Buying Stocks. But Where?

Silly question you may say! Of course you buyyou don't only want to buy say 10 or 20 stocks, but
stocks via your broker or online using your brokeragemaybe 500 or even 1000, this volume will be difficult
account.to get and may take several hours or even days.
But ...What can also happen then is, that your order will
It's not necessarily that easy if you want to buyautomatically be split up into several orders until the
foreign stocks which you shouldn't reallyentire volume ordered is purchased. This is what
underestimate nor neglect. There's a whole batch ofhappened to one of my orders a few years ago.
foreign stocks out there that make greatAnd every order is charged with a commission.
investments but that are not available in yourConsidering the extra charges for each order at your
country, or only with difficulty.local stock exchange, it might even be cheaper if you
And that's the reason for this article. Several of mybuy the stocks at a foreign stock exchange where
subscribers emailed me saying that they werevolume is much higher.
interested in a stock but couldn't purchase it in theirAnd that's exactly what you also do if you find a
country. Now why is that?good stock that you are eager to get hold of, but
If you want to buy Microsoft or Wall Mart stocks forcan't buy it in your country at all! You buy your
instance, you will not experience any problems atstocks at a foreign exchange which in most cases will
most stock exchanges let alone the USA. These twobe the country of the stocks origin. This will also
stocks alone already have a trading volume of overinvolve higher charges because you gonna have to
10 million + every day on Wall Street. Even thedo this via 2 brokers.
regional stock exchanges like Chicago or SanSo let's take the Canadian Loblaw again. If I would
Francisco etc. have a high trading volume withlike to buy this stock, I'm gonna have to see my
Microsoft and Wall Mart. Buying and selling takes placebroker here in Germany who will then buy the stocks
within seconds.at the stock exchange in Toronto which will involve
But although most foreign stocks are also found onseveral extra commissions and charges. Because not
the trading floors of New York and otheronly my broker will charge a commission but the
international exchanges, there are exceptions. Likebroker in Canada too. So I'll end up paying 2 brokers
the Canadian company Loblaw for example. Youwho are involved in my transaction.
won't see Loblaw stocks anywhere in Frankfurt,So that's simply how it works. My broker will contact
which is the largest stock exchange in Germany.a broker in Canada who will then make the purchase
There's only a bit of volume at the regional stockfor me. And apart from extra charges involved it will
exchange in Berlin. On average about 17 stocks peralso take longer before the transaction goes through.
day. And that's nothing!But these extra commissions shouldn't be overrated.
The same is true for other big exchanges too! YouIf you find a great and solid stock that you really
will not find every single stock in New York, London,want, then go for it and because if you're an
Frankfurt, Sydney or Hong Kong. It simply has to doinvestor and not a trader, you are probably
with supply and demand. If there's hardly anycontemplating a long-term investment anyway. And in
demand for a stock in XYZ country - for whateverthe long run, commissions and other charges are
reason - you won't have the necessary supply. Sonegligible anyway.
either the stock is not available in your country at all,At the end of the day it's only important which
or only at very low volumes.stocks you buy and not the place where you buy
The difficulty with very low trading volumes is, that ifthem!