Q: How come I have never heard of Terra Nova Financial, LLC?
A: Initially starting as a broker-dealer, Terra Nova has been a leader of day trading brokerage firms since 1994. Recently, Terra Nova has begun marketing itself as a direct access broker and is rapidly becoming one of the largest in the nation. Working in the forefront of this cutting-edge marketplace, Terra Nova has partnered with Townsend Analytics, Ltd. for use of their revolutionary trading platforms.

Q: So what does Terra Nova Trading do?
A: Terra Nova is a direct access broker-dealer dedicated to providing innovative products and services to active traders. We offer traders access to the markets through the RealTick® and Investor™ trading platforms and provide our customers with innovative, comprehensive account services and support.

Q: What is direct access?
A: Direct access means you have the flexibility to route your trade to the most competitive market. It gives the control of the order back to the customer. Through Terra Nova, you interface with ECNs (Electronic Communication Networks) for NASDAQ or listed stocks, where you can see your bids or offers posted, know when trades are executed, and quickly cancel or adjust unfilled orders.

Q: How are your trading platforms different than other brokers’ trading platforms?
A: Unlike traditional trading platforms, RealTick is fully customizable. Subscribers can organize and display information in almost limitless configurations, using the vast array of tools Direct Pro & RealTick makes available.
Widely recognized as a leader in the world of professional trading software, RealTick's speed, power and flexibility make it the obvious choice for the serious trader. Often imitated but never duplicated, RealTick offers sophisticated trading strategies, such as trailing stops and conditional orders, which you won't find on other platforms.

Q: What sets you apart from the other brokerage firms?
A: While anyone can say they offer superior customer service, we mean it, and we stick by it. Just read our customer testimonials.

Our mission is to provide you with the smartest tools and services available so that you can stay ahead of the market. That's why we've partnered with Townsend Analytics, Ltd., and MarketWise Trading School, a premier trading school that provides training on market analysis and trading strategies from some of the country's top experts. Terra Nova was also ranked first in trade executions in a recent Barron’s review of a dozen Direct Access brokers. No small achievement.

Q: What kind of software and market training do you offer?
A: We provide our customers with technical and account assistance via telephone, e-mail and live chat. Various tutorials about our products and services are also available on our Web site. Through an innovative software program, we even provide live demonstrations of our trading platforms right on your home computer screen! This allows us to demonstrate some of the more subtle system features, and prepares you by setting up your initial trading screen – all from the comfort of your own home.

Through our partnership with MarketWise Trading School, we offer customers some of the best market education available. MarketWise's expert traders arm you with the same knowledge and skills that they use to beat the markets. We are so certain this training can make our customers better traders, that we'll reimburse the cost of your training courses up to 100%! To learn more about our MarketWise tuition reimbursement, please click here.

Q: What kinds of trading activity reports does Terra Nova Financial, LLC provide?
A: Did you know that Barron’s ranked Terra Nova number one in reporting and customer education in 2003? We try to anticipate our active traders’ needs when it comes to tracking critical information and have created various reports and statements to monitor and display all aspects of account activity. The reports available through our secure online Client Center are as follows:

Account Summary – Provides a summary of account positions and balances in your portfolio on a particular trading day.


Cash Activity – This area will allow you to view the cash activity in your account, such as wires, check deposits, journal entries and fees incurred. In addition, you will be able to view the sub-accounts involved, receive descriptions of the activities and search by a range of transaction dates.


Comprehensive Report - Choose any trading date to view your beginning and ending equities, balances and positions. You will also have access to your day trades and non-day trades for that day with specific trade data, including maintenance requirements, buying power, commissions and fees.


Confirmations - View the confirmations of ALL your trade activity for a given day without all the paper. (May not include trades billed to your account "as of.")


Monthly Statements - Access your monthly balances and activities online without having to look for that paper statement. These reports are available online for three months and are in a PDF file able to be printed or saved to your records. Note: In order to view these reports, you must have been with Terra Nova Trading for at least a one-month trading cycle.


