[MegLooney]

I'd like to buy HK stocks as well as US stocks. Which online brokerage firm(s) would you recommend?

[chris_in_hk]

I like www.boom.com and have been using it for almost 2 years now and have a friend who's been using it for about 5 years. Function and charges seem reasonable and are generally cheaper than banks. However I can't say I've compared it to other on-line sites.

[MegLooney]

Looks great, thanks!!!

Anyone else has other recommendations so I can compare their service offerings?

Also, what's your opinion on buying through banks?

[pat_togo]

What about the HSBC online brokerage service? Are the fees noticeably high compared to online brokers?

[KnowItAll]

Looked at etrade Hong Kong's site?

[MegLooney]

Yea, I think banks do charge higher fees and have limited offerings. Right?

Yes, I've checked out ETrade but it seems like they offer only limited products such as no-load funds and dividend reinvestment plans. Is it a whole different world for its members?

FirstTrade looks good. May sign up soon.

[Vrindavan]

which online sites can do all HK authorised mutual funds as well ?

[HK_Newbie100]

I use interactivebrokers.com

They are by far the cheapest because it is fully automated and have the best platform technology around. And they're one of the top 20 brokerages in the world.

Their fee for HK stocks is 0.088% of trade value with minimum commission of only HK$18. I just looked at boom.com and theirs is 0.18% and $88 respectively; that's twice as expensive.

[KnowItAll]

Most if not all online brokerages are "fully automated" and "use the bestest platform ever". What happens when they go under because they spent too much money on automation and technology?

[migao]

Originally Posted by HK_Newbie100

I use interactivebrokers.com

They are by far the cheapest because it is fully automated and have the best platform technology around. And they're one of the top 20 brokerages in the world.

Their fee for HK stocks is 0.088% of trade value with minimum commission of only HK$18. I just looked at boom.com and theirs is 0.18% and $88 respectively; that's twice as expensive.

Had a look and it looks really interesting but there seems to be a lot to learn there... what's the easiest way to get started? Say that I was currently trading a couple of local shares in HSBC, how would I move that activity to interactivebrokers.com in practice?