Situation I'm a New Zealander with no 'connection' to the US. Questions Does ThinkOrSwim only trade options? Or stocks too? As a non-US citizen, can I trade US stocks? Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.
First, as with anything, I would always suggest you go to the source. You obviously have internet access so you could easily go to the TOS website and see on their home page that they trade stocks?! However, my guess is that most people use them primarily for options (I have a small account with them but do not trade stocks with them). As for whether or not you can open an account as a non-US citizen, yes, you should be able to barring any legal issues locally. But again, you could easily go to their website and browse the portions of their website giving you detailed instructions as to how to open an account. As with most brokers, there will probably more paperwork and/or special forms for you to fill out and this may add to the length of time to get it open.
Yes, you can open an account with TOS, assuming there're no regulatory issues between NZ and US, and you can trade options, stocks and index e-mini futures. There's some extra paperwork, but not a big deal.
Hi, I'm a foreigner as well (I'm in Israel). I've been using TOS for about a year now and can't recommend this broker enough. They are simply the best I've tried (after IB, Cyber and a few others). As I was interested in US markets only they provide all I needed: 1) Complete, turbocharged platform (including good charts) 2) Options and stocks 3) Great support (usually people that understand the business). Never needed to call as their chat support is always available. They have comission match program that will match you current broker comissions if you transfer account to them. The only drawback so far is assignment fee of $15 a strike if you get assigned. This they cant change. I usually sell my options before expiration or buy them back to work around it. In case of spreads I never needed to do that as the average number of contracts is above 10 so it doesnt matter.
ES, regardless your post`s informational issues, you`ve never had any close contact with USCIS, have you ?
anyway, it sometimes takes 9 years (and longer) to get green card if you follow legal procedure right from the beginning. Also - you have to deal with one of the worst departments in the US.