Data Download - This utility will build and allow you to download your trading activity in a Quicken Interface File (.QIF), ready to import into your Quicken Investment Account or Microsoft Money. The Comma Delimited files will import all of your pertinent trade data for a specified time period into an Excel file.


Trade Evaluator Report - Examines your trades over a variety of time spans, employing 9 different parameter groupings to provide you with a better understanding of your trading activity while identifying possible trends towards more successful trades.


Profit/Loss Report - Shows the profits/losses for all trades executed on one specific date or during a range of dates. Track by position, whether it's closed or still opened. Download to a spreadsheet for easy manipulation, processing and tax reporting.

Q: What is the difference between RealTick and Investor?
A: Terra Nova offers 2 separate trading platforms: RealTick and Terra Nova Investor. RealTick is a sophisticated, customizable, direct access platform that offers complex trading strategies and facilitates swift order execution. Geared towards the active trader, it encompasses a variety of tools designed to help you drive through the markets: Level II, Time and Sales, a point-and-click order entry interface, real-time charts with full technical studies and a host of other features.

Terra Nova Investor is a browser-based, fixed screen, direct access platform, geared toward less active traders or those who may be new to direct access trading. The Investor provides real-time, dynamic quotes, charts and account management updates so that you can stay abreast of your account while the markets move. The point-and-click order entry interface allows you to easily place trades while navigating through the screen.

For additional details about either of our platforms, please take a look at our products and services.

Q: How quickly can I expect fills and receive executions?
A: Terra Nova recognizes the importance of swift, accurate executions when trading actively. Our sophisticated server network and top-notch connectivity to ECNs ensures that our customers’ marketable orders are filled quickly. We take great pride and place extreme importance on expedient executions, as is evidenced by Barron’s ranking Terra Nova number one in trade executions*. As always, market volatility and volume may delay system access and trade execution.

* One other firm received the same ranking in 2001.

Q: How much is your software? What are your commissions?
A: We offer extremely competitive commission and software rates, especially considering all of the tools, products and services provided. To view a complete list of all fees and commissions, please click here.

Q: What are the hours of operation for the Order Desk?
A: Sunday at 5:00 PM CST to Friday at 7:00 PM CST.

Q: Can I call orders into an Order Desk?
A: Yes. Phone orders can be placed from any location. Please remember to have your account available when placing orders.

Q: May I trade in the Extended Hours Trading Session and during what times?
A: Terra Nova provides extended hours trading along with the regular trading session, both online and through our Trade Desk. Extended hours trading lets you trade before the market opens at 9:30 AM, and after it closes at 4:00 PM, via any of the available ECNs. Many newswire services electronically release their research reports, including stock upgrades and downgrades, between 7:00 AM and 9:00 AM. Also, public companies generally release their earnings results before 9:00 AM or after 4:00 PM. Extended Hours Trading gives you the ability to use this information as it breaks. To review the inherent risks involved with Extended Hours Trading, please click here.

Terra Nova allows access to various ECNs that trade in the Extended Trading Session. The exact trading hours (Eastern Time) vary by ECN, as indicated in the table below.

ARCA™ 4:00 AM – 8:00 PM
INET 7:30 AM – 8:00 PM
INCA 7:30 AM – 6:30 PM
BTRAD 8:00 AM – 6:30 PM
SNET 9:00 AM – 6:30 PM
SOES™ 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM
MLX 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM
BRUT 8:30AM - 8:00PM
OES 8:10AM - 4:00PM

Q: What do I need to do to know about the possibilities of decreased liquidity in the Extended Trading Sessions?
A: Trading during the extended trading sessions is unique. The absence of the professional traders (i.e. market makers, institutions and retail brokerages) that provide the two-sided markets that exist during the regular trading session means that it is possible that there may be no bid or offer in a security or that the spread may be very large. Some securities may trade in very low volume or not trade at all during the extended trading sessions.

