Expert: Paul Henneman - 2/15/2004

Question
Dear Sir,

I am an international student studying in the United States. I am very interested in trading online. I have looked into scotttrade.com and sharebuilder.com but both of these are only for American Citizens.

Are foreigners not allowed to trade? Please let me know if I am allowed to trade. Please also recommend me of good online trading sites.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,
Ronin Gast.  

Answer
Ronin,
  Thank you for your question! Unfortunately I am not familiar enough with brokerage firms and their policies towards international traders to be much help. I do know that you can trade in the US, you just need to find a service that will allow you to do so. The two that you mentioned are discount brokers, it may be hard to find one that will work with international clients. Some others to check: foliofn.com, Ameritrade.com, ETrade.com, TDWaterhouse.com  If those do not allow it, you will probably have to sign up with one of the major brokerage firms: Morgan Stanley, CSFB, Citigroup, UBS Warburg, Merrill Lynch, and others as they would certainly be able to accomodate you, but are unfortunately much more expensive services.
  I hope this gets you pointed in the right direction,

Sincerely,
Paul Henneman
President
ValuEngine, Inc.
www.ValuEngine.com