FAQ - Trade US

Singapore | Malaysia | Hong Kong | US

1.	What are the exchanges that I can trade in the US market?

2.	What are the trading hours of the US market?

3.	What are the trading hours in our time zone?

4.	Who can I contact if I need assistance during the US trading sessions?

5.	Can I place an order for the next trading day when the market is closed?

6.	What are the non-trading days for the year 2011?

7.	What are ticker symbols?

8.	What are suffix letters?

9.	What types of orders are available?

10.	What kinds of fill types are available?

11.	What kinds of validity types are available?

12.	What are the bid sizes for US shares?

13.	If I am currently holding on to US shares, can I sell them through the Internet Trading Platform?

14.	How do I transfer my existing US shares to UOBKH online account?

15.	How long will the transfer take?

16.	What are the custodian charges?

17.	What is the American Depositary Receipt (ADR) custodial fee?

18.	What are the charges for the transfer of shares?

19.	Is there a limit on the value of shares I can trade electronically?

20.	How can I adjust my trading limit?

21.	What is the minimum number of shares I can place per order?

22.	What is the maximum number of shares I can place per order?

23.	What orders are not represented in the market?

24.	How can I check my order status?

25.	Why is my order rejected?

26.	Can I short-sell?

27.	Can I do contra trades?

28.	What is Cancel Replace?

29.	How do I know that my orders are filled?

30.	What happens to my orders that are not done by the end of the trading day?

31.	How do I lodge a dispute with regards to my trades?

32.	How can I find out more about how the US markets function?

What are the exchanges that I can trade in the US market?

You can trade shares listed on the NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX.

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What are the trading hours of the US market?

The US market operates from Monday to Friday (except on Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays) from 9.30a.m. to 4.00p.m. There is no mid-day break.

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What are the trading hours in our time zone?

As US is 13 hours behind Singapore, the trading hours in Singapore time is from 10.30p.m. to 5.00a.m.

Note: To adjust for Daylight Saving Time, the US market hours will move 1 hour forward from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November. During this period, the trading hours in local time (Singapore) is from 9.30pm - 4.00am.

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Who can I contact if I need assistance during the US trading sessions?

Our Client Services operate from 10pm to 5am (9pm to 4am during Daylight Saving Time) to provide support for US Electronic Trading. You can contact our Client Services at +65 6536 9338 for assistance on resetting your password and other queries.

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Can I place an order for the next trading day when the market is closed?

Yes. Orders received between 4.00pm and 4.01pm US EST/EDT, and after 5.00pm US EST/EDT, will be sent to the exchanges when the market opens the next trading day.

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What are the non-trading days for the year 2011?


	Year 2011
	Martin Luther King, Jr. Day		17 January 2011
	Washington's Birthday/Presidents' Day		21 February 2011
	Good Friday		22 April 2011
	Memorial Day		30 May 2011
	Independence Day		4 July 2011
	Labor Day		5 September 2011
	Thanksgiving Day		24 November 2011
	Christmas Day		26 December 2011

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What are ticker symbols?

In the US market, ticker symbols are used to uniquely identify stock names.

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What are suffix letters?

Ticker symbols are modified with suffix letters indicating the status of the stock. In some cases, it includes corporate actions or other aspects unique to the trading of the stock.

View list of commonly used suffix letters


	Q:	Bankruptcy reorganisation issue.

	E:	Issue with deficient or late filing with the SEC.

	SP (Special):	Indicates that some unusual condition exists for the security.

	RT (Rights):	Represents the privilege to subscribe, in proportion to the number of shares owned, to new or additional stocks, usually at the market price. Rights have their own market value and can be actively traded.

	WI (When Issued):	Indicates a transaction in a stock authorised for issuance, but not yet actually issued. The transactions are on an “if” basis, to be settled if and when the actual stock is issued.

