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I am a total newbie buying stocks. I was doing soooooo well until the recent dive concerning all stocks, but I am interested mainly in MJ stocks, since I am in Canada and there's legalization coming July 1.

I recently noticed some fees concerning the buying and selling of stocks. I can't quite remember the name of the extra fee I was charged, but it had to do with the bid and ask price and the spread in between. My extra fees were up to $39.95 when the max was to be $9.95.

I am hoping someone will know the name of the fee so I can get some precise information about it. It may have initials something like ENC, but that may be totally wrong. I would like to know how the fees are assessed, and is there anything I can do about them. Almost all my orders have them.

Thanks to all who may help.

The extra fees are due to my lack of knowledge of the rules when buying and selling stocks.Sooo much to know.In fact though, even with my extra $40.00 fees (more than once)I still made enough to live on.Still am.The new MJ business opportunities in Canada are mind boggling.I live in Alberta and have been watching Aurora and now others since legalization of MJ - marijuana was announced last year.I just need to be smarter and learn the buying/selling of stocks rules.Of course I am doing that now.

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  • Is MJ the Canadian abbreviation for marijuana? Did you get a confirming slip from your broker? It would list the details of the trade. If not, you should call them. Why ask us to guess?
    – JTP - Apologise to Monica ♦
    Feb 22 '18 at 2:05
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    Welcome to Money.SE. Do you not have a statement from your broker saying what the fee was called? Without it, I doubt anyone's going to be able to help you.
    – Rupert Morrish
    Feb 22 '18 at 3:04
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    "ECN" might be the fee name you are referring to.
    – Chris W. Rea
    Feb 22 '18 at 3:09
  • These are almost certainly ECN fees. And, by the way, your broker often (indirectly) receives a cut of these fees.
    – David Schwartz
    Feb 23 '18 at 0:19
  • ECN fees is exactly correct,mI did find out.Newbie mistakes and at least no further mistakes now that I know.thanks to all who posted.
    – Awesome1
    Feb 28 '18 at 2:29
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The fees are related to the making/taking of liquidity:

The Credit/Debit Structure

An electronic communication network (ECN) is an electronic marketplace that allows traders to trade with one another on an exchange. Most volume is now traded through ECNs in the stock market. If you have access to a "Level II" screen, you will see the current bid and offer, as well as the volume that is being bid or offered by multiple participants on each ECN at that price. If no one is bidding/offering on a particular ECN, that ECN will not appear at that price on the Level II. It should be noted that you do not need to see a Level II in order to collect credits to offset commissions, you only need to know how and where to place your orders.

Let's take an example of a stock with a bid price of 25.25 and an ask price of 25.26. If you offer to sell (or short sell) at 25.26 and wait to get filled, you will have provided liquidity and will be credited on many ECNs. On the other hand, if you sell (or short sell) with a market order at 25.25 you will be charged or debited an additional fee on many ECNs because you have removed liquidity. The same works for the bid - if you bid at 25.25 and wait to get filled, you will be credited; if you market buy at 25.26 you are removing liquidity and will be debited. The debit for removing liquidity is almost always more than the credit for providing liquidity. (For more, see The Basics Of The Bid-Ask Spread.)

source: Investopedia

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