Questrade is still not ready for “prime time” for serious investors – I notice that with the slew of income trust conversions today that most of them are trading with new ticker symbols.
In one of my portfolios held with Questrade, I own some previous trust units that have converted into a corporation. I notice the market is moving in a favourable position and I wish to liquidate some shares. I enter in the new ticker symbol, and the following information comes up:
Date of Order: 01/04/2011
Time of Order: XX:XX:XX EDT
Status of order: Rejected
Order Id: XXXXXXXXXXX
Notes: The client does not have any positions in this stock
I note that Interactive Brokers does not have the same problem. Their system handled the transition perfectly.
Although this system issue is unlikely to cost me money, what if there had been a market event that I wanted to swiftly liquidate my positions into?
Their customer service mentioned the following:
Once we receive the new symbols from your clearinghouse, we will update your position. This process generally takes about 5-7 business days to update. If your intention is to trade this stock before that time, please contact our trade desk at 1-888-783-7866.
Although Questrade continues to be a good low cost alternative, it has lingering issues like these that cause me to be very wary of sole-sourcing them for my investments.
(Update, January 6, 2011): I actually called the 1-888 line and reached their trading desk. They said I could not sell the units/shares until the symbol change is recognized by the system. Not thrilled about this at all.