Oh.. I see. If your bro is going to be studying in US, of course it is possible to open a savings acct.

It was possible to open a saving account via Internet BEFORE 9/11 but now,.. it is virtually impossible.
The US Patriot Act now requires physical id and presence.

Your bro MUST BE physically be there to open a bank account (in traditional brick and mortar) bank. Your bro (assuming he's on student visa) MUST ALSO first obtain the US Social Security Number (aka Tax ID), before he can open a bank account. To open a joint account, you must also be physically presence in US. The person with the US SSN will be the primary account holder. With the US SSN, your bro can open a investment account for stocks trading as well. If your bro is on student visa only, he's considered non-resident, therefore no tax withholding for capital gains.

But, if you want to open a bank account for the purpose of equity investment/trading, there is no need for one.

One can open an investment account directly with brokerage like TD Ameritrade, Etrade, Scottrade, etc. and start
trading immediately. No need to travel to US. Must have a good connection to the Internet and be able to work/trade during night hours (Malaysia/Singapore is 12/13 hours ahead of WallStreet).

This post has been edited by danmooncake: Apr 16 2009, 11:44 AM

danmooncake, thanks for your reply, it's so helpful to me.

In that case, me and my brother may need to arrange a day and fly to US to open a bank account.

I just wonder, what about UK and Hong Kong? Actually, my brother is having 3 options, either study in US, UK or Hong Kong. That's why I need to know all the banking rules for each of the countries so that I can prepare earlier.

May I know what about UK and Hong Kong? Different countries but with the same questions as mentioned in the post below:

Sorry, I do not know the banking rules in UK or Hong Kong.

But, if you know the banks that you wanted to do business, feel free to call or email them.
Today, with the Internet, it is relatively easy to talk to foreign banks/investments brokerage customer service rep and ask questions without being physically presence.

For example: I managed to open an investment account with E-Trade without stepping a foot in US soil. Just through email and skype (for cheap phone calls).

---

Added on April 16, 2009, 12:02 pmWRook:
Hope you have monitoring and be able to pull the trigger last night for your UYG.
It was the pullback opportunity that I've mentioned the other day..your UYG was definitely a BUY opportunity
and towards the final hour of the trading day, the good news from Feds rallies the market,
it pops up to over 8% gain.


Btw, I am excited for my FAS!







This post has been edited by danmooncake: Apr 16 2009, 12:02 PM

you mean you manage to talk to US bank via email and skype, and got an account opened? Was it before 911?

This post has been edited by debbieyss: Apr 16 2009, 12:09 PM

Deb, dun think u need to fly all the way just to open a bank acc.
U can get your bro to open his own bank acc when he is there and u just TT the funds over. If U wanna transfer the investment funds over, then just make sure the investment acc is under your bro's name so that the funds can be transfer into it.

Else if u have 200k, go HSBC Malaysia, open their premier acc. If not mistaken, they will help u open a US HSBC acc.

ok got it.

I have another 2 questions:

1. What about UK and HOng Kong banking rules? Can i also apply HSBC's premier acc then they can help me to open UK and HK acc?

2. Another point, I prefer joint account, is it possible? If the bank account has only my brother's name, that means I can't withdraw money when I'm in US someday.

Hope to hear from you, thanks a lot!

ermm not sure about any countries banking rules but i think ya...hsbc can open for u uk and hk acc also. Gib them a call to enquire more.

ermm...not sure about joint acc. But i guess u can use your bro's atm card when u r in the state? Or open 1 when u r there, and ask him to transfer funds to your bank acn? I guess try hsbc...maybe they r ok wif joint acn. Not sure too

ok.

Thanks for information.

To clarify, I have emailed and talked (via skype) to banks in US but unfortunately, not able to open a new bank account without physical presence. They said that's the rule after 9/11.

I've talked to Investment Brokerages (eg. E-Trade and Ameritrade) - no problem opening an account with one of them for trading stocks because they are not a bank. They allow foreigners to buy/trade stocks. Just file the proper paperwork and TT them the money into your account.

FYI. A US Bank Savings Account is not the same as an Investment Account.
Bank deposits are guaranteed by US FDIC (kinda like an semi-govt insurance company),
and stocks equities ownership are guaranteed by SIPC (as legal custodian, not their value).

Some investment brokerage accounts do have a pseudo-savings-account feature.. they call it Money Market,
which give you interests (very little) if you have Cash balance. One can definitely treat this like a saving
account if you wish and can withdraw anytime.

