NBDB Just Got Better: National Bank Direct Brokerage Now Offers Real-Time Portfolio Values!

Two very awesome things have just happened to me today, well it’s now yesterday, July 2...

The first one:

I now have access to the real-time value of my stock portfolio with National Bank Direct Brokerage (NBDB)! Previously, the value was displayed with a 15-minute delay. I started investing in stocks through TD Waterhouse (now called TD Direct Investing). Personally, I preferred the name TD Waterhouse, it sounded more sophisticated to me.

But ever since NBDB announced commission-free and no-fee trading (under certain conditions), it didn’t take me long to switch from TD Direct to NBDB and take full advantage of their no-fee structure. With TD, every buy or sell transaction cost me $9.99, and I believe that’s still the case today.

The one major advantage TD had, until recently, was real-time portfolio tracking. But now that NBDB offers real-time data as well, I honestly can’t think of a single downside. It’s now a perfect setup: real-time value AND $0 commission fees, and absolutely no account fees! What more could you possibly ask for?

I don’t need real-time data for trading purposes, but ever since I started investing, I’ve always enjoyed being able to see the real-time value of my stocks. It’s fascinating, and sometimes a bit nerve-racking, to watch the value of your most valuable assets go up and down, often for no clear reason.

I don’t think National Bank Direct Brokerage (NBDB) made any official announcement about real-time values now showing in individual stock portfolios, but it’s certainly a great feature to have in a brokerage account!

The second one:

I’m now incredibly close to reaching $950 per month in dividends from my non-registered and TFSA portfolios. As of now, I’m exactly at $949.20 per month, but at this point, I think it’s fair to round up. I’m basically there! I could have hit that $950 mark already, but back in June, Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corp. (LIF) unfortunately cut its dividend by 40%, which set me back a bit.