One downside to the antiquated securities regulation system in Canada where the provinces monitor stock and bond trading (and not the federal government) is that after hours trading is still prohibited in this country. This is wrong. Canada does not operate on a 9:30 to 4:00 Eastern time schedule exclusively. We are a 24/7 nation and we have investments worldwide; our currency has long been considered one of the "benchmark" currencies as well and is traded while most of us sleep and on Canadian and US holidays no matter what the CBC says.
It's simply not fair to force Western Canadians to get up in the wee hours of the morning to do their stock trades or tell them they have till the end of their lunch else they're out of luck. All Canadians should have the right to trade and on their time, not Bay Street's.
So I'd suggest permitting "after hours" trading, as a start for two hours before and after the TSX closes. That would be 7:30 am to 6:00 pm Eastern. Over time, this should be extended to all day and all night. Canadian exchanges are no longer floors but all electronic anyway; and it's time the regulators stopped living in the 1920s. This can be done without any consolidation of the securities commissions -- all they have to do is say yes.
By the way, yes, I do support a single regulator for Canada. It's time inside traders and corporate thieves are treated as criminals, not as traffic ticket offences; and only Criminal Code offences carry penalties of greater than two years.
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1 comment:
today rim has gone up almost 11% in after hours trading in the us, if the canadian doors open chances are some of those funds would be still on our side of the boarder
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