Btw, right now, with such low interest rates, no point opening a saving account in US for purpose of saving.

Better open an investment account directly with license brokerage and you can buy those good value blue
chip stocks. There are risks of course... but now, good stocks out-perform the interests that you can get from any banks in this beaten down market.

This post has been edited by danmooncake: Apr 17 2009, 08:27 AM

danmooncake, thanks for your reply.

Mind to introduce some investment banks in US? I may just send them the necessary documents and TT the money.

How can I contact the license brokerage?

Careful there.. I wrote Investment BROKERAGES, not BANKS.
(BANKS are different beast)

Go to the beginning of this thread and read a few pages..you can spot those companies names
posted by forumers who have successfully opened accounts with them.

Google their web site and find the contact info.
Then, just email or contact via their web page contact form or simply call them on the listed phone numbers.
Buy some Skype credits. this is best way to call US on the pennies.

Also look for this SIPC logo:



Read up on all the requirements (esp. if they cater for non-US residents) and make sure you understand all the fees structure before you sign on the dotted line and send them back the docs.

Come back and post question here if you don't understand the materials they've asked for.

Before you start to trade any equities, make sure you understand all the risks involved.

This post has been edited by danmooncake: Apr 17 2009, 09:59 AM

Thanks for your reply!

Noted, I will have a look then.

Let me do research then I will post up questions, if I have any. Thanks again.

Hi D'cake,

Sorry was away.
Yeah there was a pullback but did not manage to buy.
As I was gathering more info on UYG, found out that it is definitely not for long term.
I am attracted to FAS as well but some of the investors says XLF is a safer bet.
I want to invest in something for long term whereby, buy and put in a "frezzer" kind of thing.
Do you have anything to share for a long term basis?

Appreciate you kind reply. THX

Good morning, I guess you missed the initial bull run for financials this week.. anyway, it was good enough for me. Bought FAS on Wednesday during pullback, sold FAS early this morning before closing.. pocketed $2K.

You are correct, FAS/UYG aren't for long play. XLF is a better play financial for long if you want to buy and forget.

Here's a recap of this week, the financials were definitely stars this week, started with Wells Fargo, Goldman, JP Morgan, and followed by Citi today. All of them reported have surprise earnings with good numbers, and some with better than expected outlook and still a bit more cautious going forward. Are they sustainable?. I'm not sure at this time. At least, the market sentiments are much better than last two weeks, some people were nervous because if financials aren't showing any signs of at least we're at the bottom.. the depressions are there. Wall Street hits the 3 month high with DJ hitting 8131.

For long, I'm not into Financials but into emerging markets like China and Brazil (iShares) which I believe will definitely has more even more growth opportunities given how their economies were standing up especially during this global recessional period. Hopefully, we'll continue to hear more good news from those regions as their govt are prepping to release their GDP data.

This post has been edited by danmooncake: Apr 18 2009, 09:41 PM

Yup, agreed with this. BRIC countries will be first countries rebound from economy crisis especially China.
The economy stimulus plan that announced/executed since last Nov been taking its momentum to boost its economy although first quarter GDP not that good enough. Nonetheless, i believe its second quarter will have some improvement there.
Well, personally FXI is my best choice as it invest in top 25 most biggest / liquid companies in China

Yes, FXI is the best play for China now if one cannot pick individual Chinese stock.

Speaking of individual stock, one Chinese tech company that I wished I have loaded up more is Baidu.
Baidu is the Google of China and has been number one since the beginning. I don't think Google is going to take
their market share in China anytime soon, and Baidu seems unstoppable now.

Hi guys...

I open Sogo trade account already,but they ask me to send signature form to them, can i TT $$ to them 1st b4 i send the signature form?

anybody using sogo trade?

sogo trade? have not heard before. why don't you open a U.S. brokerage account directly with the broker in U.S.? If you use 3rd party brokers, you will be charged a hefty commission rate
You can try www.interactivebrokers.com they have an Asian hub in HK.
You can use that broker to trade U.S. stocks, ETF and options

What sogo trade? Does it have SPIC protection? or any US government guarantees?
Totally agreed, why need to open 3rd party brokers here given that we can open US account directly using Internet connection

This post has been edited by dreams_achiever: Apr 20 2009, 07:07 PM

Big News for Tech Stocks - Oracle (ORCL) Buying Sun Microsystems (JAVA).

Sun Microsystems popped up 35%.

Rumor is, IBM failed to buy Sun earlier may re-offer higher price.

This post has been edited by danmooncake: Apr 20 2009, 09:34 PM