Hey Scout,

IMO they're not telling you the whole scoop at Scottrade. Sounds to me that they've simply changed the symbols to reflect that your buying is coming from the US and not Canada, nothing more.

From what the Global desk at Schwab has told me more than once, ECU shares are no different if bought through a US broker or a Canadian one. The cusip numbers are the same. The US bought shares carry a different symbol to identify locale, as would those bought in Europe carry a different symbol.

When I buy through Schwab using ECUXF, the order is sent immediately to a cooperating broker on the TSE who executes the trade on the TSE for them, not through some US network of pink sheet brokers. The Canadian broker gets 1/2 penny per share for doing so. The trades are usually within seconds. The shares are then credited to me using ECUXF to identify US origin and carry the same cusip number as if I had bought them directly through a Canadian broker as a Canadian citizen. Same stock, different symbol. The number of shares bought or sold is added to the daily ECUXF total indicating nothing more. I believe that number is included in the total shares traded daily in ECU.

Schwab also told me that if you buy from a pink sheet broker here in the states, you are buying either from their inventory which they've already bought on the TSE or from shares they borrow from a friendly pink sheet broker or by naked shorting the stock to you and buying it on the TSE at a profit to cover. A few may actually have direct access to the TSE but there's no telling how they're used. And buying from these guys during a Canadian holiday is when you most likely will get hosed, imo.

The point is that the ECUXF shares are not different shares that trade only in the US.

Scottrade is big enough that they should be able to show on their screens the current price of ECU in US dollars as Schwab does or at least quote you that figure and forward the trade directly to a participating broker in Canada. It should be done in seconds. Your shares would be labeled ECUXF.

I don't think you will be hurt in this at all. Find out how Scottrade trades ECU. If you are buying out of or selling into their inventory, you may want to look for a more up-to-date broker elsewhere. IMO, of course.