Of the six markets (Canada, Hong Kong, France, Germany, Japan, and UK) currently included in the Global Trading, I am mainly interested in Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which gets the most listings of companies from mainland China. The main reason, of course, is the tremendous growth of Chinese stocks. It’s very tempting. Also I know many of the companies choosing to list their shares on HKSE, instead of NYSE or NASDAQ. I know their businesses and their positions in their industries in China. In fact I wish the service were available sooner so I could buy stocks from companies such as Industrial and Commercial Bank of China [ICBC], which is now the world’s largest bank by market capital, surpassing Citi Bank last month thanks to the booming Chinese stock market.

While the service seems to be exciting, the reality can cool off any idea of active trading as investing in any of these markets with E-Trade’s global trading platform isn’t cheap, though E-Trade claims it’s a “low-cost” service. According to the fee schedule, the cost per trade for stocks listed on HKSE is HK$299.00. At the current exchange rate of $1 = HK$7.82, the commission itself will cost investors nearly $40. Plus, E-Trade also charges a whole range of fees, including:

• Fed Call Extensions: $25
• Reorganizations: $20 for mandatory actions (e.g., mergers, reverse stock splits); $30 for voluntary actions (e.g., tender offers); $50 for actions reflected on physical certificates
• Restricted Securities Custody: $150
• Verification of Deposits (third parties): $20
• Worthless Securities Processing: $5
• Overnight Mail: $20
• Account Transfers (outgoing): $25 for partial transfers
• Stock Certificate Requests: $40 per certificate
• Wire Transfers: $0 incoming $25 outgoing
• Duplicate Account Statements or Tax Forms: $5 per statement

Since all transactions are made in local currencies, US investors will have to convert dollars into local money before trading any stocks. There’s another cost of $15 to $20 for each currency conversion.

Though I like the idea, the cost of trading is just too high. It’s impossible to trade in the same way as with US discount brokerages when each trading could cost me as much as $60. I have to think it through whether I want to get an account or not.