How to buy on NASDAQ?

[2Btoo]

Guys,

Quickie: I want to buy some shares which are traded on the NASDAQ. (NVidia - NVDA, should it matter).

I currently hold some shares through the First Direct sharedealing account but they only do UK stuff, nothing abroad.

I have a HL account as I have a pension there but can never remember how to log in. In short, will HL allow me to buy NVDA in a GIA (not an ISA) and is this the cheapest way of doing it? If not then what else would anyone recommend?

Thanks!

[millen]

If I'd known, I could have sold you mine! (Halved my NVDA just before results.)

Pretty sure HL will allow most US stocks, but check their FX charges as some UK brokerages aren't very fair.
Personally I use DeGiro for foreign stocks. Far lower FX charges and they give you the option of keeping a USD float rather than forcing you to convert back to GBP each time you sell US stocks (which I recall some UK brokers do). Account opening and funding was very swift, though that was when we was in Europe so there may be more barriers now!

IBKR and Charles Schwab I've also heard recommended for UK residents, but haven't investigated far.

Bear in mind most UK/European brokerages won't allow you to trade the more common US ETFs (eg QQQ) for strange compliance reasons. But they should offer EU-resident ETFs with similar mandates.

[Burwood]

Schwab is a good broker. Very simple to use and low fees (very). Minimum deposit to open acc is USD25k

[Ryan_T]

Trading 212 / Freeshare app - Couldn’t be any easier!

[DE1975]

HL should let you trade US stocks.

You'll need to complete a W-8BEN form. This just confirms you're not a US taxpayer. Otherwise the IRS withholds 30% tax on any dividends paid to you. Even if you don't expect any dividends, I think this form is usually a requirement of brokers dealing in US equities.

[Burwood]

DE1975 said:

HL should let you trade US stocks.

You'll need to complete a W-8BEN form. This just confirms you're not a US taxpayer. Otherwise the IRS withholds 30% tax on any dividends paid to you. Even if you don't expect any dividends, I think this form is usually a requirement of brokers dealing in US equities.

You still pay a withholding tax at 15%. HL fees are very high compared to the US brokers.

[LeoSayer]

My HL app gives me the 'BUY NOW' button on Nvidia

[2Btoo]

Burwood said:

Schwab is a good broker. Very simple to use and low fees (very). Minimum deposit to open acc is USD25k

Thanks Burwood. Your opinion is one that is usually worth valuing. However it seems that Schwab gets simply horrendous reviews on a regular basis.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/schwab.com

I also can't see how they charge for their services; there is a "Pricing Guide for Individual Investors" here but I am not sure that I understand what I am looking at (yes, I am new to this):

https://www.schwab.com/public/file/P-1036363

Also, stupid Q but how do I pay for these shares? I bank in the UK in Sterling. These shares are priced in USD. Do I need to pay in USD or would Schwab exchange the money for me? And, if so, how much would they charge?

Ryan_T said:

Trading 212 / Freeshare app - Couldn’t be any easier!

Intersting, thanks. Their website looks slightly low-rent and it seems that they charge 0.7% of deposits over £4k and a currency conversion charge of 0.15%. Are these high? They sound a bit high to me.

Thanks!

[Burwood]

2Btoo said:

Burwood said:

Schwab is a good broker. Very simple to use and low fees (very). Minimum deposit to open acc is USD25k

Thanks Burwood. Your opinion is one that is usually worth valuing. However it seems that Schwab gets simply horrendous reviews on a regular basis.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/schwab.com

I also can't see how they charge for their services; there is a "Pricing Guide for Individual Investors" here but I am not sure that I understand what I am looking at (yes, I am new to this):

https://www.schwab.com/public/file/P-1036363

Also, stupid Q but how do I pay for these shares? I bank in the UK in Sterling. These shares are priced in USD. Do I need to pay in USD or would Schwab exchange the money for me? And, if so, how much would they charge?

Ryan_T said:

Trading 212 / Freeshare app - Couldn’t be any easier!

