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Email this8:36 am
September 7, 2018
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I checked back in the Globe and Mail article
Ottawa kills bank merger talks
Jacquie McNish and JOHN PARTRIDGE
Toronto
Published October 29, 2002
"Bank of Montreal, sources said, is under pressure to merge or ally itself with a financial partner because its market share and strategic direction in corporate and retail banking have faded in recent years."
BMO while not in "dire" (Loonie's expression, not mine) circumstance, it was not performing well in corporate and retail banking as per the quote from Globe as per above. All the Canadian banks are doing just great in 2021 and I am proud and happy to be a Cdn bank shareholder.
However, I do agree with the poor service at the discount brokers - I had to speak to an agent at my discount broker and my wait was an hour for assistance - the agent said Covid and working at home (and that the Bank was putting their employees wellness first has contributed to this situation. The agent told me that clients have already asked the firm to implement the "call back" procedure.
8:36 am
October 15, 2015
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Bill said
This thread's topic about "duty", and some folks' ideas that discount brokers are somehow beholden to offer certain services, were funny to me to begin with. If I want to open a business and sell only yellow lollipops and be open only on Wednesdays for 2 hours and not answer the phone, well that's up to me, people can choose to patronize me or not. Just need to follow the laws and regulations governing me, otherwise zero requirement to do anything. Maybe some Canadians have so much public sector, non-profit in their lives they don't "get" the private sector anymore, I don't know.I don't mind people discussing PM's merits, etc, so anyone who wants to cut-off or shape the conversation in that way is wrong to say I don't want to hear it. There is not one defined "point" that we need to stay on, lots of points get brought up in a thread. A political name was first mentioned in post #23, no-one else jumped in and said stop it. Peter alone will decide when we're offside, and he does a fantastic job here of allowing adults free discourse within limits IMO!
I think what's sad here is people don't really have a choice as brokers are behaving in the exact same way, except possibly qtrade. I suppose people could go to a full service broker. Overall i think this thread just speaks to tiredness with phone waits in general. As i said if companie s would implement a call back service like shaw i'd be a lot happier but they are too cheap to do it.
9:24 am
September 7, 2018
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Loonie said
I'm not interested in turning this into a debate about Chretien's (or any other PM's) merits or lack thereof and I don't think anyone wants to hear about it.
I just noted your comment above "I don't think anyone wants to hear about it."
Interesting if you think you know what people want to hear and what they do not want to hear? Is it possible some posts you make may not be of interest to others?
Tolerance, respect, humility are things to think about!
10:25 am
October 27, 2013
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christinad said
I think what's sad here is people don't really have a choice as brokers are behaving in the exact same way, except possibly qtrade. I suppose people could go to a full service broker. Overall i think this thread just speaks to tiredness with phone waits in general. As i said if companie s would implement a call back service like shaw i'd be a lot happier but they are too cheap to do it.
There are differences between the likes of the big bank discount brokerages and Questrade and Qtrade and Interactive Brokers and Virtual Brokers and WS Trade. Many of them do not offer all things meaning bonds, GICs, mutual funds and not all offer various registered accounts.
You generally get what you pay for with the exception of the deterioration of phone/email responses and the reasons why have already been discussed. Give it another 6 months for either the brokerages to put more people on the front line, or for newbies/neophytes to leave, or both. Something will give.
Most DIY types are not going to go (back) to full service brokers. Seasoned DIYers don't have time critical needs to talk to their brokerages anyway and most of them left that money pit to go DIY. I opened my first DIY in 1998, built up my knowledge and confidence, and fully left full service in 2006.
7:31 pm
October 21, 2013
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I would respond in detail to Bill but there's no point. For my part, I will spare others the need to wade through more of the same.
This is not the place to discuss any PM's career. It seems one can't present a simple fact here without triggering irrelevant commentary, which is to the detriment of the value of this forum. Eventually, such threads are usually shut down by the moderator and the topic is lost.
12:41 pm
January 12, 2019
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.
When it comes to Discount Brokers, it goes without saying . . .
.
And then there's this . . .
.
- Dean
" Live Long, Healthy ... And Prosper! "
8:26 pm
December 29, 2018
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The pandemic did diminish brokerage services, more people at home = more people on the stock market. Waiting time on the phone to Questrade is calculated in hours, but they have a call back service and it works well, so no need to wait endlessly while listening to boring music.
If the markets fall, breakers will go off, so you will not be able to trade for 15 minutes anyways. Yes, the system is often slow, sluggish & sometimes dysfunctional because of limited resources.
During last March correction, I was able to liquidate my portfolio in about 5 minutes, I saved a lot of money and I was able to back in at lower prices. At that time, the system worked for me.
4:21 am
September 7, 2018
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picassocat said
During last March correction, I was able to liquidate my portfolio in about 5 minutes, I saved a lot of money and I was able to back in at lower prices. At that time, the system worked for me.
Not sure why you needed to liquidate your portfolio in 5 minutes during that short-lived correction - which occurred when the Covid spread was starting - everything recovered fairly quickly last year. You incurred needless commission charges for the holdings you sold and then you rebought. This type of panic selling is why so many lose money. If you had just held, you would have come out fine.
6:26 am
December 29, 2018
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Of course, when it happens, you don't know how low will the correction go and how long will it take to go back up. I sold with a profit and bought back shortly after breakout point. I call that smart.
Please write your comments in the forum.