	WD (When Distributed):	Indicates a transaction in a stock authorised for distribution, but not yet actually distributed. The transactions are on an “if” basis, to be settled if and when the actual stock is distributed.

	WS (Warrant):	Giving its holder the right to purchase stocks at a specific price, either within a given time period or perpetually.

	CL (Called):	An issue being redeemed by issuing corporation under definite conditions before maturity.

	CV (Convertible):	A preferred share which its owner may convert into common stock (usually of the same company), in accordance with the terms of the issue.

	PR:	Preferred class of stock with priority over common stock with regard to earnings and/or liquidations. It may be followed by a class definer suffix, i.e. PRA (Preferred Class A).

For corporate actions such as stock splits and reverse stock splits, clients are advised to wait for their share holdings to be adjusted before selling the shares. UOBKH does not guarantee the timeliness of corporate actions or changes to clients’ share holdings due to corporate actions.

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What types of orders are available?

Limit Order
A limit order having a price equal to the best opposite orders will match with opposite orders at the best price queue residing in the system, one by one according to time priority.

Stop Limit Order
A stop limit order has two price components specified-the activation price and the limit price. When the stock reaches the activation price, or trades through it, the order converts to a limit order and is executed at the limit (or better, if available.)

View examples of how the Stop Limit Orders work

Sell Market Order
A Sell Market Order is an order for immediate execution to sell, at the best available price when the order reaches the marketplace. A market order guarantees execution but not price.

View example of how the Sell Market Order works

Sell OTC (Over-The-Counter) Order
A Sell OTC Order is only offered to those who have stocks bought through UOBKH and subsequently traded on OTC.

View example of how the Sell OTC works

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What kinds of fill types are available?

ANY
Any fill type allows your order to be filled in different quantities.

View example of how the ANY fill type work

You placed an order to buy 3,000 LU shares at $1.63 LIMIT. Your order may be filled in the following to complete your order:

1,000 at $1.63
500 at $1.63
400 at $1.63
200 at $1.63
900 at $1.63

With ANY fill, orders may be partially executed if there is not enough liquidity or if the market moves away from your limit price.

AON (All or nothing)
AON fill type allows your order to be filled in entirety or nothing at all. It indicates that you do not wish to complete a portion of your trade if all the shares are not available.

Note:

(1) ANY fill type takes priority over AON fill type.

(2) AON orders are only accepted for NYSE- and NASDAQ-listed stocks.

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What kind of validity are available?

DAY
Day orders are only valid for the trading day the orders are placed. They will automatically lapse when not executed by the end of the trading day.

GTC orders are no longer available from 14 March 2008.

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What are the bid sizes for US shares?


	Order Price		Bid Size
	Less than US$1		US$0.0001
	More than US$1		US$0.01

Although there is no consistently stipulated maximum number of bids for the US markets, please note that order prices too far off market prices may be rejected.

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If I am currently holding on to US shares, can I sell them through the Internet Trading Platform?

Yes, however please ensure that your US shares are in your UOBKH online account before selling them through the Electronic Trading platform.

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How do I transfer my existing US shares to UOBKH online account?

Complete the Transfer of US Shares forms and mail it back to us. For more information, please contact our Custody and Nominees Department at +65 6590 6511.

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How long will the transfer take?

The transfer will take 3 – 5 working days.

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What are the custodian charges?

The monthly custodian charge is S$2.00 + GST per counter (subject to a maximum charge of $200.00 + GST per account per quarter). This charge will be waived if you have traded at least six times per account per quarter, or at least two times per account per month, regardless of the value of the trades.

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What is the American Depositary Receipt (ADR) custodial fee?

Agents for American Depositary Receipt (ADR) issues for the imposition of a custodial fee to holders, to be collected by the ADR agent.

The usual practice is for the ADR agent to deduct the custodial fee from the gross dividend payable to the ADR holders.

In turn, we will deduct these ADR fees from dividends due to clients or otherwise a debit advice will be sent to clients seeking their payment. Rate applied will be approximately USD0.02 per ADR.

