International broker with reasonable fees and min balance?

[ASaulalsealexy]

I'm a Canadian looking to travel a bit and may move to Colombia, Brazil or Uruguay I'm not sure yet.

As a trader how will I get access to US markets in a cheap and reasonable way?

I already have a Questrade account but it is Canadian only.
I recently opened an Interactive Brokers account but the trading fees are too high. I paid $27.50 to buy 6000 shares of TNXP yesterday($5500 worth), and another $27.50 to sell today. Such a trade would only cost $10 each way with Questrade, or even less with a discount US broker such as Just2Trade or Sogotrade.

[aspmwjlo23]

After a bit of research Schwab, Fidelity and E-trade come up as good options.
But Schwab requires 25k minimum which is a bit too high for me right now.

I was hoping to find an interational broker with reasonable fees and minimum balance.

[atasofuzev]

If you're hoping to avoid that pesky PDT rule by opening a sub-25k account in the USA... you can't do that without a discount broker- which I absolutely do not recommend. I am personally looking for a broker with good fees for a small account, but all of the discount ones are just too shady for me. I've read countless stories of these tiny, discount firms going bankrupt and people losing all of their money, and even nastier stuff like the firm betting against your shorts with larger orders of their own. If you're planning on going around the world, you need to get a solid, FINRA and SEC approved broker; don't cheap out on a discount one. Discount brokers will probably apply additional fees if you're literally international.

[Aveleoau]

All large American firms (like the ones you mentioned) require a 25k minimum to avoid that PDT rule. What you could do is open multiple accounts from one broker under your name, so you can have more trades available per rolling week. I would recommend Schwab at 8.95 per trade or TD Ameritrade if you don't mind the flat 9.95 trade fee. Both boast totally free, wholly comprehensive, professional software (desktop downloads, too) that you can use to chart and research. TD Ameritrade's thinkorswim platform is highly regarded by almost all traders.

And I'm pretty sure that TD Ameritrades minimum balance is $500... so even a kid with some Christmas money can start trading.

On a side note, does Interactive Brokers charge per share? I don't think I could ever do that. Too much for larger orders.

Hope I helped...

[awidusauehewi]

TDA has no minimum...and you can get your fees reduced to a flat 7.50 per trade or 1.50 per options contract if you sign up through dough.com or tastytrade.com. If you already have an acct w/ them you can still get the fees reduced if you call your LOCAL tda rep and tell them you are doing the Tastytrade thing. I cannot stress enough that you need to call the LOCAL rep...otherwise there will be delays.