Buying small volume USA shares from Australia?

Hi all,

Does anyone here buy global/US shares from Australia?

Who do you trade through?

The ones I've looked at so far are either expensive per trade or required $2k minimum buy/sell orders.

I already have a Comsec account for domestic shares, but their International account is $65 minimum broker fee. E*Trade looked good at $9.99 brokerage but a minimum 2k order.

Any others out there worth considering?

Cheers.
 
My problem with the Commsec system is they make it too hard by having to transfer to a foreign currency account in advance, while others just execute and convert currency on the trade with your AUD account which I imagine makes keeping records easier.
 
Nick Radge over at "The Chartist" has a USA trading method and clients who speculate in the USA.

Have a look around here, they are quite helpful people, they will try to sell you something but are genuine.

https://www.thechartist.com.au/Shares-Stocks/how-to-buy-stocks.html

Thanks for the link. They use "Interactive Brokers", but they lost me at "open an account with as little as $10,000.00".

I've opened a NAB Trader joint account this afternoon, very simple process and 99% verified online duration sign up. Just have to send a copy of my signature and I'm sorted.

I'm going to transfer my (teeny-tiny) holdings over to NAB from Comsec and shut the Comsec account down. NAB have similar brokerage fees but with the bonus of International dealing, no need to keep the Comsec account too.

1 - So, first step - transfer $100 to NAB, see if it all set up correctly.
2 - Second step - become a millionaire by trading my $100 across the globe.

Wish me luck.

Cheers.
 
Thanks for the link. They use "Interactive Brokers", but they lost me at "open an account with as little as $10,000.00".

I've opened a NAB Trader joint account this afternoon, very simple process and 99% verified online duration sign up. Just have to send a copy of my signature and I'm sorted.

I'm going to transfer my (teeny-tiny) holdings over to NAB from Comsec and shut the Comsec account down. NAB have similar brokerage fees but with the bonus of International dealing, no need to keep the Comsec account too.

1 - So, first step - transfer $100 to NAB, see if it all set up correctly.
2 - Second step - become a millionaire by trading my $100 across the globe.

Wish me luck.

Cheers.

I would be interested to know once you are set up, how you find the platform and ease of trading using NAB.
I am with Commsec, and yes they are very expensive.
 
I would be interested to know once you are set up, how you find the platform and ease of trading using NAB.
I am with Commsec, and yes they are very expensive.

So far it looks great, cleaner and faster than Comsec. I have to say too, it was all set up 99% of the way there via online and a couple of verification phone calls. Very good customer service. The final thing is to send in a copy of our signatures for verification and we're all set.

I'll update this thread as things come to light etc, just waiting for our current holdings to transfer across then we'll make a test trade, see how it all works.

Cheers.
 
Can you compare the currency rates at the same time (say on XE.com) you place the order? I would be interest to know if they are giving with one hand...
Best of luck..
 
Can you compare the currency rates at the same time you place the order? I would be interest to know if they are giving with one hand...
Best of luck..

Yeah that bit gets me also. From their website:

"International trades will incur a foreign exchange conversion spread of between 0.50% to 0.80% of the trade transaction value."

So on a 5k trade in and out at 0.80% that becomes $80 just on spread.
Then brokerage $15 each way.
 
For me though, just the fact I can now trade international stocks at all, with no minimum trade outweighs that example.

eg the other sites I looked at were $65+ brokerage and minimum trades of $2k

It surely won't suit everyone, but for the likes of myself that wanted simple access to US stocks in small parcels it seems ideal.
 
etrade.com(not etrade.com.au - seperate organisations)

Open an account and trade in and out without currency conversion. A little bit of paperwork to open account but not too bad. Trades are USD$19.99 until > US$50K in account(cash/shares total) then drops to USD$9.99

I got sick of trying to get the moons to align between share price and exchange rate with AUD so this decouples the two also.

Also can link a US visa debit card to account that uses cash balance in the account at no cost
 
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