Value Microcaps Junior Miners

[Bylo Selhi]

Canadian or pinks - I use my E*TRADE Global Trading account to buy Canadian stocks directly, but I buy them via U.S. Pinksheets as well. Experts say that the former (direct trading) is the way to go, but I am not 100% sure that the E*TRADE Global Trading platform is saving me any money.

The commission is C$19.95 per trade on the E*TRADE Global Trading platfrom. In addition to that, E*TRADE charges me about 1% for currency conversion. I have to convert my US dollars to Canadian dollars before I can make a stock purchase via my Global Trading account. When I move, let's say, $100K USD to my Global Trading account, it cost me about $1000 USD. If I decide later to move the same amount of money back to my USD-denominated account, I will pay $1000 again in currency conversion fees. These currency conversion fees are hidden. My E*TRADE transaction statement never shows any currency exchange fees. When I asked the E*TRADE rep why their USD/CND currency quote is always about 1% higher than the official ForEx quote, they said that they get their currency quote from a bank that they use to facilitates their currency exchanges.

I am wondering how Interactive Brokers (IB) handle their USD/CND currency exchange business, and how much they charge for it. If anyone who is using IB could shed some light on it, I would greatly appreciate... I am considering opening an account with IB.

Another problem with the E*TRADE Global Trading platform is that you can't buy Canadian warrants directly. I have to use U.S. Pinksheets to buy Canadian warrants, but not all of them are trading (don't have U.S. symbols) on pinksheets. I've heard that you can trade Canadian warrants ditectly if you have an account with IB.

Thanks in advance for any information on this subject!

P.S. Has anyone read the Casey Research study titled "The ABC's of Investing in Canadian Stocks(see the link below)? Any opinions?

http://www.caseyresearch.com/pdfs/20080103_0801_ABCs_of_Canadian_Stock_Investing.pdf