From Canada: Does anyone know of a US broker that accepts canadians? It seems brokers accept anyone as long as you're not from Canada or Australia. I know there are a few exceptions and I would like to know if anyone knows of them. This information would be greatly appreciated. Mike
Thanks Fohat, but I know about Tradefreedom and their cost structure doesn't work for me. They are thinking about changing it, but until then all other canadian brokers are much too expensive and backwards for my needs. I am really looking into a US broker with a smart commission structure. I am presently with RJT but they got purchased by TDWaterhouse and next month they are increasing their commissions from $5/trade to $15/trade. I can't accept a 200% rate increase, especially when it's a canadian broker that charges $29/trade here in Canada and then buys a perfectly good US broker and destroys its business model. I think a lot of people will transfer their accounts when April 1 hits. PointDirex accepts canadians but they are just starting out. I am in the process of opening an account, but I still want to open an account with a US broker that has a longer history.
You can open up institutional and IRA accounts in the U.S. Most of these firms are just now learning about this caveat. It was originally thought no Canadian accounts could reside inside the U.S but there is now clarificationi.
You can have both. The best brokers, such as IB, have both excellent price structures and execution speeds. The brokers that try to justify their high commissions because of their "quality" of executions are usually the worst ones. BTW, you might as well come out and say which online broker you work for and are desperately attempting to pitch. You are not fooling anybody. We are on to you.
I'm not going to say who I work for. I know you all think I'm pitching my firm. I'm not and I can't on message boards anyway. I've traded for a long time and have done very well and seen many clients, good and bad make millions and blow they're accounts up in one week. I like to talk to traders about the market and techniques/strategies that have worked for or against each other. I have a lot of good info to offer as well as many of you I'm sure.
Let me guess, you're going to stick around making vague comments until you get your # of posts up to a high enough level where you think you actually have some credibility. Then you're going to come out and "enlighten" all of us on what a great brokerage so-and-so is. Don't bother, its been done.
To answer your commissions costs and execution, I have to fully agree with Stockman. Any broker that doesn't have both should cease to exist. RJT had a 5$/trade and great execution. Soon i'll be able to see PointDirex. Seanote: In the meantime, can you be more specific about institutional accounts ? As for IRA acccounts, correct me if I'm wrong, but canadians don't have access to this type of account. When you say institutional, are u implying I open up a LLC in a particular US state and act as a company?
e_shadoe, it does not matter if you're canadian, australian, japanese or italian. once you create a US corporation entity, the entity is doing the trading not you. Any broker will open you an account in US. it does take some paperwork to avoid double taxation though. it's all legit too. anyone is allowed to invest in a corp. I don't know if a LLC is more scrutinized than a C-Corp. maybe. a C-Corp is bullet proof, but you pay more taxes up front than LLC (because the corp is taxed, and the money you remove is taxed too, through dividend and / or manager fees, salary etc...). LLC is usually the best for a US resident. but I am not sure it is the best for a foreigner. maybe. tntneo