Chitchat Zero trading fees for US stocks.

[Ash007]

Hey Johnny have you seen this. $0 trading FEE! Honestly would like an opinion if I should go for it here, since shares trading seem to be your forte here.

https://stake.com.au/

 

[johnny333]

Hey Johnny have you seen this. $0 trading FEE! Honestly would like an opinion if I should go for it here, since shares trading seem to be your forte here.

https://stake.com.au/

Yes & no

Some brokerages will give you X number of free trades after you open an account with them.
In the long run you will have to start paying fees because that's how bokerages make $.

Nowadays it is harder to open a US brokerage accounts because of the anti-money laundering laws. Etrade has closed it's Spore & Hong Kong office & closed non-US accounts. Fortunately there are 2 other US brokerages in Spore: ThinkorSwim & OptionExpress.

 

[johnny333]

A broker with the lowest fees is "Interactive Brokers", https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/home.php
The con is that you have to be a regular trader. If you don't have sufficient trading activity they will charge you a monthly fee.

You can trade anything with their platform but the platform is reputed to be complicated with poor support.
However their fees are very low.

 

[mojito]

Free? They will makan you on the bid ask spread.

 

[johnny333]

I'm always cautious when something is claimed to be free.
Maybe it's because I'm a paranoid Sporean who has dealt with the PAP

 

[Ash007]

Only the paranoid survive. I understand that. But honestly it does look good. This is not in sinkieland, so I tend to "trust" it more. Plus the way they set it up, sounds legitimate.

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/...ffer-0-brokerage-for-trading-us-shares-2017-6

Australian fintech Stake will offer $0 brokerage for trading US shares
IMAGE: HTTPS://SECURE.GRAVATAR.COM/AVATAR/1297F290E355664D675FB4D28714BF5D?S=32&D=MM&R=G


TONY YOO
JUN 21, 2017, 3:19 AM
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image: https://edge.alluremedia.com.au/uploads/businessinsider/2017/06/BI_Stake-team-April-2017.jpg


Stake’s Dan Silver (COO), Matt Leibowitz (CEO), Jon Abitz (CTO). (Image: Sibesh Dangol)
Correction: the method of charging for foreign exchange transactions has been corrected since the original version.

Sydney startup Stake has announced that it will offer trading of US equities with zero brokerage fees from August, giving Australians cheap access to invest in companies such as Apple, Amazon and Facebook.

The local player has beaten the highly anticipated Australian launch of US startup Robinhood, which offers a similar product.

“We’ve been able to come to an agreement with our US broker dealer that allows us to offer zero commission trading from that time,” the company said in an email to customers last week.

“On the business side, zero brokerage helps with our marketing and our message. It’s going to allow millions of Australians to access the world of investment opportunity more simply and more affordably than ever before.”

In lieu of brokerage fees, Stake will generate revenue from a foreign exchange margin levied on contributions into and withdrawals out of the user’s US dollar trading account.

“We haven’t yet finalised the FX fee — it’s currently 0.7% of the spot rate but will increase once we go to zero brokerage. It will be in line with banks and we’ll keep customers and market well informed,” Stake founder and chief operating office Dan Silver told Business Insider.

The company also told customers it may later introduce paid services on top of the basic zero-brokerage product.

“Right now, we don’t know exactly what they will look like, but our customers will lead us to a clearer vision of where we need to go,” its email read.

Silver told Business Insider that generally Stake has shares on offer for companies with a market capitalisation of more than $US1 billion and share price exceeding $US1. The website currently shows brands like Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, Google, Tesla and Alibaba available to buy.

There are currently more than 3,000 publicly listed shares and ETFs on the Stake platform but the trade-off for the zero-brokerage deal signed with its US supplier seems to be that its catalogue will be shrunk.

“Once we go to zero brokerage, we will reduce the number of available securities but it will still be a significant number. This will help us lower our wholesale costs and pass savings onto the customers. We’ll look to offer a premium service down the track to offer a broader range of securities too,” said Silver.

