A cheaper way to buy pricey stocks has entered the (Canadian) chat. It’s called fractional trading, and it lets retail investors (who make up 45% of all trades on the TSX) buy a small portion of a stock that would otherwise be way too expensive. Here’s how it works: Instead of shelling out for a Nvidia stock — which was over $1,000 for a single share back in June before its stock split — retail investors can pay for a fraction of that share, and get back a proportional share of company profits, known as a dividend. For example, if you paid $100 for a share valued at $1,000, you’d own 10% of that share, meaning you’d get 10% of the full share’s dividend. While fractional investing has been popular in the U.S. for years, Canada’s options were pretty limited until last week. That’s when TD Bank announced it would be the first of the Big Six banks to offer fractional trading on its platform, alongside Wealthsimple and Interactive Brokers. Although TD will have fewer stocks available and charge fees up to $9.99 per trade (compared to Wealthsimple’s free trades), trades will happen in real time, which Wealthsimple doesn’t offer yet. Just a word of caution: While fractional trading makes high-priced stocks more accessible, it can also lead to “meme stock-like trading frenzies,” inflating share prices even more. Plus, some experts warn that it can become addictive, potentially leading to more losses than gains if you invest in too many companies.