E-Trade to Roll Out Global Trading Platform

E-Trade Financial has announced that it plans on rolling out a new global trading platform that will allow investors to buy and sell stocks in up to seven different countries with account balances being denominated in local currencies. Investors will have the choice to hedge back to the U.S. dollar (something that is extremely important for risk management.) This means that you might actually be able to buy shares of a British bank in an account holding British pounds as the currency; a major shift in the investing landscape!

There are a lot of dangers if you don't know what you're doing. Check out The Dangers of Investing in Foreign Bonds for just one example that an investor could face when accessing a global trading platform without training an experience. Although definitely not an area for the inexperienced, it's very, very exciting for those who are familiar with global accounting standards and legal structures.