Trading platforms, E-Trade vs Banks
Discussion
Just a bit of a newbie question really, is there a huge benefit in an E-trade account over opening a stocks and shares trading account with my bank (currently Halifax). I have looked at the costs per trade etc and they seem very similar, both offer some trading tools. However with E-trade being base din the US and most of my investments in the UK markets which would be more beneficial?
Thanks for any advice in advance
Thanks for any advice in advance
Hello. I would suggest that when you are looking at the E-trade system you have a look at how you would transfer your funds back to your UK account. How often can you do it and how arduous is their paperwork to fill out when you wish to make such a transfer?
In my experience the US banking system is quite backward and you would want to make sure you could transfer your money back as easily as possible; something probably easier from a UK based company.
In my experience the US banking system is quite backward and you would want to make sure you could transfer your money back as easily as possible; something probably easier from a UK based company.
TTOBES said:
Hello. I would suggest that when you are looking at the E-trade system you have a look at how you would transfer your funds back to your UK account. How often can you do it and how arduous is their paperwork to fill out when you wish to make such a transfer?
In my experience the US banking system is quite backward and you would want to make sure you could transfer your money back as easily as possible; something probably easier from a UK based company.
Yeh, well I would normally use Moneycorp for that as they have been pretty good to me in the past. However I think it would be best to stick with something UK based, as I agree that their banking system seems to be a little strange. Also the conflict in terminology makes things even harder when you're just starting out by the looks of things.In my experience the US banking system is quite backward and you would want to make sure you could transfer your money back as easily as possible; something probably easier from a UK based company.
I don't know what your holding period or strategy is, but I would also have a look at spreads and CFDs if you're thinking about commission costs as, especially with spreads, the 'cost' of entering and exiting a position is within the spread only and up to a certain point its cheaper to get in / out with a spread vs. buying the underlying. Spreads is also better suited to people who don't want to hold for a long period of time but would prefer to trader around. You also don't pay 0.5% tax like you do with shares and you also get dividends and you can, if you like, leverage up.
From memory, and depending on how many trades you do a month or quarter, brokers charge £10 - £15, somewhere in that range, less I guess if you're a heavy user.
As an example. You want to buy 500 Barclays shares.
Cost from broker = £10 + 0.5% stamp duty, so £17 or so quid.
With spreads, in the cash, it will cost you under £3, rising to about £11 if you want to get a longer dated contract, say Dec 2013.
Worth having a look into.
From memory, and depending on how many trades you do a month or quarter, brokers charge £10 - £15, somewhere in that range, less I guess if you're a heavy user.
As an example. You want to buy 500 Barclays shares.
Cost from broker = £10 + 0.5% stamp duty, so £17 or so quid.
With spreads, in the cash, it will cost you under £3, rising to about £11 if you want to get a longer dated contract, say Dec 2013.
Worth having a look into.
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