canadian markets

[don26]

hi there. i'm also new to canadian markets. does every province have its own stock market or its just toronto stock exchange? i'm only interested on equities. thanks...

[Super Stock Picker]

Hi,

There are a few stock exchanges around the country but not in every province, I think.

There is also the Vancouver Stock Exchange which trades small cap Canadian stocks (.V suffix).

Montreal also gets a stock exchange but it is trading derivative products like options on Canadian stocks or indexes. It is in a merge process with the TSX.
Montreal should also holds the new stock market for the Carbon Dioxide soon too.

There should have an exchange in Alberta too I guess but I think it was dealing with contracts on wheat or other commodities.

Maybe my report is incomplete...

[don26]

thanks for the info. may i know which stock exchange is appropriate for newcomers. are there same companies listed in the different stock markets in canada?

[Super Stock Picker]

In my opinion, you are better starting by looking at the Toronto Stock Exchange. You'll find there bigger companies, the news will be easier to find and so on. See here: http://www.tsx.com/

And I don't think that a company would be listed on both the Toronto and Vancouver stock exchanges. But, some companies are listed on foreign stock exchanges like in the US.
We maintain a list of those:
http://www.superstockpicker.com/canadian_US_stock_symbols.html

Of course, if you look at options on those stocks, they are listed on the Montreal stock exchange: http://www.m-x.ca/

[don26]

do price differences occur for stocks both listed in us and canada markets after adjusting forex rate?

[Super Stock Picker]

Yes, there could have a difference, but do not expect a lot.
I don't know the exact FX rate for today (it is close to parity), and the rate you'll get would depend on you broker fees.

And to illustrate, here are two example with this day close prices:
US: NT 8.20
CA: NT.TO 8.17
-> Ratio is 1.00367

US: RIMM 140.36
CA: RIM.TO 140.31
-> Ratio is 1.00036

The rates not being the same show a [slight] difference in one of those stocks between the two exchanges. NT is the one that can be traded for a profit from an exchange to the other but numbers are not that exciting...