Broker is Messing with me.

G

GotherL

I've a Canadian bank account to trade U.S stocks. Just the last 3-4 trades I noticed something wasn't right..

Here is just 2 examples.. Both of these I made a small gain but ended breaking even or taking a hefty loss. My commissions fees are only $10 so it doesn't add up.



Buy

SPU 80.00 10.59 Sep 6, 2016
Investment -1,136.92 CAD
Sell

SPU -80.00 11.1101 Sep 6, 2016
Investment 1,140.46 CAD

Buy

FSAM 155.00 5.489 Sep 6, 2016
Investment -1,142.37 CAD

Sell

FSAM -155.00 5.508 Sep 6, 2016
Investment 1,094.79 CAD

On FSAM I loss $48 on a breakeven trade. I should be losing only $20 max from commission fees so somehow I was charged and extra $28.

I suspect what my bank is doing is it's converting my CAD to USD then Back to CAD again hence it's charging me the conversion fees twice. Just ridiculous!
 
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Does your deposited currency is the same as the instrument traded currency ? Cause I read US Stocks and CAD ? Edit : Ok I've read the last third of your post. I had the same "problem". Your PnL (Bottom Line) is expressed in CAD or USD ? If USD then your CAD base (Deposit) is actualized according to the USD/CAD rate, each and every day (End of Day Statement). See if your USD PnL + Base * USD/CAD add up. Your broker should mention the rate on your daily statement. If it doesn't add up ... There may be a problem. But I bet it's where the conflict comes from (Base * USD/CAD). Meaning the dollars appreciated against the CAD so your base (Deposit) lost in value = LOSS on your day to day statements.
 
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Apophenia said:
Does your deposited currency is the same as the instrument traded currency ? Cause I read US Stocks and CAD ? Edit : Ok I've read the last third of your post. I had the same "problem". Your PnL (Bottom Line) is expressed in CAD or USD ? If USD then your CAD base (Deposit) is actualized according to the USD/CAD rate, each and every day (End of Day Statement). See if your USD PnL + Base * USD/CAD add up. Your broker should mention the rate on your daily statement. If it doesn't add up ... There may be a problem. But I bet it's where the conflict comes from (Base * USD/CAD). Meaning the dollars appreciated against the CAD so your base (Deposit) lost in value = LOSS on your day to day statements.
More...
I am using Canadian money to trade Us stocks. I should've converted to US first so now it converts when I buy then reverts back to Cad when I sell. Costly mistake.
 
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Or just open a U.S. account along side your CDN. That's what I have. I'm with Royal, and from time to time, I'll do a U.S. trade from my U.S. account and nothing is converted.
 
10usd commission one way on 1000$ trades is 2% comm on the whole trade. The USDCAD issue only makes things worse but u can t expect to be profitable trading actively under those conditions.
But it s much better to keep USD to trade.USD stocks, and banks usually give poor exchange rates
 
So, you are paying 300 CAD in fees??? On a 850 CAD trade...?? Maybe check that with them.

The fx conversions at regular banks can be very expensive...
 
JackRab said:
So, you are paying 300 CAD in fees??? On a 850 CAD trade...?? Maybe check that with them.

The fx conversions at regular banks can be very expensive...
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Not that much or I would've noticed much sooner. Basically I am losing about 5% on every trade minus the commissions after taking a look at my trade history and doing some math. I made about 5-6 of these transactions before realizing the hidden conversion costs and loss around $400 extra on a $800 account.

I don't even have enough to trade and just told them to screw themselves, I won't be doing business with them again.


DescriptionSUPERIOR DRILLING PRODUCTS INC UNSOLICITED CA EXCHANGE RATE 1.29660000

DescriptionFIFTH STREET ASSET MANAGEMENT INC CL A COM UNSOLICITED DA EXCHANGE RATE 1.32720000

You can see the currency rate conversion. It's about 3 cents which is roughly 2.5%. They convert my currency twice so that's where the 5% on each trade comes from.

They haven't responded to my emails yet but basically this is what I figure.
 
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It's unfortunate that you weren't aware but it is the norm.

Banks conversion rates are not ideal. You could always research Norbert's Gambit or get with a broker like IB Canada that is going to offer you some reasonable spot forex transaction or the option to loan you U.S dollars( this would still cost you interest).

At any rate be aware that this is normal and nothing particular to your broker.
 
Metamega said:
It's unfortunate that you weren't aware but it is the norm.

Banks conversion rates are not ideal. You could always research Norbert's Gambit or get with a broker like IB Canada that is going to offer you some reasonable spot forex transaction or the option to loan you U.S dollars( this would still cost you interest).

At any rate be aware that this is normal and nothing particular to your broker.
More...
I realize they won't take pity on me for my unawareness that's ok. (They also didn't make me aware of it at the time of account opening so that's their fault.) They wanna scam me a one-time $400 off me when I was already paying thousands of dollars on commissions each month. (I make 100+ trades a month.) That's their loss. I'll be changing brokers and switching banks as well.

I'd advice anyone reading this to not open an account with RBC direct. Very lame software, no realtime & kicks you out every 15 minutes which is disastrous for any active trader. (There were several incidents where I wanted to sell something immediately and I had to relog.)
Over the top bank fees, $40 for nsf compared TD or any other bank $15 or less.

Haven't even gotten a response from them yet. Bet they putting me on ignore after knowing they pulled a dirty trick on me.
 
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