I still looking for an international firm which offers HK stocks. One may open accounts with local brokers. However they probably welcome HK residents only (or people who can visit their firms and open accounts). I think you are not living in HK.
Trader Herry: You are right I am living in Japan now. But I travel around. So preferrable I don't have to have a HK address to open a brokerage account. I have friends that open trading account in HSBC, but that is expensive.
Unlike US or international firms, no bank or firm in HK offer an all-inclusive plan. All are commission+cost, that is you have to pay for exchange and regulatory fees, in addition to the commissions. You may never heard of some of their fees and charges (eg they charge for share interests or bonuses received from the company) Some small local firms are very cheap. One charge HK$60/trade, no matter how many shares you trade. It should be by far the cheapest. A few charge between 0.05-0.07% of the total transaction, at HK$30-50 min commission per trade. Most other charge more than 0.1%. All big firms tend to charge expensively. Most charge 0.25% of the total transactions (HK$100 min per trade), which is the min charge required by law in the past. This law was abolished in 2004, I think. However they are very backward. I'm not sure if they accept overseas residents. Even if they accept, they require you to either go to the firm to open an account in person, or send the form by postal (but you have to present certified documents/proofs, or send them in person). A special arrangement may be needed in this case. No local firm offers online registration. Their online trading platform are very crude. All small firms offer only very basic functions. Only "buy" and "sell" orders, with a simple dialog to fill in the price and share. That's all! They hardly provide stop orders! Big firms usually provide more functions, still their platforms leave a lot to be desired. No firm has one-click order execution, nor offer something like ButtonTrader does. No firm offers automated trading. Most have never heard of this. Some HK banks have more functions, again they leave a lot to be desired, not to mention their abysmal stabiity and execution speed. They charge expensively, ranging from 0.15%-0.35% (HK$60-100/trade). In HK, all platforms are the hell to scalpers and active daytraders. If IB TWS scores 80%, the best platform in HK scores 20% only (Pass is 50%). A serious trader should never choose any HK local firm or bank to trade.
Trader_Herry I am so agree on that. online brokers in hk sucks big time. trade mostly US stock and deal mostly with US firms. Opened a SHKonline recently to trade HK stock.....I could not believe the so called " most advance platform" .... buy/sell LMT/MKT that is all!! you cant even put an stop order for god sake.... The HSBC online trading account ( expensive commis)has more order types but nothing compares to the US firms.... if you are active trader and trade hk stock away from hk . you got a problem. weekly swing is the best you can do with the " advance platform"....how I wish I could trade HK stock with firms like IB or etrade.......
What a shame. HK brokerage needs a reform! But do you know why they are so awful? You need understand their local market first. Most traders (should I call them traders?) in Hong Kong don't even have some of the most basic clues to trade. Many "traders" don't even know what "stops" are, or don't care to use "stops" at all. That's why most HK brokerage firms don't offer "stops". Some don't even offer any online trading at all. Don't expect any other order types. "Stops" are already a very advanced feature in HK. Few have understanding on technical analysis, charting or analytic software. They trade by guts or personal feelings. They listen to radios, reading newspaper for tips, hearing news and rumours, without any clue how these things really work. They seem to think they can only gain when the market is up. So you will see people are cursing or screaming over the boards when the market falls. Do they know there are financial derivatives and shorting in the world? It is surprising to realise even some brokers have no clues about shorting. They think it is either illegal or impossible. Oh no! That's at least what I realise in the Internet forums. No demands, no supplies. Poor traders lead to poor brokerage businesses.
Anyone know of a reasonably priced end of day feed for the HK stocks compatible with either Advanced GET or Supercharts?