Stake is a representative of South African finance firm Sanlam Private Wealth, which holds the Australian Financial Services licence. The startup is owned by Silver, chief executive Matt Leibowitz and chief technology officer Jon Abitz, along with minor investments from family and friends.


Read more at https://www.businessinsider.com.au/...-trading-us-shares-2017-6#ssK88J3w8rJkTotj.99

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

Unless u are those clowns who stay up till 3am Singapore time to play the U.S stock market, and execute multiple trades every week, it's probably useless.

 

[johnny333]

Australian fintech Stake will offer $0 brokerage for trading US shares
IMAGE: HTTPS://SECURE.GRAVATAR.COM/AVATAR/1297F290E355664D675FB4D28714BF5D?S=32&D=MM&R=G

Oh it's a fintech company.

I am surprised that it can survive from just taking a few pips from the foreign exchange. In Spore I mentioned a fintech company named Smartly which allows people to buy into index funds at an affordable price, http://fintechnews.sg/1483/roboadvi...advisor-targeted-southeast-asian-millennials/

They are charging an annual fee of 1% for investments less than $10k, 0.7% for investments of $10,100 to 99,999, and 0.5% of investments over $100k

I think this "Stake" is another one of those fintech companies but limited to simple buying & selling of equities.
I doubt they allow you to do things like options, buying longs/shorts, ...etc

 

[johnny333]

Unless u are those clowns who stay up till 3am Singapore time to play the U.S stock market, and execute multiple trades every week, it's probably useless.

What is wrong with collecting more money
Once you reach your 40's you'll find it more difficult to get a regular job in Spore. Many end up working as selling insurance, doing MLM, taxi drivers, security, ....

You don't need to trade every day, every week lah unless you are a day trader.
There are other ways to make money trade e.g. buying or selling when a share hits your target price, buying index funds, doing options,..

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

Amateur mistake to buy and sell multiple times in a week.

U are not allowing the stocks to have sufficient time to appreciate.

 

[Ash007]

Oh it's a fintech company.

I am surprised that it can survive from just taking a few pips from the foreign exchange. In Spore I mentioned a fintech company named Smartly which allows people to buy into index funds at an affordable price, http://fintechnews.sg/1483/roboadvi...advisor-targeted-southeast-asian-millennials/

They are charging an annual fee of 1% for investments less than $10k, 0.7% for investments of $10,100 to 99,999, and 0.5% of investments over $100k

I think this "Stake" is another one of those fintech companies but limited to simple buying & selling of equities.
I doubt they allow you to do things like options, buying longs/shorts, ...etc

They provide shorts funds.

https://stake.com.au/products/prepare-for-a-bear-market

Hey, I'm a newb, I hear shorting market is very dangerous leh. I don't dare to touch shorts or margin loans. Just want something decent.

 

[johnny333]

They provide shorts funds.

https://stake.com.au/products/prepare-for-a-bear-market

Hey, I'm a newb, I hear shorting market is very dangerous leh. I don't dare to touch shorts or margin loans. Just want something decent.

For most people investments in equities, ETFs, & index funds are sufficient.

I've read that what is popular among millennials are investing using options. Which makes sense as it allows one to leverage & limit risks. In fact that is what I'm looking into. That is why I have set aside some funds & trying to learn the ropes.

 

[Ash007]

For most people investments in equities, ETFs, & index funds are sufficient.

I've read that what is popular among millennials are investing using options. Which makes sense as it allows one to leverage & limit risks. In fact that is what I'm looking into. That is why I have set aside some funds & trying to learn the ropes.

Thanks, I'll look into it as well about options. Hey, stake does fractional shares. You don't have to pay $250K to own Berkshire hathaway!

 

[johnny333]

Thanks, I'll look into it as well about options. Hey, stake does fractional shares. You don't have to pay $250K to own Berkshire hathaway!

I wonder how they handle dividens with fractional shares?
When I was considering buying Berkshire A shares it was only $100k per share.

Decided to put my money elsewhere such as Apple when it was only $30. That was 10+ years ago. Shows that there is more than one way to skin a cat in the US market.

Just to clarify I am looking at using options on ETFs. ETFs are less volatile & more predictable if one is following the the charts.

