If you are a Canadian and looking to trade US equities, you basically have three options: - Canadian dollar denominated account, with exchange into US dollars taking place each time you trade - US dollar denominated account - IB's Universal Account (I don't use IB, so I can't really comment on this one) Has anyone else been finding that the appreciation of the Canadian dollar vs. US dollar has been hurting your trading somewhat? For example, I currently go with option #1 out of the above, and I've been skipping a number of potential trades because I was concerned that CND dollar appreciation would outstrip the potential gains from the trade (essentially we're talking about forex risk). I also imagine that any Canadians holding US dollar denominated trading accounts have been hurting, as you would need a fairly good trading record just to even break even on your currency losses. Any thoughts on this issue? I find that I've been sticking to Canadian equities as much as possible because of this.
My trades are short term so I leave it in CAD and let profits stay in USD too. So a bitof both in 1 account.
Or you can move out of Canada to the US. The capital taxes are horrendous in Canada, and the general attitude of the people there is very demoralizing for a trader. Ambition and personal responsibility seem to be four letter words in Canada. BTW they don't call it "Ripoff Canada" for nothing.
Option 4: US Dollar denominated account plus hedge FX exposure using FX futures or Bucketshop FX (spot and continuous rollover)