Trade with CAD account is the most common way to buy US stocks. Broker charge on conversion is included in real-time exchange rate./ w% G+ m2 X9 ^
Your second way is weird. Especially the charge $5/day, never heard of it. 9 T! z+ F5 ?" X! u! h7 h8 q; F; eUnless u already have USD, either way has little difference (u need to exchange CAD to USD in either way) 5 `0 M6 Q2 t6 B; v4 v* G5 LWhich broker are u using?
i'm using questrade too. V6 \) A/ ?7 E7 GI am sure there is no such $5 per transaction or per day fee, u may wanna check it again. + l% v( v. j) w8 ?* ~) H. e 5 |+ {/ w$ R' B n* u( k6 yI have both CAD and USD account when I open the questrade. ) `! x; e/ z; ^& b- m2 D4 z1 bI 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. 8 B! y0 a: |1 Q2 t! J6 j$ B/ a. A/ ?' y& x; e. g5 Z
Keep in mind that transaction cost is in the same currency of stock u buy/sell.