Commsec vs. Macquarie Prime

[somebodyhere]

im currently trading normal shares but im thinking of applying for margin lending.
i noticed with commsec there's a $10 margin lending transaction fee, is this charged both when you buy and when you sell?
also they have a "low loan balance" fee.

does macquarie prime have these 2 fees, or other fees apart from the interest rate?
i saw that there's an ASX royalty fee, what is this? and it says that it can be "turned off", what does it mean? do i get no access to the software if i turn it off (but i can still trade via the website, just no extra features)?
does commsec have this too?


which one would you recommend? currently using commsec.

also what sort of income is needed to apply for macquarie prime margin lending?
i dont have much income (a student with casual work) but since i have shares with commsec and ive been using them for a while, will it be any easier for commsec to approve me?


thanks beforehand
sorry too many questions

 

[ben007]

Re: commsec vs macquarie prime

I do not trade with Comsec, so am not familiar with thier website, however I have never paid a transaction fee for margin lending only brokerage. so this seems a bit rich to me. Maquarie Prime is a very god product and basically there are no fees other than interest and brokerage. I am transfgering my CFD account with them to the Maquarie Prime account as I think it is much better than anything I have seen.

Rule of thumb if you cannot afford to lose it then do not borrow to trade. Use cash until you are in profit and can prove you can trade profitably.

 

[somebodyhere]

Re: Commsec vs Macquarie Prime

Do you know about the "ASX Royalty Fee"?
If I turn it off, what does it mean for my trades?

 

[yonnie]

Re: Commsec vs Macquarie Prime

if you turn it off your stock quotes wont be constantly updated

 

[Tasiturn]

Re: which one would you recommend? currently using commsec.

My wife and I became so frustrated with Macquarie Prime and its clumsy transition from Macuarie Direct Trade (which we'd used since it was set up about 20 years ago) that we've recently transferred her portfolio to Comsec. The messing about in the transfer was horrible but the result is worthwhile. The Comsec site is very easy to use, with good access to trading tools, depth of market etc. plus they automatically email out daily closing prices on a wishlist portfolio (Macquarie recently stopped doiing this). We don't use online brokers for much other than
standard equity trading but, unless you're a very sophisticated trader and prepared to waste a lot of time learnig and negotiating Prime's very poorly designed website, I'd either choose Comsec or have a closer look at ETrade.