Are all online share brokers basically the same? What broker do you use and why?

Discussion in 'Sharemarket Investing Platforms, Tools & Services' started by TreeGrove, 7th Aug, 2017.

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  1. TreeGrove

    TreeGrove Active Member

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    Hey everyone, just wondering what the advantages etc of using different online share brokers and what your broker of choice is! I understand that the volumes and frequency of your trading will affect your choice - I am planning on once every 4 or 5 months and a fairly low amount (5k~6k).
     
  2. JohnPropChat

    JohnPropChat Well-Known Member

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    CMC Markets, relatively cheap brokerage compared to the big brokers and a great platform.

    There are others: Amscot, IG Markets and Interactive Brokers. If your trading account is for an SMSF then look out for gotchas such as not being CHESS sponsored and charge against share holdings etc.
     
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  3. DaveM

    DaveM Well-Known Member

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    As above I use CMC for personal and smsf
     
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  4. Chris Au

    Chris Au Well-Known Member

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  5. VB King

    VB King Well-Known Member

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    St George Directshares. Opened the account years ago because I banked with St George and easily linked to my bank account. Still with them due to inertia - regularly shop around for loans, insurance, but I've never considered changing on line broker, I guess I see it as pretty generic & not much potential benefit vs the hassle to change, without ever even bothering to find out what's involved in changing!
     
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  6. Sharky

    Sharky Active Member

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    Cmc. The ease of use and sign up.

    And brokerage is relatively cheap.

    Haven't had an issue with them since signing up a few years back.

    They recently had a make-over and for the better.
     
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  7. Invest_noob

    Invest_noob Well-Known Member

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    Are you able to look up a company's 10 year historical financial report on CMC like you can with commsec?
     
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  8. Observer

    Observer Well-Known Member

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    Also use CMC. They seem to be pretty good to me.
     
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  9. TreeGrove

    TreeGrove Active Member

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    Thanks everyone! I think for the simple set and fprget EFT plan I have, CMC will suit me perfectly. @Invest_noob I think commsec has more features that probably add value for people who are value investing and looking for good times to buy
     
  10. JohnPropChat

    JohnPropChat Well-Known Member

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    Dynamic data subscriptions are available from all brokers at various prices. nabtrade comes with free streaming data - don't have to actively use the account.
     
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  11. JohnPropChat

    JohnPropChat Well-Known Member

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    It may be worthwhile to sign-up with a broker that is connected to Chi-X as well. These days most brokers are connected but not all their trading platforms are so best to check if that is important.
     
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  12. TreeGrove

    TreeGrove Active Member

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    Thanks @JohnPropChat! I completely no idea that Chi-X existed until now, apparently comparing it to the ASX is similar to comparing two different supermarkets (with Chi-X being slightly cheaper)? It seems CMC and Commsec have access to both asx and Chi-x, which is good.
     
  13. JohnPropChat

    JohnPropChat Well-Known Member

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    If you are a volume trader then Chi-X could be useful. This article explains it better than I can - What is Chi-X and how does it work?
     
  14. TreeGrove

    TreeGrove Active Member

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  15. trinity168

    trinity168 Well-Known Member

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    hi all,
    with the online brokers, is my understanding correct that NAB provides real time data with no minimum trades per month(or period)?

    Does CMC provide real time data as well? Regardless of number of trades?

    Am with Bell Direct and, min 5 trades a month before you get real time data, otherwise, 20 min delay.

    Thanks.
     
  16. alicudi

    alicudi Well-Known Member

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    Hi

    NAB does not provide real time data with no minimum trades.

    CMC can provide real time data, they have different packages that do offer this.

    You are right about Bell Direct.

    Regards,

    alicudi
     
    Last edited: 9th Oct, 2017
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  17. Paul@PAS

    Paul@PAS Tax, Accounting + SMSF + All things Property Tax Business Plus Member

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    Also worth looking at reporting. Some are good and some are terrible. A good broker report can be a cost saver at tax time. CMC arent good at reports and neither is Commsec. This is especially useful if managed funds, LICs, ETFs etc are being held as the icnome side of things gets complex. Saving $200 a year v's extra $300 for doing your tax is a consideration.
     
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  18. trinity168

    trinity168 Well-Known Member

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    We have one account using Bell Direct and another using CommSec. Any experience with reports from Bell Direct @Paul@PFI ?

    Thanks.
     
  19. Paul@PAS

    Paul@PAS Tax, Accounting + SMSF + All things Property Tax Business Plus Member

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    Bells are good...That said we extract a data feed for clients who use bells and the software does the work.
     
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  20. trinity168

    trinity168 Well-Known Member

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    Thanks @Paul@PFI - Um.. you are our accountant :D So we'll stick with BD/
     
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