Questrade Paper Trading
Questrade offers paper trading account free of charge to all customers. This is a rare feature among
Canadian brokerages, and it allows investors to practice trading without risking real money.
Ease Of Use
Questrade’s online platform does a fairly good job at presenting a snapchat of your account in an easy to understand fashion. Once a user logs in their
total account balance is displayed, including unrealized gains and losses. The website also breaks down a portfolio by investment type, including
stocks, exchange traded funds (ETFs), cash, options and more.
Much like any other platform, it will take a few minutes for a new user to familiarize themselves with the offerings. Thankfully, Questrade’s site is
very user friendly and properly organized by category.
Buying and selling of stocks, options and other asset classes is straight forward. A shortcut tab on the main page brings an account holder directly to an
order entry page where they would input information on what they want to buy and how much.
A confirmation message will pop up before the final trade is executed which allows the account holder to verify the accuracy of the trade and confirm the
dollar amount.
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Questrade Website/Trading Platform/Tools
Questrade offers several different platforms to buy and sell both options and stocks. The simplest platform, QuestraderWEB, is also the most popular and is web-based. It provides instant quotes for free, up to 1,000 per month. Traders can find market data from a variety of sources, including TSX, TSX Venture, Canadian options, AMEX, NASDAQ, NYSE, and U.S. options. For streaming data, investors can add Quotestream to QuestraderWEB.
Advanced platforms come with steaming quotes and include more market data. It's possible for investors to use an advanced platform at no cost when factoring in the commission rebate on data plans. The more investors trade, the larger the rebate they will receive.
Two advanced platforms that make trading simple and user-friendly are:
QuestraderPRO, a desktop platform designed for active traders. Subscribed data is streaming.
QuestraderELITE, an advanced version of QuestraderPRO that gives traders additional features, such as bracket orders. Subscribed data is streaming.
The brokerage firm also offers a set of very useful tools. Some of the most important are:
Market Intelligence: This resource is great for fundamental investors. It uses quality sources, such as Morningstar, to provide various tools to investors. Traders will find screeners, filters, market news alerts, and calendars.
Bulls Eye: This is a great stock researcher that provides investors a quick way to get both technical and fundamental assessments of a stock they're interested in. It also provides expert opinions and has extensive charting features.
Intraday Trader: This tool is great for day traders. It scans the market and offers trading ideas based on real-time data analysis from watch lists and other screening criteria. An intraday high/low alert allows users to monitor a specific stock during the trading day.
The Daily Ticker: This is a very useful daily email newsletter that offers buy/sell/hold insights about two stocks or more. It is based purely on technical analysis. The newsletter can be used in combination with fundamental information about a stock before making any investment decisions.
Most of these tools allow traders to create a buy or sell order on the fly as they are studying charts and analyzing stocks. When preparing to place an order, real-time quotes can be obtained by clicking the Snap Quote button. It appears just below the order entry screen.
For tablet users, recent enhancements on the broker's IQ Essentials platform makes trading quick and easy. The new full-screen layout makes navigation easier and less cumbersome.
Questrade Review: Pros
- Excellent commissions on all products, although options are a little pricey
- Ability to buy physical gold
- No surcharges for penny stocks, large orders, or extended-hours trading
- Ability to hold U.S. dollars
- Forex trading is available
- Online Trading Academy courses
- Checking account is available, although it has an annual fee
Questrade Review: Cons
- Customer service should be improved
- Questrade charges an outgoing ACAT fee of $125. This is much higher than ACAT fees charged by other firms.
Questrade Review Summary
At the end of the day the average investor places a great amount of emphasis on cost and ease of use. Questrade is a winner in both categories through
its lower cost structure and a platform that makes it easy to monitor an account, transfer funds and request a withdrawal.
We highly recommend Questrade for investors who have at least $5,000 to deposit. The broker is especially good for active traders
and those wanting to invest in gold or forex.
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Updated on 1/31/2024.
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