[Demen]

Hello. I've been a stock trader for about 2 and a half years. This year has really been my most active year.

I think I need help understanding how to accurately trade stock in foreign companies. The stock I have been trading is Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. It is a company based in Australia I believe, and, while I have had some success with it, I can never really know at what price my purchases and sales will go for. This gets a little frustrating since I might place a trade for a price that sometimes differs from the final price by as much as 10%.

Now, Australia is 18 hours ahead of my time zone, and they probably don't even really start their work day until 7 pm my time. Their own Australian stock market doesn't open until 7 pm I believe, while the US market has already closed at 4:30 pm. Is this the reason for the large flucuation? Am I really placing a trade that can only be processed during the American work day, but at an unknown price determined by the price of the stock at 7 pm my time, or when the Aussie market opens?

How do I conquer this disadvantage? Should I find a way to trade directly into the Australian stock market? What is the best way to do this? What disadvantages are there to doing this? If I used a somewhat reputable online trading service such as E-trade to trade in the Hong Kong market, which is more closely aligned to Australian time zones, would this, for the most part, solve my problems?

I greatly appreciate your time in reading this.