Buying US stocks through Europe

Live at Three

When I search for Disney in DeGiro I can see

Disney (Walt) Co. (WDP) for sale through Xetra in Euros (€92.4)

and

Disney (DIS) on the NYSE quoted in dollars. ($99.92 - converts to €92.02)

My question is, is it better to buy through your native currency? I presume that either option is going to cost me a percentage for providing access to US stocks in a EU platform.

and..

For a simpler life would it be better to research only Euro based stocks to avoid the extra complication of currency exchange?

Nody

A secondary listing usually have noticeably lower trading volumes (i.e. there are not as big market for buying/selling) which is why I'd always recommend the primary listing if possible (there are exceptions such as if you want to buy a stock that's very expensive to buy with the existing broker it may be worth going for a secondary listing instead or if you're only looking for dividends etc.)

robp

One thing to note here is that if you are considering buying an Irish company on a secondary listing the 1% Irish stamp duty seems to still apply even though its listed overseas. I am not sure if you buy a US company in Germany does US rules on estate tax still apply but I imagine they do.

newacc2015

robp wrote: »

One thing to note here is that if you are considering buying an Irish company on a secondary listing the 1% Irish stamp duty seems to still apply even though its listed overseas. I am not sure if you buy a US company in Germany does US rules on estate tax still apply but I imagine they do.

The estate tax threshold is huge in the US. It is around $5.5million.

One of the things around primary and secondary listings is possible arbitrage opportunity. The secondary listing might not reflect the listing of the primary company. Although modern trading with computers has eliminated this pretty much.

Live at Three

Thanks for the replies folks.

Prezatch

Also, I wouldn't worry too much about fees if you are with Degiro. The most recent shares that I bought were 2 grand worth of a US stock and it cost me 57 cents!

On top of this, there is a 'hidden charge'. Looking at the FX rate for the day provided by the irish central bank, I worked out that Degiro charged me 0.75% in margin for converting my EUR to USD to purchase the stock

TD Direct will charge you 1.5%

Live at Three

Thanks Joey, yes that's exactly what I was wondering, the .75% conversion rate from DeGiro compared to whatever Xetra add on, I was thinking you can't expect exposure to another market without paying either in conversion or some other way.

field_marshall

Live at Three wrote: »

When I search for Disney in DeGiro I can see

Disney (Walt) Co. (WDP) for sale through Xetra in Euros (€92.4)

and

Disney (DIS) on the NYSE quoted in dollars. ($99.92 - converts to €92.02)

My question is, is it better to buy through your native currency? I presume that either option is going to cost me a percentage for providing access to US stocks in a EU platform.

and..

For a simpler life would it be better to research only Euro based stocks to avoid the extra complication of currency exchange?

not a good idea to buy american stocks on secondary listing european exchanges , liquidity is tiny by comparison , its ok to buy an etf which tracks the s + p but is listed on the euronext

currency is not a concern in either instance as the charges are higher on the euro denominated etf

robp

newacc2015 wrote: »

The estate tax threshold is huge in the US. It is around $5.5million.

From what I heard its just about 60,000 for Non-US people, but I have heard many conflicting opinions on this.