The ADR custodial fees is imposed by DTC and is irrevocable and not subject to waiver.

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What are the charges for the transfer of shares?


	Transfer Type		Fees Payable
	Offline to/from Online within UOB Kay Hian		US$10.00 (S$15.00)
	UOB Kay Hian to other custodians		S$50.00 + GST + US$10.00

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Is there a limit on the value of shares I can trade electronically?

Yes, you can trade electronically as long as there is sufficient trading limit in your trading account. The trading limit for your buy and sell trades is recommended by your Trading Representative when you open a trading account.

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How can I adjust my trading limit?

Please contact your Trading Representative for assistance.

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What is the minimum number of shares I can place per order?

The minimum number of shares you can place in an order is one share. You should key in the quantity in terms of number of shares. For example, if you would like to buy 10,000 shares, you should key in 10000 instead of 10 or 10,000.

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What is the maximum number of shares I can place per order?

There is no limit to the number of shares you can place for NYSE and NASDAQ listed stocks. For stocks listed on AMEX, the maximum number of shares you can place on AMEX must be less than 100,000. You should key in the quantity in terms of number of shares. For example, if you would like to buy 10,000 shares, you should key in 10000 instead of 10 or 10,000.

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What orders are not represented in the market?

Due to an exemption from SEC Rule 605, the following types of orders are not represented in the market:

Orders of quantities 10,000 shares or greater
AON orders
Where unfilled quantities of orders are not in multiples of 100, the portions of which are less than 100

Execution is not guaranteed for such orders. If and when such orders are executed, they may not be disclosed to the market.

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How can I check my order status?

You can check the status of the order under the ‘Status’ column in the Order Book.

The Status Legend can be found near the bottom of the Order Book.


Status	Description	Status	Description
E	Executed Order	R	Refused by the server
W	Waiting for Execution	B	Waiting to be Sent
A	Waiting for Cancellation	P	Partially Executed Order
C	Cancelled Order	G	Waiting for Cancel Replace
		Q	Cancel Request Rejected

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Why is my order rejected?

Click on the Order Ref link or contact Client Services for assistance.

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Can I short-sell?

No, your sell orders will only be accepted if you have the share holdings in your UOBKH online account. Please verify your actual stock holdings with your Trading Representative.

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Can I do contra trades?

Contra is only allowed for intraday trades (same US trading day). US shares must be fully paid for if they are not sold within the same US trading day.

However, for clients' convenience, we will set off your sell trades against your buy trades if these sell trades are executed by T+3 of the buy trades.

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What is Cancel Replace?

Cancel replace is a function that cancels the existing order and replaces it with a new one while maintaining the same order reference number.

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How do I know that my orders are filled?

Orders that are filled will reflect the status “E” in the Order Book. Orders that are partially filled will reflect the status “P” in the Order Book.

You will also receive an email trade confirmation informing you of the date, action (buy/sell), quantity done and executed price. Please note that depending on your email providers, emails may sometimes get filtered to the ‘Junk’ box. You will be required to change the settings of your email service to address this.

What happens to my orders that are not done by the end of the trading day?

All orders will automatically expire when they are not filled by the end of the trading day. The Order Book will reflect the status “C”. You will need to re-enter the order if you want to place the orders for the next trading day.

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How do I lodge a dispute with regards to my trades?

Clients can lodge their disputes by sending an email to cs@uobkayhian.com or call +65 6536 9338 during operating hours to speak with our Client Services Officers.

Please take note that a processing fee of S$100 is chargeable per dispute before any investigation can begin, if the dispute is lodged more than 2 weeks from the trade date. If the investigation reveals that UOB Kay Hian is liable for the dispute, this processing fee will be refunded to the client.

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How can I find out more about how the US markets function?

For more information about the US markets, please refer to the SEC, FINRA and Investopedia websites

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