 

[Ash007]

I wonder how they handle dividens with fractional shares?
When I was considering buying Berkshire A shares it was only $100k per share.

Decided to put my money elsewhere such as Apple when it was only $30. That was 10+ years ago. Shows that there is more than one way to skin a cat in the US market.

Just to clarify I am looking at using options on ETFs. ETFs are less volatile & more predictable if one is following the the charts.

This in the faq answers the question.

https://stake.com.au/faq/dollar-based-investing

Q: How do fractional shares work?
Our unique fractional share program allows you to purchase securities in dollar amounts rather than share quantities.

As the US market operates on a books and records basis (compared to the Australian Holder Identification Number (HIN) system), shares are grouped at the bank level who reports the holdings to the exchange.

This means that the broker (in this case DriveWealth) can assign rights to shares through a books and records system. This allows share ownership to be split between various clients of that bank.

With this, you can purchase and sell dollar amounts of a share for any amount between US$10 to US$500,000. For example, you can purchase US$500 of shares in Amazon, Inc (AMZN) and you would receive approximately 0.59 AMZN shares (based on a share price of US$845).

Note: In most instances, the dollar amount executed will match the dollar amount requested. However due to market movements, a fractional order may be executed for a few cents less than the requested dollar amount (never more).

 

[johnny333]

Doubt that such a service would ever be introduced in Spore. The costs here is just too high.

When I was looking at Vanguard I found out that even though they have an office in Spore, they can't accept retail clients from Spore. They can only deal with banks, investment companies, ... etc

 

[Ash007]

Doubt that such a service would ever be introduced in Spore. The costs here is just too high.

When I was looking at Vanguard I found out that even though they have an office in Spore, they can't accept retail clients from Spore. They can only deal with banks, investment companies, ... etc

Hmmmm why? they don't have the financial license to operate retail in SG?


Oh, my share went up 50% today. Lol. Maybe I'll retire soon after all.
https://www.google.com/finance?q=asx+fbr&ei=3XmTWfGKDInFjAGwoZIQ

 

[johnny333]

Hmmmm why? they don't have the financial license to operate retail in SG?


Oh, my share went up 50% today. Lol. Maybe I'll retire soon after all.
https://www.google.com/finance?q=asx+fbr&ei=3XmTWfGKDInFjAGwoZIQ

This is what is what people who visit the Spore Vanguard website will see:

Vanguard Investments Singapore Pte Ltd. operates under a capital market services licence for fund management and as an exempt financial adviser in Singapore. We serve mainly institutional investors throughout Southeast Asia and we don't provide any investment services to individual investors. Vanguard's funds are not registered for offer to retail investors in any Southeast Asia jurisdiction.



I'm not surprised by this. Had to close my Etrade account because they are withdrawing from Asia. Suspect it is because of all the new anti-money laundering regulations that makes it costlier to service foreign client.

Many are surprised when I tell them that I have stopped working for 15+ years & that I've paid off my mortgage I lead a simple life & do not have a car.

The reason I am still in the market is that I'm concerned with the high inflation that is pushing prices higher. One never knows whether in the future I will need $$$..$$ for medical costs So I hope to make an extra million or more in the next 5 years

 

[Ash007]

This is what is what people who visit the Spore Vanguard website will see:

Vanguard Investments Singapore Pte Ltd. operates under a capital market services licence for fund management and as an exempt financial adviser in Singapore. We serve mainly institutional investors throughout Southeast Asia and we don't provide any investment services to individual investors. Vanguard's funds are not registered for offer to retail investors in any Southeast Asia jurisdiction.



I'm not surprised by this. Had to close my Etrade account because they are withdrawing from Asia. Suspect it is because of all the new anti-money laundering regulations that makes it costlier to service foreign client.

Many are surprised when I tell them that I have stopped working for 15+ years & that I've paid off my mortgage I lead a simple life & do not have a car.

The reason I am still in the market is that I'm concerned with the high inflation that is pushing prices higher. One never knows whether in the future I will need $$$..$$ for medical costs So I hope to make an extra million or more in the next 5 years

Mate, get FBR. Honestly, its going places.