Discount Stock Broker

[shortbleu 10]

Hi all,

 

I am looking for a discount stock broker (to trade stocks, not CFDs or spreadbetting) with the following criteria:

 

1) The account can be opened by a UK resident.

2) The account can be funded in British pound (GBP) and only the profit/losses would be exposed to the risk of currency.

3) No inactivity or monthly fees charged (eg. Interactive Brokers charge inactivity/monthly fees and would not suit me).

4) The account can be opened with an amount as low as GBP 6,000.

5) I will do less than 6 trades per year and I am looking to pay

commission fee per side of USD 8 maximum or GBP 5 maximum (eg. Selftrade, E-Trade, Barclays stockbroker are too expensive)

 

I made some research and I found the following stock brokers: Zecco, Just2trade, but I don't know if they allow UK residents to open an account and if the account can be founded in GBP. Does anyone know if they suit such criteria?

 

Any suggestions of brokers following ALL of the above criteria are welcomed.

 

Many thanks

[shortbleu 10]

Can you help please?

[sevensa 10]

If you were a broker, would you want you as a customer?

[brownsfan019 17]

Hi all,

 

I am looking for a discount stock broker (to trade stocks, not CFDs or spreadbetting) with the following criteria:

 

1) The account can be opened by a UK resident.

2) The account can be funded in British pound (GBP) and only the profit/losses would be exposed to the risk of currency.

3) No inactivity or monthly fees charged (eg. Interactive Brokers charge inactivity/monthly fees and would not suit me).

4) The account can be opened with an amount as low as GBP 6,000.

5) I will do less than 6 trades per year and I am looking to pay

commission fee per side of USD 8 maximum or GBP 5 maximum (eg. Selftrade, E-Trade, Barclays stockbroker are too expensive)

 

I made some research and I found the following stock brokers: Zecco, Just2trade, but I don't know if they allow UK residents to open an account and if the account can be founded in GBP. Does anyone know if they suit such criteria?

 

Any suggestions of brokers following ALL of the above criteria are welcomed.

 

Many thanks

 

Less than 6 trades per YEAR and you want to pay like you trade 6 times per DAY.

 

 

For 6 trades per year, any online discount broker is fine. Will they meet all your requirements? Probably not.

 

So either suck it up or start your own brokerage firm that caters to your niche.

[thalestrader 14]

Less than 6 trades per YEAR and you want to pay like you trade 6 times per DAY.

 

But Brownie, he's a scalper!

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

[Dinerotrader 10]

Hi all,

 

I am looking for a discount stock broker (to trade stocks, not CFDs or spreadbetting) with the following criteria:

 

1) The account can be opened by a UK resident.

2) The account can be funded in British pound (GBP) and only the profit/losses would be exposed to the risk of currency.

3) No inactivity or monthly fees charged (eg. Interactive Brokers charge inactivity/monthly fees and would not suit me).

4) The account can be opened with an amount as low as GBP 6,000.

5) I will do less than 6 trades per year and I am looking to pay

commission fee per side of USD 8 maximum or GBP 5 maximum (eg. Selftrade, E-Trade, Barclays stockbroker are too expensive)

 

I made some research and I found the following stock brokers: Zecco, Just2trade, but I don't know if they allow UK residents to open an account and if the account can be founded in GBP. Does anyone know if they suit such criteria?

 

Any suggestions of brokers following ALL of the above criteria are welcomed.

 

Many thanks

 

If you are looking to make some real money, $10 USD commissions aren't going to kill you on 6 trades a year.

 

I have most of my personal financial business with Wells Fargo here in the USA and they give me 100 free trades per year on my trading account, my IRA trading account and my ROTH IRA trading account. That is 300 commission free trades per year and I get that every year. The price I pay is I have my mortgage, credit card, retirement accounts, checking, and savings account all with them. I do this because I like to simplify life. One bank statement and online portal that gets me to most of my finances.

 

See if the big banks where you live have similar offers for customers who do lots of business with them.

 

That's my

[sevensa 10]

If you are looking to make some real money, $10 USD commissions aren't going to kill you on 6 trades a year.

 

And if it does, this is probably not worth doing it and one can probably get a better return by just putting the money in a savings account, or buy a CD.

