CAD to USD Commission at Questrade. Good morning all, I am starting to convert my TFSA holdings from e-series to ETFs at Questrade.

I contacted Questrade to confirm the commission they charge on CAD to USD funds and the agent stated that they charge a 1. I asked if he was certain as I thought registered was 0. I believe the 'automatic' currency exchange fee is now 1. See thread, Buying US ETF with Questrade. So, I'll let someone else respond with their more recent experiences. A cheaper option would be to perform a direct currency conversion Forex.

See Questrade Forex Pricing. But once you have the tool on your toolbelt, you'll never again in your lifetime pay an FX fee. Hi you two and thanks for the reply. Norbert's Gambit doesn't work for me right now due to making monthly contributions for the next year. Unless I am missing something? Good idea with the currency conversion.

Can I do that in a TFSA or would I do that in a Margin account and then transfer to the TFSA? I'm going to go read that thread now! Sorry, HP, should have been more clear. We paid down our house before starting to contribute last year.

I am thinking that I will keep all US ETFs in my account and CAD in hers, so then it is more cost efficient by "gambit"-ing larger amounts.

Investors might be steamed that their USD dividends from the Famous 12 - potash, encana, talisman, barrick et al - are being charged concealed FX fees by their brokers when they receive those dividends in canadian account which is where a normal investor would keep the shares anyhow. The IIROC is about to tell me that there are no rules or regulations whatsoever that govern the FX fees that a broker can charge.

No rules or regulations, either, that require them to disclose any FX fees they've already charged on statements. Questrade has leaped to 1. If the MI money involved were to be 10k, one is talking perhaps shares of RY as an interlisted carrier stock? This is the highest FX fee on record at any brokerage in canada, at the present tme. There are no rules or regulations that govern what FX fees brokers may or may not charge, nor are there any rules that require them to disclose FX transactions on statements.

Thanks for the heads up. I'm in the process of buying a lot of US equities in my RRSP. Will have to look into this further Avrex - Does direct currency conversion just mean depositing to questrade in CDN, then telling the platform to convert with the "exchange funds" feature to USD?

If so, that seems pretty darn simple, and the obvious solution. Or are you referring to something more complex to get the 2 pip fee? Just as a follow-up Thinking that HPs idea of RY may be better but my fingers are crossed that Questrade can journal same day as I do not like to be tied up to one stock for long Just to be clear.

U and Gambit sticky notes. This is where I perform a direct currency conversion forex to obtain USD.

Margin | Pricing | Questrade

The process at IB is easy and I receive almost the spot rate. Since, I'm not a client at Questrade anymore, I was hoping that someone else, with Questrade experience, could respond with some details, to assist you, in answering the following questions: The idea is to use as few shares as possible, ie as low a commish as possible.

It was written about the TD but the same technique is fine. Prepare both sides of your gambit. Instead, get everything ready. Is he going to play good? This should be an online order, at low online commish. Everything should work out like a dance, an elegant little pas-de-deux. It remains to try again another time, preferably with a different agent.

In TD registered accounts, there is no need for human representative contact, orders can stream online instantly, as in buy sell bing bang. So I attempted the gambit today and was told by three different traders at the trade desk that new rules were in place and all journal requests had to go through the credit and risk department which will take business days??? Sounds like they are starting to crack down on this.

I purchased DLR in the meantime due to less risk than with one stock. Now just to wait for the journal and sell DLR.

Thanks again for everyone's help! I was told the same thing. Then I called them and had them journal it over and sell while I was on the line. They even waived the phone commission because it's not possible to sell DLR. When were you told this Andrew?

Scotia iTrade (formerly E*Trade Canada): A Canadian Discount Broker Review | Canadian Capitalist

I thought that after three attempts it just wasn't going to happen Questrade has always had a non-reg forex conversion fee comparable with other brokers. Their registered rate was 0. They raised to 0. I haven't done any gambiting yet - will report when I do. On IB it's just as easy as making any old trade but it seems that on Questrade I need to install another platform?

There's an autowash feature, so i'll never pay the spread FX rate, but still it was interesting to see the conversion figures being calculated in the registered account. That's a spread of 3. Because they don't want to kill the goose that lays golden eggs.

Why get greedy, they ask themselves. Like the story of the cat that ate one mouse every night and none of the rats noticed In another thread, a poster claimed you need to call the trade desk for Questrade to journal right away. They will waive the fee. The live chat or csr people will not do this and make you wait three days. Newly purchased stock has to be paid for, before it can be moved. Or not paid for, as the case may be.

In which case the account goes short.

Other | Pricing | Questrade

But even short, the exchanges know exactly where shares are at all times. These rules have applied to all brokers in north America since the dawn of curbside exchanges. The rate of FTDs failures-to-deliver would skyrocket.

In fact, it's a kind of naked short cousin. They instantly open to allow the naked short cousin in the opposite currency. In such accounts, this recognition has to be provided by a human licensed representative. Hence the phone calls, hence the requirement by tddi that gambitters in non-registered accounts pay a full agent-handled commission. Individual agents seem to have been okaying this on a random haphazard basis, according to many posts here in cmf forum.

The result was enforcement of the T plus 3 settlement rule. At no time did the big green ever display or confirm a premature "journal," though. For a time, at TD, some call centres would not accept instant gambit orders. The cmffer agreed that clients should therefore pay agent-handled commissions.

Only the boldest of clients will try it. Many, perhaps the majority of investors, will remain content to pay a broker's ever-escalating foreign exchange fee. Ever since, gambitting at tddi has gone like clockwork. Countless individuals have been assisted right here in cmf forum, resulting in the savings of many thousands of dollars in FX fees.

Not, one might add, that such individuals ever seem particularly grateful! I did a gambit back in March, I think. This was my experience at least with DLR.

You can do the buy-side online, then call them and have them sell DLR. I ended up taking a market order which is a bit less efficient. Well gambitting is complete and I am quite happy. Based on my numbers, it looks like the entire currency exchange only cost me 16 basis points plus the 9. Either way, no where near the 1. CAD to USD Commission at Questrade jnorman5 , Four Pillars , It cost me about 30 bps when I did it.

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