Australian/foreign stock markets

[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.

[Stocktrading101]

Hi Demen,

I would highly highly recommend you take a look into international ETFs. Are you familiar with Exchange Traded Funds as an investment vehicle? This would allow you to invest in say Brazil without having to literally buy into its stock market.

[StockJunkie]

agreed