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written by reader Access to foreigh exchanges

By bartcreedon, January 30, 2012

Rather than trading via pink sheets, I am interested in trading directly on foreign exchanges for stocks that list there. I am looking at opening an account with Interactive Brokers (IB). Any thoughts, comments recommendations about IB or other possible platforms? I also was looking at E*Trade until I saw that you cannot access its global markets feature with an IRA account. I am looking to open an IRA account since I have most of my investable funds in one currently.

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Travis Johnson, Stock Gumshoe
January 30, 2012 6:38 pm

I use Interactive Brokers and like them, but if you’re used to a standard online discount broker it takes some getting used to — very different look and feel. They are designed for traders, so the fee setup is optimized for folks who do a fair amount of trading — commissions are low and execution has been very good for me in Canada, Australia and London (haven’t tried other markets), but if don’t trade at least a few times a month you’ll get hit with some (relatively reasonable) fees.

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Travis Johnson, Stock Gumshoe
January 30, 2012 10:59 pm
Reply to  Bart Creedon

I haven’t checked recent transactions, but I haven’t had complaints about those aspects of IB in the past. The process is a seamless part of trading.

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Wayne Eastham
Wayne Eastham
February 1, 2012 2:50 pm

I’ve used IB for over 10 years but still do not consider myself an expert on their platform. As one who scales in with small positions, I love the low commission rates and if one trades a few options, they cannot be beat, in my opinion. As far as trading with foreign currencies, you can either buy the currencies via Forex and use that money to trade the stocks, or you can purchase foreign stocks with “borrowed” currency and pay a small amount of interest on the borrowed money. Either way, you have the currency risk. At least that is what appears to be happening to me. The platform is a little confusing to say the least, but still worth it, and it improves continuously. Also, they use only one account for all functions, i.e., stocks, Forex, options, futures, so you do not have to open accounts for each type of trade you make. Of course, theoretically, you can “blow out” your whole account rather than just a futures account or Forex account. But, for an IRA, that should not be a problem.

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jrlowelljr
Member
February 7, 2012 2:30 pm
Reply to  Bart Creedon

I have been on IB for just a few months, and the fees/commissions are great, especially after using Vanguard’s brokerage services ($20/trade, $50 more for Canadian). The WebTrader takes some getting used to, but their phone-in customer service is very helpful. I have an IRA with them, and setting up a monthly draw was tedious, but with their customer service assistance I was able to get it done.

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blufox
February 5, 2012 5:41 pm

Bart,
I had an account at IB years ago and reopened my account last year, it is a smaller account than my Fidelity account but I wanted to compare the two. I hold 9 positions in IB and 78 in Fidelity where I use Active Trader Pro. I wanted to see which of the two has better executions and where it was easier to trade in foreign stocks in their respective currencies. For foreign trading IB is better. One can exchange dollars in the Forex market and achieve better rates than at Fidelity. In terms of executions I haven’t noticed too big a difference. The IB platform I use is Trader Work Station build 922.6 which their stand alone platform that I prefer to a web platform, but the web platform looks very similar. TWS 922 is java based.
Only 30.5% of my portfolios are based in US stocks with the 49.5& being Canadian, Toronto exchange, companies and the remaining 20% being in Europe, South America, and Australia.
Regarding hedging out of USD, Canadian miners make a lot of sense. I hold 23% in precious metal mining stocks, 17.5% in base metal mining, 16% in Agriculture, 22% in Energy and the balance spread out– a bit in banking, Technology, etc.
Active Trader Pro is a very good platform including charting etc, but I subscribe to both Worden and StockCharts so I have no need of their charting.
all my best,
/* Phil */

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Interactive Broker Salvatore Recco complaint Asia
Guest

No possibility to complaint with Interactive brokers Asia and Salvatore Recco

Due to instability of Interactive Brokers systems and incompetence of “Salvatore Recco”, I lost lot of money. I could have recovered it with a competent and professional broker. But Salvatore Recco(Head of Institutional Services Asia) was slow, not polite, unprofessional, giving lame excuses and possibly make big money on my back.

0/IB asia has no independent complaint officer(the CEO so wont bother to answer). If a senior IB staff is incompetent, you could not complain.No one is checking what they are doing in Asia, so manipulations of the records/transactions and wrong doing can be done by their staffs in Asia.
1/ zero transparency: you wont get any records ( transaction, transcripts,…). “Salvatore Recco” is blocking my access to any records because he made the mistakes.
2/ you will not be able to speak or see face to face, “Salvatore Recco”or a manager or a complaint officer in Hong Kong or Asia. They will just hide and send you a small potato guy.Thank to The small potato, I discovered that Salvatore Recco was lying and the staff might know his wrong doing.
3/ IB/Salvatire Recco will hide and refer you to a US complaint or any virtual manager in other continents.
4/ their methods in order that you give up your complaints, its their complaints tickets systems, it will take many months/ years instead of a day. They will tell you that they will get back to you within few days but instead give you lame excuses few month later. By that time all records could be modified by IB.
5/they have many others tricks so be careful, they can make you push to accept new rules at their favors when you later login,…
6/ they are not going to compensate you for their staffs mistakes for sure! Because They do not have any compensation fund aside in Asia !

On internet others complaints about “Salvatore Recco”, if you have any problems with him or IB, please help me. I took a lawyer and complaint SFC and regulator without any answer!!!
Help me because “Salvatore Recco” is blocking my complaint as he was the one involved and possibly make a big money in my back!

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reggits
Irregular
April 23, 2014 10:54 pm

So is it still the case the Interactive Brokers is a good platform, if not the recommended one for international exchanges? If not, where should I look instead? Thanks for your help everyone!

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