Hi-
I am a total newbie from the US and had my eye on a particular OZ
stock. I have never made a trade before but would like to throw a
small amount of money into this particular company. What is the
best/cheapest way for me to do so? I currently have an ETrade account
but noticed that the price was at 22 per share and when compared to
ozestock which has it listed at 24- doesnt make any sense after the
conversion rates.(Etrade should be 16 then??) Am I looking at things
incorectly? Are there additional fees if you are not from OZ? Sorry
for such basic ignorant questions... Thanx!
If it is a major Australian stock, it will probably be listed in the US
using Amrican Depository Receipts (ADRs). If so, one ADR does not usually
represent one share (it normally represents multiple shares), so the prices
are often not directly comparable. Australian speculative technology or
biotech stocks are often also listed on NASDAQ as well as ASX.
If it is not listed on a US exchange, you will probably need to use an
Australian broker or a US broker that handles Australian stocks (probably a
full service broker).
You may find that US SEC regulations prevent any Australian broker operating
in the US without a licence, which probably means they won't sign you up
unless you have an Australian address. There may also be problems with
opening up a cash account that is associated with the Australian brokerage
account. Unless it is a cash management account which does not allow cash
transactions (i.e. actual dollar bills), you need to pass the 100 point ID
check which is probably hard to do from outside the country.
If your E-Trade account allows you to buy the stock, then that's probably
the best way. If you don't understand the price differential, then ring up
the phone brokerage line and ask (you don't have to do the trade over the
phone as that will probably cost more).
What's the stock you have your eye on?
"tray" <ryano@no-spam> wrote in message
news:91a46930.0307082304.5c0b3eb7@no-spam
> Hi-
>
> I am a total newbie from the US and had my eye on a particular OZ
> stock. I have never made a trade before but would like to throw a
> small amount of money into this particular company. What is the
> best/cheapest way for me to do so? I currently have an ETrade account
> but noticed that the price was at 22 per share and when compared to
> ozestock which has it listed at 24- doesnt make any sense after the
> conversion rates.(Etrade should be 16 then??) Am I looking at things
> incorectly? Are there additional fees if you are not from OZ? Sorry
> for such basic ignorant questions... Thanx!