I'm interested mainly in trading non-US markets (stocks/options) and forex to decrease my exposure to declining USD value. My understanding is that Interactive Brokers has the best access to international exchanges and lowest commissions. However, it also has a monthly activity fee (I am not that active; I'm hedging long term positions against USD and sitting on it) and I am not sure if its trading platform can function with no market data feeds (I can find most of the data I need publicly, so I wasn't going to have ANY market data or research, just trading capability once I have the symbol). Basically it looks like it would cost me an "Activity Fee Minimum" of $10 minus any commission in that month (so at most $120/year as an "account fee" is how I look at it). I'd like the account to be in a stable non-USD denomination like AUD or NZD, which I think they can provide; if not I'll just dump cash into a forex transaction like USD->AUD.
I examined other brokers but did not find one with global market access or low rates for a larger number of single lot transactions (diversification over a larger number of assets; 100 of each stock for example costs $1 at IB and typically $5 flat at other places, although the minimum volume outside the US is typically 400-600 to get optimal commission pricing). The alternative might be buying ADRs as a proxy for foreign companies. For any domestic stock like IAU (gold hedge) I'd prefer to use deep ITM LEAP options to replicate the stock instead, but I've not seen a similar product for exchanges outside the US.
Any recommendations on brokers for low commision / low volume per transaction trading and minimal fees (such as data/activity) ? I'll be starting with $10k and building up to $50-100k USD in the account over the next few years so I should be able to meet the minimums in most places, just maybe not their preferred trade activity level.
I examined other brokers but did not find one with global market access or low rates for a larger number of single lot transactions (diversification over a larger number of assets; 100 of each stock for example costs $1 at IB and typically $5 flat at other places, although the minimum volume outside the US is typically 400-600 to get optimal commission pricing). The alternative might be buying ADRs as a proxy for foreign companies. For any domestic stock like IAU (gold hedge) I'd prefer to use deep ITM LEAP options to replicate the stock instead, but I've not seen a similar product for exchanges outside the US.
Any recommendations on brokers for low commision / low volume per transaction trading and minimal fees (such as data/activity) ? I'll be starting with $10k and building up to $50-100k USD in the account over the next few years so I should be able to meet the minimums in most places, just maybe not their preferred trade activity level.
