Online brokers for international markets

[aussie_in_china]

Hi, this is my first post and I have zero (0) experience on real trading so go easy.

I am a 25 year old Australian living in rural China at the moment but would like to make some medium term trades now and then, and have been doing a spot of paper-trading for over a year fairly successfully.

Unfortunately my initial investigations have been less fruitful than expected:
- CommSec requires posting stuff to Australia to open an account, understandable but a hassle. Secondly, I just quit the Commonwealth Bank as I feel their (banking) service is extremely poor and with high fees (now with CUA, who have zero fees and superior internet banking - in short, they rock!)... so I'm inclined to look elsewhere if at all possible.
- The Etrade website wouldn't come up AT ALL from China - I don't know where they host it, but because of this fact, compared to CommSec they definitely lose my custom just on the international access.

I know there are more online brokerages but I get the feeling researching each in depth would take days.

So my question is: are there any experienced traders out there who have been trading long-term overseas, if so please tell me which online broker you use, how long you have been using them, and in what country or on what infrastructure do you trade?

I will use your responses to make a shortlist of online brokers for further investigation.

Thanks,
An Aussie in China

[Sir Burr]

Here's one to start:

http://www.interactivebrokers.com/ibg/main.php
http://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7303

SB

[canaussieuck]

Here's one to start:

http://www.interactivebrokers.com/ibg/main.php
http://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7303

SB

Agree totally. I use IB, just switched from IG Markets and Etrade. I also subscribe to The Chartist, invaluable tool for learning to trade.

I live in Northern China and generally have had good access to internet for 70% of my time here so far (over 2 years).

PM me if you have any more queries.....enjoy the time here!

Cheers,

[wayneL]

Here's one to start:

http://www.interactivebrokers.com/ibg/main.php
http://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7303

SB
Been with IB for 5 years now. Can't grumble at all.

[imitrust]

IB for Options - www.interactivebrokers.com (http://www.interactivebrokers.com)
SMC Trader for Stocks, CFDs, Futures & Forex - www.smctrader.net (http://www.smctrader.net).


The hardest aspect for you will be setting up the account as Australian & US providers need a fair amount of ID to get set-up because of the whole money-laundering thing.

Best of luck