Trade with CAD account is the most common way to buy US stocks. Broker charge on conversion is included in real-time exchange rate. ; }: ?& x" _; u" I6 s" eYour second way is weird. Especially the charge $5/day, never heard of it. 1 {4 {8 G# F+ G J* d1 ~
Unless u already have USD, either way has little difference (u need to exchange CAD to USD in either way) o( w: C0 o; f" B
Which broker are u using?
i'm using questrade too. 0 D8 J; l# |3 {6 X7 W( ~& m$ gI am sure there is no such $5 per transaction or per day fee, u may wanna check it again./ A8 [2 A/ H! ~, K4 b2 I4 C i
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I have both CAD and USD account when I open the questrade.0 N9 ?- k9 r5 h" H" Q. a
I trade US stocks a lot. What I do is to exchange enough USD at the first place, and trade directly in that US account. I don't think Questrade can do the 1st way u described, but i maybe wrong. ! ~# C8 i' G. F# h6 B& x3 w5 K1 `! u4 X1 M
Keep in mind that transaction cost is in the same currency of stock u buy/sell.