christmas so am ready to make it a more fixed daily activity.

Major New Study of Religion Has Much to Say About Mormons

Major New Study of Religion Has Much to Say About Mormons

The Mystery Taken out of Foundation Choices

Just check out this website, for a foundation/skin tone matrix that cross matches every brand of foundation - if you know what you are in one, this will help you find your shade in another. Here is is:

http://temptalia.com/foundation-matrix

Also, for another amazing website for learning how to apply makeup naturally and flawlessly, check out Lisa Elderidge (a make up artist in the UK); she has a YouTube channel and a blog that are both top notch.

http://www.youtube.com/user/lisaeldridgedotcom

http://www.lisaeldridge.com/

There are loads of natural applications with very good advice for product selection, and application. Here is a sample video:

Chocolate Chip Cookies

OK, the chocolate chip cookie recipe I lifted from Royall's blog is AMAZING! Jenny and Mark made them tonight and they were so good. We didn't refrigerate them, that's pretty much the only instruction we omitted. Thanks Royall! :))