Q: What stocks can I trade during the extended trading sessions?
A: Terra Nova provides the ability to trade NYSE®/AMEX® listed stocks and Nasdaq® stocks in the extended trading sessions. Bear in mind that many stocks do not trade or have a low degree of liquidity in the extended trading sessions, therefore; orders may not be filled immediately or not at all.

Q: I phoned in my order to the Order Desk, but I cannot see my transaction on RealTick. How can I view this order?
A: Any orders placed by the order desk may be viewed in the order book through RealTick. In order to see broker assisted trades, you must activate this feature in your order book. Right click on the order entry box and choose "Order Entry Properties." Click on the "Miscellaneous" tab. Near the bottom is "Only show trade placed by this user..." Be sure you make any changes to this area, please log off RealTick and log back on to see the change implemented.

Q: Does Terra Nova offer option trading?
A: Terra Nova offers direct access to the options markets through both of our trading platforms. Our interface allows option traders to select which options exchange to route option orders to, which can be important since spreads often differ greatly between exchanges.

Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Prior to buying or selling an option, a person must receive a copy of Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options. Copies of this document are available from Terra Nova Financial, LLC, 100 S. Wacker Drive, Suite 1550, Chicago, IL 60606. A prospectus, which discusses the role of The Options Clearing Corporation, is also available on request for no charge. Contact The Options Clearing Corporation, 440 S. LaSalle Street, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60605. The documents available discuss exchange-traded options issued by The Options Clearing Corporation and are intended for educational purposes. No statement in the documents should be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell a security or to provide investment advice.

Options are not suitable for all investors, and you must balance the opportunities of options trading with the corresponding risks involved. You should discuss tax treatment of the possible options strategies with your tax advisors prior to undertaking such transactions. Exercise and/or closing transactions are subject to commission charges. Interest charges are incurred where the underlying securities are purchased on margin.

Q: May I open both a traditional and Roth IRA account with Terra Nova?
A: Yes, Terra Nova offers both Traditional and Roth IRA accounts.

Q: What is the minimum balance to open an account with Terra Nova?
A: The minimum balance to open an account with Terra Nova is $5,000. This may be
comprised of cash or securities. Pattern Day Traders are required to deposit a minimum of $25,000.

Q: How safe is my money with Terra Nova?
A: Your holdings at Terra Nova Financial, LLC are protected by Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) up to $500,000, including $100,000 in cash claims. Terra Nova has purchased from London insurers further protection of securities (with an additional limit of $900,000 coverage for cash claims) with an aggregate limit of $40 million for all Terra Nova customers combined which might not be returned in a SIPC liquidation, and providing that the combined return from Trustee distributions, SIPC and London to any customer does not exceed $10 million. This coverage does not protect against losses due to fluctuations in the market value of securities.

Q. What financial instruments are covered by SIPC insurance?
A: Stocks, options, mutual funds, money market funds, bonds, warrants and cash are all covered by SIPC insurance up to certain limits. It is important to remember, however, that SIPC protection does not cover declines in the market value of securities. Cash balances are protected under the Securities Investor Protection Act if the money was deposited or placed in a securities account for the purpose of purchasing securities. This is true whether or not your broker pays interest on cash balances, but cash balances maintained solely for the purpose of earning interest are not protected. Shares of money market funds, although often thought of by investors as cash, are, in fact, securities when such funds are organized as mutual funds. When held by a SIPC member in a customer's securities account, such fund shares are protected as any other covered security.

Q: What news services do you offer?
A: Terra Nova provides thorough news services through Dow Jones, Comtex, Fly on the Wall and Inlumen.

Q: What is an ECN?
A: ECN stands for Electronic Communications Network. In January 1997, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) implemented new Order Handling Rules that revolutionized trading in NASDAQ® securities. These rules required a market maker to display customer limit orders that are priced at or better than the market maker’s current quote if not immediately executed.

Alternately, the market maker can place the order into an eligible ECN that displays the order to the market. These new rules created the opportunity for ECNs to interact directly with the NASDAQ National MarketTM.

What does this mean for the individual investor? Essentially, it lets you decide where your order is routed, giving you the control to find the best price and highest liquidity for any particular stock.