How do you buy shares?

It seems most brokers charge quite a hefty quarterly fee - often about 20 euros per quarter. As someone who doesn't have a lot to invest I am pretty sure that this would make it hard to profit or even break even. I'm fine with the initial charges of 15 euros or so, but is there any way to buy shares without having to pay these hefty quarterly charges?

Specifically I'm thinking of buying shares in a European company (not British or Irish)

I assume Chelsea just have to win their first game, not the midweek too??

Folks - New to all this and read all the posts with great interest...

I have some questions I hope you can help me with.

I am reading an old newspaper article in Independent.ie and did not see some of the traders called out - http://www.independent.ie/business/i...-26828219.html

According to the report, Sommerville advisory markets (SAM) are cheap and reliable? Anyone any info on them?

Also any experience with Danske Bank (formally NIB)?

or Sharewatch?

Another question and apols if this is a silly one as I am starting from scratch but the shares I buy, will I receive a dividend if the business can pay it?
Secondly how "secure" are these online trading houses, if they go pop will the state guarantee me up to 100K?

Appreciate it if someone could help with this?

Actually you are correct, heard that last week in the news
so I assume Danske were good then....what about SAM?
There is a thread elsewhere on boards to say stay away from TD and the Irish Brokers are...well Irish, in that they like to charge a lot for a mediocre service :rolleyes:

Thargor wrote: »

the Irish brokers that are left seem to provide an *Irish* level of service, I didnt realise I had it so good with Danske, I thought they were mediocre but as I just buy and hold I could never be bothered moving.

What's an *Irish* level of service?

BTW a sudden market exit is hardly a hallmark of good practice? Many of these foreign failures/exiters came here at the start of the recent boom, played a major in the bubble and yes it has blown up in their faces.

Good riddance to them, no loyalty to customers and certainly even less loyalty to this country.

At least the indigenous Banks/Brokers are trying to deal with the fall-out, provide an ongoing service whilst trying to re-build a viable business.

"So good with Danske" - that's another oxymoron.:(

gordongekko wrote: »

That's funny

How so? Customers are paying dearly and the customers of Irish Banks will also pay above and beyond for the complicit but exiting foreign banks.

Looks like Saxo Bank have added the Iseq to their long list of stock exchanges.

Ive been loking but it looks like pretty much everyone with a web interface is charging inactivity/quarterly fees now. Im moving to Saxo anyway, their quarterly fee is a steep £25 sterling but its possible to make one trade on the Nasdaq or Dow with them per quarter and only be charged $10, that cancels the inactivity fee so you can get away with $40 a year if you remember to place one trade a quarter, Ill be doing more than that anyway so it suits me.

Pages wrote: »

This thread although has lots of valuable information seems to be largely out of date.

I'm wondering if anyone had knowledge or experience of current online traders.
For myself i'm looking to dabble with 15k worth. My Current plan is 1 large investment and 1 smaller one but both with a medium term outlook.

So ideally i want a trader who won't charge inactivity or regular fees but rather just take a cut of when i sell the shares since i don't plan to be an active day trader.
The stocks are in the irish market but preferably I'd like to have the option to dabble into the US markets too.

You didn't say what Irish stocks you want to trade, so I'm not sure if this is useful for you or not. People tend to limit themselves to Irish or relatively local brokers which can work out very expensively when you take into account the commission/annual/inactivity fees they charge. Why should you be giving a lot of your hard earned cash unnecessarily to middle men? US brokers appear to be far cheaper, with a fixed charge (usually less than $10) irrespective of the size of the trade, there are no inactivity fees and no annual charges. Setting up an account is a piece of cake, and at least some of them take Irish clients (Ameritrade certainly do but TradeKing no longer do to the best of my knowledge). They provide you with a raft of information and trading tools. You can trade many Irish shares (ADR version - CRH, Kerry, BOI, AIB, Ryanair etc) on the US websites. Here is a website that identifies the top US brokers - bloody hell these brokers even pay you to join them!!!!
http://www.stocktradingtogo.com/online-stock-brokers/

The one risk with using US brokers is the currency risk and the punitive bank rates for currency conversion (using an agency like CurrencyFair can minimise the currency conversion loss).

At the end of the day you have to make up your own mind, but it's your money so waste as little as possible on brokers (unless of course they are providing added value).

Best of luck with your investments!

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

So, I signed up for Internet Banking with AIB a few days ago, and have been a customer with them for a few years now.

I just noticed they do Share dealing, and seem linked with Goodbody, so their prices are about the same; €32 transaction fee, etc.

Has anyone been using AIB at all? Looking at what I need, it looks simple enough to sign up, and I'll be honest and say I'd trust AIB slightly more than I'd trust some of the others (since I got burned by Sharewatch). Are you able to buy and sell through the AIB website?

Found them slight, indifferent and expensive. Why would you not deal directly with the Broker? I would suggest you take a look at Campbell O'Connor, the service is great and you pay for it but not as much as Goodbody and you certainly do not need a bank involved.

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

I disagree, I don't believe Irish Brokers overcharge, typically small trades you can expect to pay 1.0 - 1.5% commission If you're buying > € 5k the rates are around 1.0%. With some brokers, an existing client can easily buy selected shares @ 0.5%. This hardly giving a lot?

I didn't say that Irish Brokers overcharge, they just charge more than US or European brokers imo. As an example, using your figure of €5k above, and 1% commission, it would cost you €150 to buy and sell Irish shares, assuming no price change from buy to sell, €50 commission to buy, €50 tax, and €50 to sell. The same transaction(s) with TradeKing would cost $10 total. That is a not inconsiderable difference. This does not take into account the annual/inactivity fees that you would incur with the Irish broker if you have an online account.

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

Where you lose the plot is to suggest to transact in foreign currencies where you're on a hiding to nothing and the exchange rate swings will dwarf the standard fees outlined above. What's the point of keeping money in your pocket if there's a big hole in it?

I would think that calling the suggestion to transact in a foreign currency as losing the plot is a little OTT, I pointed out the risk with it and you automatically assume that you will lose in the currency transaction, it's possible to gain on it as well. If you are using a US broker you obviously have to trade in dollars, but again I pointed out the risk in this.

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

You've been repeating your opinion regularly but I seriously doubt you have any real experience of dealing with Irish brokers. It reminds me of the guys taking the 24 hr bus journey for € 10.00 and not a € 40.00 flight.

I have dealt extensively with Goodbody, AIB, Fexco, Davy, Sharewatch, and NIB (in that order I think) in my time, and I found them all relatively expensive (some more than others).
I now deal with IB and US brokers.

There really shouldn't be an issue with one repeating one's opinion if it is an honest opinion and there is no attempt to deceive anybody, should there?

The guy/gal above asked a reasonable question, I tried to set out what I believed might be the cheapest option for him, given his requirements, I have no axe to grind or any interest in any of these brokers, I was just trying to help.

As someone who would like to hold shares in US Company X , can anyone advise the tax position on this for someone who is a PAYE employee in Ireland?

If I buy shares to sell again within 12 months, I want to be sure I have taxes covered. Any advice / insight / links?