Hiya! I have a request for you guys, can you suggest a decent broker that offers both stocks (penny stocks) and futures for non-American? Also, it must not be IB. I found ETrade to be decent but I can't find information about futures on their website. Also ApexFutures I like, but they're only futures broker. I'm trying to avoid having to open two separate accounts and deposit twice the money, so would like to do it with one broker. I am interested in trading indices futures and penny stocks (under $5). I can't afford to deposit more than 5k. Any suggestions?
Crossland has just been acquired or merged (not sure which) with Wedbush securities. I doubt they will offer a universal account as IB does but you can ask. BTW ... I know that some customers of IB have opened up with 10K and then quickly pulled 5K out and IB is apparently OK with that. That may work for you and IB is a fine firm overall. That said I don't know if they work well with penny stocks.
Your desire to trade penny stock is the limiting factor. Not in any particular order for trading futures and pennies that I know of. Etrade Lightspeed MBTrading Be sure to fully investigate and understand the fees/charges associated with trading penny stock. Do not assume information on a web site is complete and/or accurate! Call or get a written email explanation. Horror stories regarding trading fees for trading sub $1 stock are very common. Not knowing is no excuse.
Thanks. MBT doesn't accept my country so they're out of the question. So far I've found only ETrade to offer the whole package but their commission is quite high. Looks like I will just have to open two accounts then. I wanted to go with Scottrade, they seem perfect for me, but they don't accept non-US customers so I'm shopping around. Can you elaborate on the penny stocks horror stories? What kind of hidden fees are we talking about?
1) large number of shares can trigger additional per share fees. (large is defined by broker) 2) Share price alone can trigger additional fees (share price criteria defined by broker) 3) Type of commission (per trade vs per share) chosen during account setup applies to all executions in most cases, regardless if penny or multi-hundred dollar share price) 4) excessive per share routing fees if a disadvantageous route is used. (available routes vary based on type of commission chosen during account setup) 5) Additional per share fees dependant on time of day order is entered/executed. (pre or post regular market hours.) Regarding futures: If you decide to work with ApexFutures, talk to Craig Ross. He's the principal. Knows his stuff. Open to negotiation I have an account there... one of the only futures brokerages that I know of that allow intraday margins pre and post market... An awesome value added feature IMO. However, MUST be flat by 3:10 CST to avoid full margin.