can we buy stocks while on H1b

[BATHIJA]

i mean trade in the US stock exchange  by buying and selling stocks ?

will this cause issue in any way in the future ?

[JoeF]

Casual stock trading is no problem.

You can't do day trading and the like, though

[bhalc]

Yes you can but don't make this as your primary source of income...like Joe said causal trading is OK.

[sapen]

You can't do day trading and the like, though

Why no day trading? Is there any law for this?

[JoeF]

Why no day trading? Is there any law for this?

Because that's considered work, and on H1, you can only work for your employer.

[sapen]

casual trading requires buying and selling too. Is that not considered as work? interesting...

[JoeF]

casual trading requires buying and selling too. Is that not considered as work? interesting...

The simple act of buying or selling things isn't work. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to buy a car, and sell it a few years later, for example.

Buying with the intent of selling it a short time later, which is what day trading is, is a business, i.e., work. Hence, such stuff is not allowed on H1. That would also apply for things like buying stuff wholesale and then turning around and selling the items again, e.g., on eBay. The same thing, casual buying stuff on eBay and selling your used items is not a problem.

The only problem is when it becomes a business, i.e., work.

You are working for your employer, which means you can't even do things like day trading... Lunch breaks aren't enough to do that kind of thing.

So, the bottom line: anything that has the characteristics of work can not be done on H1, unless it is for the H1 employer.

[xfitter]

This is regarding day trading, not just buying and selling stocks.

 

http://forum.murthy.com/index.php?/topic/55759-is-day-trading-legal-or-illegal-on-h1b-status/?hl=trading

 

On Page 2, refer the post from Attorney_23.

[sapen]

 Lunch breaks aren't enough to do that kind of thing.

 

But what if you do it on your vacation.  Just think about it..having a laptop in front of you at a beach with the hotel right behind you and having access to wi-fi and you are on vacation for a couple of weeks. so having your legs spread on the beach chair with a can of beer next to you and a laptop under the shelter umbrella and with no work to do. Do you think its ok to do day trading?

[cap-gap]

But what if you do it on your vacation.  Just think about it..having a laptop in front of you at a beach with the hotel right behind you and having access to wi-fi and you are on vacation for a couple of weeks. so having your legs spread on the beach chair with a can of beer next to you and a laptop under the shelter umbrella and with no work to do. Do you think its ok to do day trading?

a single or couple of trades carried out during "day light" do not qualify for day trading..

 

the SEC and IRS has defs for day trading..from it, it is very easy to deduct that CIS may consider day trading as work..

 

it is hard to argue that the effort involved in daytrading is minimal..I'm not talking about the hitting the trade button on brokerage website, but I'm talking about the research efforts involved in reading the trends of several stocks prior to hitting that trade execution button.

An actual active "day trader" would not even argue about this fact..

[cap-gap]

it is  tiresome to educate wanna be warren buffets about day trade but here you go...

 

http://www.sec.gov/answers/daytrading.htm

Day traders rapidly buy and sell stocks throughout the day in the hope that their stocks will continue climbing or falling in value for the seconds to minutes they own the stock, allowing them to lock in quick profits.

 

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc429.html

Traders

• Your activity must be substantial, and
• You must carry on the activity with continuity and regularity
• You must seek to profit from daily market movements
•  
• If the nature of your trading activities does not qualify as a business, you are considered an investor, and not a trader. It does not matter whether you call yourself a trader or a “day trader,” you are an investor.

 

So bottom line..if you go buy 10k of stock of Face book, tomorrow at 10 AM and wanna be a millionaire in two years, that makes you a day dreamer not day trader! Nothing illegal about it.

[JoeF]

it is  tiresome to educate wanna be warren buffets about day trade

LOL. Indeed.

It's known that most day traders don't make any profits over time. There may be a short-term winning streak, and then it's over and all the money is lost.

And nowadays, you'd be fighting robo traders...