[BlowFish 10]

3) No inactivity or monthly fees charged (eg. Interactive Brokers charge inactivity/monthly fees and would not suit me).

 

As far as I am aware IB do not charge inactivity fees. They may charge data fees if you sign up for different exchanges real time data (you may not need that with 6 trades per year:)) Some are subject to waiver if you generate $30 of commissions.

 

Having said that I am not sure you can enter an order into a market that you don't have a market data subscription for. I think not so that would scupper you sadly.

[DugDug 10]

(Its rare I get to correct Blowfish as he is such a good source of knowledge...)

 

But you can actually enter trades into IB without a market subscription.

They will give you a few warnings saying they advise against it, but it definitely possible.

I have done it a few times with some stocks listed on the ASX in Australia and also some futures and stocks in the USA.

WARNING: I would strongly suggest you have it as a limit order, already know roughly where the prices are trading, and be very very careful, as you dont want a typo....even with a limit order.

Re: the inactivity and IB, I think it is $30pm if you dont pay a minimum brokerage ($10pm) for use of the platform....so even if you dont subscribe to an exchange. Funny thing is if this is the case its cheaper to buy and sell a few times a month, even if you break even.

[sevensa 10]

Re: the inactivity and IB, I think it is $30pm if you dont pay a minimum brokerage ($10pm) for use of the platform....so even if you dont subscribe to an exchange. Funny thing is if this is the case its cheaper to buy and sell a few times a month, even if you break even.

 

Actually it is neither. They have two fees.

 

1. $10 a month for their standard subscription bundle market data iff you don't generate $30 in commissions a month.
   
2. Up to $10 a month for inactivity fee. You pay the difference between the $10 and the comissions you generated.
   

So, if you generate $5 commissions a month, you pay $10 data fee plus 5$ inactivity fee.

If you generate $10 commissions a month, you pay $10 data fee and $0 incativity fee.

If you generate $30 commissions a month, you don't pay anything.

 

It is all on their website. Click on Activity tab....

[BlowFish 10]

(Its rare I get to correct Blowfish as he is such a good source of knowledge...)

 

Hehe thank you (I think) I did say I wasn't sure, it was kind of an educated guess Anyway another thing to file away until senility sets in! It's actually a very sensible decision on IB's part when you think about it as it makes things attractive to precisely this type of investor.

 

Mind you I am not sure the minimum account requirements and the fee structure for stocks, but if I was to stick my neck out again I would guess that they would tick those boxes.

[thalestrader 14]

2) The account can be funded in British pound (GBP) and only the profit/losses would be exposed to the risk of currency.

 

If you are buying US listed securities, then wouldn't the entire principle be exposed to currency risk?

 

Best Wishes,

 

Thales

[DugDug 10]

"US listed securities, then wouldn't the entire principle be exposed to currency risk?"

 

This is an interesting one as a lot depends on how you get the financing /margining from the broker.

Without going into too much detail.

example; base currency GBP. Buying stocks in USD

scenario 1) you are required to fund the whole amount in USD, hence the FX exposure is to the amount required to buy the stocks.

scenario 2) the broker loans you the money on margin, hence the FX exposure is to the amount of the margin + any PL on the trade. (This is how IB basically deals with it - you then get charged interest on the borrowed amounts of the margin amount, and its the PL and this margin that is expsoed to the FX risk - not the whole amount)

scenario 3) everything gets translated back and quoted in the GBP base currency with no FX exposure. (this can be more costly depending on how many transactions etc and is generally up to the investor to hedge the exposure out if the broker does not do it automatically - however the PL as it moves will produce a FX exposure as the prices move.)

 

Every broker may do it slightly differently and it is definitely up to each investor to work it out themselves. When looking at this accounting remember to keep in mind there is a difference between the actual positions held at a broker and the cash balances.

ie; you can have cash balances in different currencies - and hence FX exposures whilst having no positions.

From what I have seen from most brokers who over cross border services, generally its only the margin and PL amounts that are exposed to FX as this is reflected in the cash balances shown in USD, EUR, AUD etc;.

 

I hope this helps and does not confuse.

 

Hi Blowfish - yes it was a complement.