Intersting, thanks. Their website looks slightly low-rent and it seems that they charge 0.7% of deposits over £4k and a currency conversion charge of 0.15%. Are these high? They sound a bit high to me.

Thanks!

My experience with Schwab is very positive. Lots of form filling but it's simple, happy to run you through it . You open via Schwab UK. Money is deposited just like a simple BACS. They use Citibank London. You wire GBP and they convert it to USD and at very good rates too unlike usual high street bank rip off rates. I could use the phone banking app, wire ££ and literally 10 secs later the schwab acc has USD in it. It's impressive. Fees are dirt cheap, in fact most equities are pennies to trade if not FREE (you read that correctly).

The only fees I have encountered are to wire money OUT and they charge USD15 per wire which isn't unreasonable but you can wire in USD if you have an account. There are no stupid holding charges unless you use margin and I assume you won't.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions

https://www.schwab.co.uk/open-account-intro

I used to use Interactive Brokers which is very good but it's a highly complex GUI geared for professionals. It hurt my brain every time I went to use it so gave up. It does have great tools like a Bloomberg terminal but I don't need that level of detail.

Edited by Burwood on Wednesday 1st December 16:37

[2Btoo]

Burwood,

Thanks for your help - it's ... helpful! I'm happy to keep this conversation in open view as it may help others now or in the future but I'll move to PM's if you prefer.

OK, I've opened an account. I am being told that I need to submit a W-8BEN form which I can't as I have pop-up blockers set, but that's my problem to sort out and I can see what needs to be done.

I guess I have two questions at this stage :

1. How do I put money into the thing?
2. If I want to buy NVDA then is my 'Order Type' a 'Marker Order', a 'Limit', a 'Stop', a 'Stop Limit' or a 'Trailing stop'? I think I can understand what these terms mean but am feeling my way a little bit here ... .

Thanks!

[mikeiow]

Burwood said:

The only fees I have encountered are to wire money OUT and they charge USD15 per wire which isn't unreasonable but you can wire in USD if you have an account.

For moving money, Wise (formerly Transferwise) is generally well regarded.

I use E*Trade, although really only for some US stock for one company I worked for….looks straightforward enough.
They too only charge about $15 to wire, but doing it to Santander meant taking a hit on their poor exchange rates (which were also pretty hard to find, at least a few years back when I last did a move before using Wise!)
https://wise.com/gb/blog/international-transfer-sa... explains more…..

[2Btoo]

Burwood, you put a really helpful post on this thread yesterday but it seems to have gone today.

I guess you've removed it for a reason but it contained good stuff .... are you able to put it back (or even some of it)?

Thanks.

[2Btoo]

Further update: account was opened a couple of days ago, tried a nominal £1 transfer an hour or so ago and it's not appeared in the Schwab account. Called them, spoke with a very helpful very clearly American guy who said that while I can see the account online then it's not 'fully open' and the transfer will probably be rejected. Nothing will happen until they get in touch with me.

Currently very glad that I tried a nominal £1 transfer rather than going in large with the full few hundred thousand off the bat!

Thanks again for your help Burwood. I'll keep this thread updated once I've heard from Schwab.

[Burwood]

2Btoo said:

Further update: account was opened a couple of days ago, tried a nominal £1 transfer an hour or so ago and it's not appeared in the Schwab account. Called them, spoke with a very helpful very clearly American guy who said that while I can see the account online then it's not 'fully open' and the transfer will probably be rejected. Nothing will happen until they get in touch with me.

Currently very glad that I tried a nominal £1 transfer rather than going in large with the full few hundred thousand off the bat!

Thanks again for your help Burwood. I'll keep this thread updated once I've heard from Schwab.

Yes, it will take a week or so. They have to do all the KYC compliance checks.

If you want to access the account from more than one device such as iPad or another PC you will also have to attempt a login from the other device and they will run security code validation. May as well get that done in the interim too. Codes will be snd via your phone so ensure the phone number in acc set up is noted correctly with UK country/area codes

Edited by Burwood on Friday 3rd December 10:54