Those non-US dudes trading NYSE?

[send_to_tony]

how do you manage the FX side of the account?

when you convert money into USD using a commercial bank, you already lose money, and when you convert back, you lose money again.

Is there a better way to manage the FX conversion without getting ripped off by the banks?

 

[Pippi436]

I agree, what the retail-banks charge in terms of swaps and fees for deposits in another currency is ridiculous.

You can either use a broker with multi-currency accounts like IB and deposit in your currency directly, or another good option is Oandas physical delivery service. You can exchange cash on a few pip spread basis (instead of a few hundred pips!) and pay a flat fee of $20. At the same time u can use them to hedge your USD exposure.

http://fxglobaltransfer.oanda.com/

 

[send_to_tony]

thanks for the Oanda thing, it looks decent.

so Oanda offers a multi-currency account as well?

say if i often convert JPY into USD. i can fund my account in JPY and wire them into USD when I want? i dont have to do any conversion in funding my account right?

 

[dr_kimble]

Quote from send_to_tony:

how do you manage the FX side of the account?

when you convert money into USD using a commercial bank, you already lose money, and when you convert back, you lose money again.

Is there a better way to manage the FX conversion without getting ripped off by the banks?

I agree, it just depends how often you make deposits/withdrawals per year.

The best thing for once only or rarely is to use something like Oanda, I personally have several foreign currency denominated accounts at E*Trade, hedging currency fluctuations by watching the carry trades in FX Spot and buying medium / long-term FX options low risk, additionally. Hope that helps

 

[Pippi436]

The best solution is always that your broker offers accounts with your home-currency as base-currency. You can use a physical delivery service to get better rates and hedge the FX exposure, but it will always incur fees/swaps and bind margin.