STOCK RESEARCH
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INTERNATIONAL INVESTING

US and Canadian exchanges are on our North American Stocks Page.
Find the emerging markets divisions of worldwide exchanges at Microcap Leaders.

US BROKERS OFFERING GLOBAL TRADING

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Today, most full-service brokers should be able to get stocks for you which are traded only on foreign exchanges. Fees involved may be higher than trading in US stocks. Some brokers are soliciting this kind of trade. We have found a few:

E-Trade.
They have launched their online global trading center with Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
NobleTrading.
Global online trading at your fingertips.
Interactive Brokers.
The professional's gateway to the world's markets.
Euro Pacific Capital.
The international investment specialists.
Charles Schwab
"You can be assured of quality execution of your non-U.S. orders at the best available prices."
Marquette de Bary
"Unlike many brokers, we do not charge a premium commission on transactions in foreign securities."
Merrill Lynch
"Utilising the global reach of the foreign exchange business, Merrill Lynch offers foreign exchange products designed to meet your trading and investment needs, including spot and forward transactions, hedges for currency risk, structured products, such as notes, warrants and deposits, and over-the-counter currency options."

The world is certainly changing quickly! In an article in Money and Markets Peter Schiff, President of Euro Pacific Capital said,

"When asked about foreign exchanges, most American stock brokers will offer guarded appreciation while warning of loose financial controls and political, economic, and currency risks. And even if your broker does offer access to foreign stocks, it's likely that they trade through domestic market makers. Typically, these middle men pocket the difference between the bid and offer prices on the thinly-traded U.S. over-the-counter markets. Sometimes the spreads are really wide — as much as 10%! In most cases, investors don't even realize just how much of their money winds up in the pocket of market makers. To avoid these extra costs, seek brokers that have relationships with on-the-ground traders in Sydney, Auckland, Toronto, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, and more. By executing orders directly on foreign exchanges, they can cut out the market maker, and pass the savings on to the customers. Sure, they charge a trading commission, but the net charge is substantially less than going through a market maker. The advantage: You'll be able to buy the kinds of foreign stocks that aren't typically included in global mutual funds or traded on U.S. exchanges as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs)."

INFORMATION ON ADRs:

List of ADR's at Bank of New York site
ADR.com
See chart at right. BLDRS Emerging Markets 50 ADR Index Fund (ADRD) is a unit investment trust designed to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the publicly traded depositary receipts comprising The Bank of New York Emerging Markets 50 ADR Index. S & P's Global 100 Index ETF (IOO) and the MSCI EAFE Index Fund (EFA) have been following the same, general pattern as the ADRD.

INFORMATION ON ETFs:

The easiest way for Americans to start investing globally is to invest in the burgeoning number of foreign ETFs. You can find an ETF for many countries, regions and economic sectors. MSN Money has a list of all ETFs, including foreign ones. Stock-Encylopedia has a list of global ETFs.

STOCK EXCHANGES & NATIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION CENTERS

After the listing of stock exchanges & related servers (organzied by geographic area) are the more general links to international investing, such as lists of ADRs, foreign market indexes and "The Economist's" websites. Following that is a list of brokerages which want your business in trading stocks internationally. Last are links to a related topic -- offshore business and banking.

Some of these links do not access well or take a long time. Please be patient.

INFORMATION FOR THOSE WISHING TO INVEST ACROSS NATIONAL BORDERS

The average U. S. investor will find it hard to invest successfully in foreign companies as an individual. It is hard enough to study the economy of our own country in order to invest wisely; keeping track of many countries is a real challenge! Not only may there be a language barrier, but it is difficult for an individual to keep track of the many investment laws and regulations. (An exception to this rule is Canada, which is relatively easy for U. S. investors to research.)

If you want to invest overseas, one solution is to choose a good international mutual fund. For links to sites giving you search engines to find such funds, go the the WSC Mutual Fund Page. Another solution is to invest in American Depository Receipts (ADRs). ADRs are foreign stocks traded on U. S. exchanges. (See ADR links at the top of this page.) This eliminates your regulatory problems and makes your research a bit easier.

PUBLICATIONS:

The Economist Magazine
London's "Financial Times"
If you're in the USA, the USA Site may give you better access.

LIBRARIES, DIRECTORIES, DATABANKS, and RESOURCES:

Wikipedia List
A great starting point.
WorldVest Base, Inc.
WorldVest Base provides access to the scanned annual reports on about 15,000 non-US companies and has a large database containing their financial data. It is available to individuals and professionals who wish to subscribe.
Company Annual Reports Online
Provides links to online annual reports for companies in a number of countries.
Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development
ISI Emerging Markets.
Data for emerging markets specialists. Specializing in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia, especially Poland, (as well as Asia & So. America) this firm provides financial, market and industy information on-line.
SKATE FN
Investor relations for a large number of Russian and Eastern European Companies
Intl. Assets Holding Company
Global online brokerage for the individual investor. Worldwide real time quotes for clients. Much free global trading info. for non-clients, too.
InterMoney
Much information on stock and bond markets around the world.
Stock City
Aimed at the global individual investor.
Bloomberg World Equity Indices
Summarizes how world markets are doing.
International Financial Company
Calculates stock indexes on numerous emerging stock markets and sells the information via bulletin board, publications, and licensing agreement.
CorporateInformation.com by Wright Investors' Service -- Has over 20,000 companies' profiles and 18,000 research reports for US and foreign companies. Most in English, but some in other languages.
Perfect Information
Data on companies worldwide, especially in the UK, Asia, Australia and Australaisia.
IR Asia
Investor Relations for Asian companies.
Corporate Information
Organized by country, provides links to business sites giving info. on both private and public companies worldwide.
The World Bank
A popular site.
Global Penny Stocks

COMMERCIAL AND GOVERNMENTAL SITES:

NOTE: In addition to the sites listed below, for banks in many countries look at our Banking and Credit Page.

MSCIBARRA - MSCI provides indexes for world markets, news, and more.
MiShares - iShares says it has the world's largest family of ETFs..
Global Money Consultants - an international law and investment consulting firm, specializing in international law, immigration and tax law.
Global Financial Data - Database covers over 80 countries.
INVESCO International investment management company.
Money Garden
NYC based Interbank currency exchange market clearing house. Your window into the Forex spot currency market.
CIA World Factbook
No data on securities, but lots of general information on countries worldwide.

STOCKBROKERAGES TRADING INTERNATIONALLY

This will be a rapidly-growing list. Additional ones are found above, in the Exchanges section, in cases where the brokerage is giving you information on stocks via the Internet.

INFORMATION ON OFFSHORE BUSINESS AND BANKING

For more links to banks, internationally, go to the WSC Banking and Credit Page.

Thales Securities (in Panama)
Interface Management Ltd.
Offshore Financial Center (menu in English, German, Spanish, French and Italian.
Offshore Investment Magazine
Offshore World
Cyber-Port for Offshore Business and Finance.
Northern Bank in the Isle of Man offers Offshore and Expatriate Services.
Anguilla - Offshore and Online
All About Belize
Guernsey Financial Services Commission
Jersey Financial Services Commission