Futures Brokers:
The problem is now on both sides of the border, and it seems to apply to all brokerage firms too. There are a couple of ways to get around it, and personally, if I were to look for a long term solution, the first one would be my choice, since I have used IB for over a year with excellent results.
1. Get a U.S. Taxpayer Identification Number from the IRS: irs.ustreas.gov Then, set yourself up with a post office box in the U.S. through Mailboxes, etc., or use a friend's home address in the U.S. Then, get yourself a U.S. phone number via JFAX at jfax.com and you're all set. This should get around all the problem. In terms of accounting, as far as I know, Canadians are only liable for U.S. tax on interest income earned, and of course, this does NOT include gains and losses, which are reportable only to Canadian Customs and Revenue Agency (old Revenue Canada).
2. I hear that Best Direct now has an office in Toronto. You should check out their web site and do some research if you wish to pursue this avenue.
I have given up on QCharts, and I am now using eSignal:
ispeculator.com
The eSignal 6.0 interface alone is not that great, but then again, I think accurate data is more important than a pretty face. It does all the basic things that anyone needs and is excellent bang for the buck.
If you need a more fancy interface, I personally use TradeStation 2000i, but would not recommend this to anyone unless they need to have custom color coded bars and fancy computations, which I need for my trading. Also, I have a proprietary swing trading system on my TS. I would also add that if you do not have a newer computer with 1/2 gig RAM, on Windows 2000, that you should upgrade. The instructions provided by Omega on how to set up your TS2000i are silly, at best. I have a shortcut that can get anyone set up in 1/2 hour or less...but you need to have some good computer skills. eSignal is my datafeed. Remember, all the data is stored on your computer, so if you do not have a reliable connection to the Net, you are in trouble. Also, there is a limit to how many symbols you can collect. As for the new TSPro, they don't have futures data yet, but caution that they receive their data from S&P Comstock, the same place as QFarts.
I am going to give MetaStock 7 Professional a try. This one uses eSignal datafeed, but the data is all stored on their servers, rather than your computer. I won't have comments on this product for a few weeks. If this program works as promised, it will be a "dream team" combo.
Teresa |
