Recommendations for a US discount broker?

[johnny333]

I currently have 2 Etrades accounts. The one that was opened by my employer in Spore cannot be used for trading because unknown to me MAS had some new policy that saboed Sporeans making the account useless for trading & can only be used to receive share options

I don't want to put it in my other Etrade account because it would exceed the maximum amount that the FDIC insures:o


So I'm looking to open another brokerage account to park my US shares & still be able to trade. One which is outside MAS influence i.e. has no office in Spore like Etrade or thinkorswim.

Any suggestions

 

[wuqi256]

I currently have 2 Etrades accounts. The one that was opened by my employer in Spore cannot be used for trading because unknown to me MAS had some new policy that saboed Sporeans making the account useless for trading & can only be used to receive share options

I don't want to put it in my other Etrade account because it would exceed the maximum amount that the FDIC insures:o


So I'm looking to open another brokerage account to park my US shares & still be able to trade. One which is outside MAS influence i.e. has no office in Spore like Etrade or thinkorswim.

Any suggestions

Scott Trade or Charles Schwab?

 

[johnny333]

Any personal experience to share

 

[wuqi256]

Any personal experience to share

Both are ok to do straightforward execution of trades. Charles Schwab a bit more steps to take.

 

[johnny333]

Both are ok to do straightforward execution of trades. Charles Schwab a bit more steps to take.

My priority is to just park the shares & just receive dividens & maybe do some re-investing and repatriate the funds to Spore.

In future I may be more active & get into trading but will probably use Interactive Brokers because they have one of the lowest fees around. Not ready to do that now because IB has a minimum required each month.

 

[johnny333]

FYI, I checked with ThinkandSwim which has an office in Spore.

They informed me that at this time they don't charge GST. They currently have a promotion in which they will give US$100 for new accounts. In future they plan to do investing training on strategies. their platform, etc

 

[johnny333]

Just got a call from Etrade & after talking to them I've decided to keep the account I've had for 20+ years.
They will pay me $ to facilitate some changes that was preventing me from fully using the account

When I decide to look further into trading vs investing, I'll probably look at IB. One thing I've found out is that many brokers firms are looking at the foreign market for investors with $. It's not like the old days when many US companies were only interested in US customers. So if you have the $$$ you are spoiled for choice

 

[Sir_Fcuk]

KNN, I read the thread title as "US discount hooker"..... dyslexia sia

 

[alyl21]

I use SCB and optionsxpress

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

My priority is to just park the shares & just receive dividens & maybe do some re-investing and repatriate the funds to Spore.

In future I may be more active & get into trading but will probably use Interactive Brokers because they have one of the lowest fees around. Not ready to do that now because IB has a minimum required each month.

but stock markets have little upside potential left left and risk of crash is so high................

some more dividends will kana tax by US and S'pore, right ?

and don't forget risk of currency rates changing..................USD lower against Singdollar

 

[johnny333]

but stock markets have little upside potential left left and risk of crash is so high................

some more dividends will kana tax by US and S'pore, right ?

and don't forget risk of currency rates changing..................USD lower against Singdollar

The US & Malaysia will tax about 30% of dividens. In the case of Spore you also get charge an extra 7% to help the poor All countries charge taxes on dividens.



I've held my Malaysians & US stocks stocks for years & years. I didn't think about the currency rates because I was taking a long term view. I also wanted to diversify my risks by investing in different countries. If you put aside something regularly to invest, you will be doing something called "dollar cost averaging" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_cost_averaging

In the past I've owned Spore shares but they are probably the worst performers because of all the hidden costs: holding fees, brokerage fees, gst ....


I strongly believer in investing because in my case it has provided me with a decent nest egg. Just get into the habit of putting aside $
& after a few years you will be surprised that it can grow quickly.

 

[Fugitive]

I strongly believer in investing because in my case it has provided me with a decent nest egg. Just get into the habit of putting aside $
& after a few years you will be surprised that it can grow quickly.

It doesn't help me in my case. When run road cash is king.

 

[Jah_rastafar_I]

johnny have you tried think or swim interactive brokers?

 

[johnny333]

johnny have you tried think or swim interactive brokers?

I did consider moving some of my assets to think or swim because I was thinking of trading ETFs.

However I've decided that if I'm going to do serious trading I'll go with Interactive Brokers. I heard that they offer the lowest cost for regular trading. They also offer one wiring of funds per month free of charge. However the disadvantage is that you must do a minimum amount of trading each month or pay a small fee. The platform is also more complicated.

 

[ahhock24]

I did consider moving some of my assets to think or swim because I was thinking of trading ETFs.

However I've decided that if I'm going to do serious trading I'll go with Interactive Brokers. I heard that they offer the lowest cost for regular trading. They also offer one wiring of funds per month free of charge. However the disadvantage is that you must do a minimum amount of trading each month or pay a small fee. The platform is also more complicated.

IB monthly fee is only USD$10, if you trade stock/ETF at least once a month, commission wise is already worth it. If you combine stock with other instruments like hedging your currency/stock position, most of the time the fee is waived. The pull factor for me is if your account is big, they give you a security token and they used to give me 2-4% interest for my balance & short positions.

 

[johnny333]

IB monthly fee is only USD$10, if you trade stock/ETF at least once a month, commission wise is already worth it. If you combine stock with other instruments like hedging your currency/stock position, most of the time the fee is waived. The pull factor for me is if your account is big, they give you a security token and they used to give me 2-4% interest for my balance & short positions.

I didn't know IB gave out security tokens? How "big" does an account have to be to qualify for a token?
Currently I have an Etrade account & can be pain having to fax proof of my ID before they will accept my instructions:o

I'm now more of a passive investor so Etrade is good enough. However I'm trying to learn about ETFs. When I'm ready I intend to open an IB account. Heard that IB also has good rates for forex.

The only criticism I've read is that there's a steep learning curve to using their trading platform.

 

[ahhock24]

I didn't know IB gave out security tokens? How "big" does an account have to be to qualify for a token?
Currently I have an Etrade account & can be pain having to fax proof of my ID before they will accept my instructions:o

I'm now more of a passive investor so Etrade is good enough. However I'm trying to learn about ETFs. When I'm ready I intend to open an IB account. Heard that IB also has good rates for forex.

The only criticism I've read is that there's a steep learning curve to using their trading platform.

Security token given if account > USD$100,000. I have the more advance security token which even if my security token/accoung ID/password are stolen, you also cannot access my account. IB has security token thingy years before our local banks implemented it.

With the security token you also get level 1 clearance like no withdrawal limit and account verification prompting.

IB transaction can be setup to be as simple as one click away. Price range all listed out, you just click once to transact, say 100 lots, or multiple clicks for multiple lots. The transaction reponse is instant, no more page refresh or split second lag or re-entering of password. You will grow to like IB trading platform just like all others.