Trade with CAD account is the most common way to buy US stocks. Broker charge on conversion is included in real-time exchange rate. 9 F! a9 ]8 N" Q0 ?% jYour second way is weird. Especially the charge $5/day, never heard of it. - p; w% H0 r* c+ Q; A
Unless u already have USD, either way has little difference (u need to exchange CAD to USD in either way) $ ^: b/ {; y) y$ R$ JWhich broker are u using?
i'm using questrade too. " z$ a# A/ U F: F2 C$ cI am sure there is no such $5 per transaction or per day fee, u may wanna check it again. . }/ i6 X: I; n$ \) _9 ?% t$ q4 O6 R4 h @
I have both CAD and USD account when I open the questrade.2 Y, M5 s- S! D! T
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.6 l6 R8 k% X$ O: n* S
3 F. w; x* j& G# B! W6 zKeep in mind that transaction cost is in the same currency of stock u buy/sell.