# Starting point!



## adeal (Apr 16, 2016)

Dear all,
I would like to start with stock business! I am new here and would like to ask you guys where do you buy stocks from? Do you use online platforms or banks? what is the good starting point?


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## mrPPincer (Nov 21, 2011)

Hi adeal, welcome!

I use the online platforms from TD and CIBC; TDDI and CIBC IE respectively.

Of those two I'd recommend CIBC IE if only because of their lower trading costs ($6.95 vs $9.99), but also because they are comparatively, extremely more fair in terms of FX (foreign exchange) costs in registered accounts (point B is the reason I gave up on TD and moved to CIBC in fact).


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## adeal (Apr 16, 2016)

Thanks for your time in writting a reply mrPPincer!
i have bank account with rbc royal, perhaps it is a good idea to switch to CIBC?
what about Qtrade and questrade? are these good alternatives?

thanks again.

Adeal



mrPPincer said:


> Hi adeal, welcome!
> 
> I use the online platforms from TD and CIBC; TDDI and CIBC IE respectively.
> 
> Of those two I'd recommend CIBC IE if only because of their lower trading costs ($6.95 vs $9.99), but also because they are comparatively, extremely more fair in terms of FX (foreign exchange) costs in registered accounts (point B is the reason I gave up on TD and moved to CIBC in fact).


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

You don't have to have your discount brokerage account with the same institution as your banking accounts, but it makes it a lot easier to move money between brokerage and bank accounts if you do. A matter of choice.


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## adeal (Apr 16, 2016)

Do you guys advice to get a mentor online? I mean i have heard that you need a "guru" in early days to learn the craft. I am not sure how this works.


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## adeal (Apr 16, 2016)

Hello, 
What do you think about Scotia Itrade?



mrPPincer said:


> Hi adeal, welcome!
> 
> I use the online platforms from TD and CIBC; TDDI and CIBC IE respectively.
> 
> Of those two I'd recommend CIBC IE if only because of their lower trading costs ($6.95 vs $9.99), but also because they are comparatively, extremely more fair in terms of FX (foreign exchange) costs in registered accounts (point B is the reason I gave up on TD and moved to CIBC in fact).


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## mrPPincer (Nov 21, 2011)

Hi, yes scotia is good for buying some of the etfs for zero fees if I recall correctly, but my personal favorite for trading atm is cibc ($6.95/trade) b/c when I went over the list (years ago), scotia didn't have many that I was interested in (ie the lowest cost ETFs in terms of mer (management expense ratio).



AltaRed said:


> You don't have to have your discount brokerage account with the same institution as your banking accounts, but it makes it a lot easier to move money between brokerage and bank accounts if you do. A matter of choice.


agree fully, I have brokerage accounts with TD and CIBC, but don't have bank accounts with either.

That is not to say that it is a bad idea to start with RBC which is where you have your bank acct., they only charge 10 bucks per trade too so imho they'd be as good as most of the others, just sayin' that CIBC IE is my fav. atm.


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## LBCfan (Jan 13, 2011)

adeal said:


> Do you guys advice to get a mentor online? I mean i have heard that you need a "guru" in early days to learn the craft. I am not sure how this works.


Who would that mentor be? Would it be someone you pay for advice? Would you trust someone on a message board such as this one to tell you what to do? I'd suggest that you ignore any advice other than read various stuff by Berstein, Bogle and a few others.

Remember: "no one cares about your financial future as much as you do".


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