Good discount broker to trade on Nasdaq?

Cotton: Good discount broker to trade on Nasdaq?
I’m British and want to buy Nasdaq stocks. What issues do I need to be aware with dealing from outside of the US, like tax etc? And what’s a decent discount broker?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Agent11br
I don’t think you’ll have any major issues, the broker will legally take care of reporting all your trades. At the end of the year (and you could probably attain one each quarter for quarterly taxes) you’ll get a year end summary accounting for all your trades, gains, losses, etc.

IMO, it would most likely be worthwhile for you to consult a UK CPA or whomever handles your taxes to take care of any additional US capital gains taxes you’ll see (obviously pending how long you are holding onto your equities). If you are making more short term trades it could be slightly more complicated but if you stay on top of things quarterly I don’t see why you would have any hick-ups.

In regards to a decent discount broker I would HIGHLY recommend E*Trade. They are one of the top in the US and have a fantastic trading platform (I’m a former user, switched to TradeKing for lower commissions but TradeKing wouldn’t work for you since they don’t offer international trading). They have offices in the UK as well as other global cities and I’m assuming would be well versed in your needs to be trading on in international index. E*Trade has killed it the past few years on many annual ratings including SmartMoney where I know they’ve done exceptionally well (I think #1 for the past few annual reviews).

You could also look into MB Trading, however they are what I would consider a more “advanced” discount broker so you are going to be getting more tools and the fees may be a tad higher.