Best site for a beginning investor?

[MrsBugi]

I've never played the stock market before and have been strongly encouraged to try since the 0.0something% interest from my savings account isn't even coming close to beating inflation.

I'm nervous but think investing in the market might be best in the long-run... By no means do I intend to do any day trading.

That being said, which online trading site would you recommend over others?

Etrade, Ameritrade, TradeKing, OptionsHouse, ScottTrade, etc.?

 

[FoBoT]

learn first
http://fool.com
use mutual funds before buying individual stocks
don't dump in a lump sum, that is, don't take your entire savings out and buy into the stock market in one purchase
use dollar cost averaging
http://wiki.fool.com/Dollar-cost_averaging
or
use Value averaging
http://money.cnn.com/2003/09/12/pf/expert/ask_expert/index.htm
good luck

 

[Net]

after you decide on a site to sign up on, search google for promotional offers.

new sign ups usually get cash or free trades to sign up.

 

[nanobreath]

I've never played the stock market before and have been strongly encouraged to try since the 0.0something% interest from my savings account isn't even coming close to beating inflation.

I'm nervous but think investing in the market might be best in the long-run... By no means do I intend to do any day trading.

That being said, which online trading site would you recommend over others?

Etrade, Ameritrade, TradeKing, OptionsHouse, ScottTrade, etc.?

Vanguard.com

Max out your IRA investments first. Then when you have some money left, just put them in some mutual funds. For the average person, this will be way more effective than trying to buy individual stocks.

In the meantime if you really want to invest in actual stocks and "play" the stockmarket do a LOT of reading. Like real books and investment magazines etc.

 

[JTsyo]

From what I've heard, getting a mix on index fund EFTs saves money over mutual funds. Something to consider when choosing a site is to see if they offer free help. That way you could run your ideas by someone before you buy. Also check with your bank, I have Wells Fargo and when I opened a brokerage account they give me 100 free trades a year.