Trade with CAD account is the most common way to buy US stocks. Broker charge on conversion is included in real-time exchange rate. 1 V4 j' S- B! }: D/ B. u7 ^Your second way is weird. Especially the charge $5/day, never heard of it. 7 M# M( r; g1 M# ?+ hUnless u already have USD, either way has little difference (u need to exchange CAD to USD in either way) / _- A: X8 L9 x+ z! ^Which broker are u using?
i'm using questrade too.+ G, M4 C8 |+ V9 `6 S
I am sure there is no such $5 per transaction or per day fee, u may wanna check it again. / l4 X F; O1 d+ T4 B 7 [ D' H; C3 [' t( w6 ?- mI have both CAD and USD account when I open the questrade. * p2 l& `/ H8 [8 NI trade US stocks a lot. What I do is to exchange enough USD at the first place, and trade directly in that US account. I don't think Questrade can do the 1st way u described, but i maybe wrong.3 d# E* L8 c) M) D( Z$ q
: q9 ~* `0 @. b( TKeep in mind that transaction cost is in the same currency of stock u buy/sell.