If I signed up for Scottrade, someone describe how the trading proccess works

[TallBill]

To start off with, the only stock market work that I've done was back in high school playing a stock market game, but I have a fair idea about it.

Anyways Scottrade.com charges 7 per transaction, so I'm assuming that thats 7 dollars on both ends of the transaction? How does dividends work? Thanks ahead of time. Other suggestions for trading sites are welcome. I dont really want a monthly one because I dont know how much I'll be trading.

 

[TallBill]

oh come on. someones gotta trade online..

 

[tfinch2]

Should have asked this before you signed up...

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: TallBill
oh come on. someones gotta trade online..

Nope, not into gambling on individual stocks, I buy and hold mutual fund shares instead.

An Advanced Search of archived threads using "stock" "trade" "invest" will turn up a bunch of older trading threads.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Should have asked this before you signed up...

Your a fvcking moron. Or at least you were when you posted that.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons

Originally posted by: TallBill
oh come on. someones gotta trade online..

Nope, not into gambling on individual stocks, I buy and hold mutual fund shares instead.

An Advanced Search of archived threads using "stock" "trade" "invest" will turn up a bunch of older trading threads.

I searched through a bunch of those threads, and none answered my basic questions. And they have mutual funds on that individual site as well. Nowhere did I mention single stocks did I?

Everyone must be using their Jump To Conclusions Mat today..

 

[sygyzy]

Why are you being so negative TallBill?

Answers:

1. Commission is only on your side. Whoever is the other party deals with it themselves. So if you buy stocks that cost $100, you pay $107.
2. Dividends pay out as cash and sit in your account as such. You can also choose to reinvest dividends back into the fund. For example, you have a mutual fund in an IRA. The dividend will go back into buying more shares of it. Some companies always pay dividends. Some high, some low. Some never.
3.

 

[Yossarian]

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Should have asked this before you signed up...

Your a fvcking moron. Or at least you were when you posted that.

well, he's right.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: Yossarian

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Should have asked this before you signed up...

Your a fvcking moron. Or at least you were when you posted that.

well, he's right.

Your a moron too.. where did I ever say that I signed up?

sygyzy, thanks
That 7 dollar charge, is it also applied when I go to sell whatever stock?

 

[RedPickle]

Yes you also get assessed the charge if/when you sell the stock

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: RedPickle
Yes you also get assessed the charge if/when you sell the stock

Ok, I figured that, just wanted to make sure. Thanks!

 

[SP33Demon]

Scott is the best by far. Just remember, if you put a stop loss limit order it is NOT guaranteed to be executed

 

[Yossarian]

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: Yossarian

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Should have asked this before you signed up...

Your a fvcking moron. Or at least you were when you posted that.

well, he's right.

Your a moron too.. where did I ever say that I signed up?

sygyzy, thanks
That 7 dollar charge, is it also applied when I go to sell whatever stock?

it's implied in your title. calm the fvck down.

 

[TallBill]

Since when is "If" an implied thought?? And I'm not calming down for at least a month, so deal with it.

 

[sygyzy]

Tallbill - You pay $7 immediately when you do a buy or sell. You are lucky they changed their rates because before, the limit orders cost more than market. Now I believe they are all flat $7. At least that's what a quick look at the website tells me. I have a small account there so I don't really keep up with things.

 

[DaveSimmons]

ScottTrade isn't the best place to invest in mutual funds. If you decide to buy and hold instead of doing the market timing, www.Vanguard.com would let you buy and hold some of the best, most recommended mutual funds like VFINX (S&P 500 index fund) while paying $0 to buy the shares. The shares can be (and should be) set up for automatic dividend reinvestment.

If you put at least $5K into your account there, or set up a direct bank withdrawal for some amount (I forget what) you can also avoid paying any account maintenance fees.

It's more exciting for many people to try to time the market to buy and sell stocks and earn a higher return than an S&P500 index fund, but over time most of those people do worse. It's also a lot more work than to just buy and hold.

 

[Dacalo]

Yes, like everyone said $7 to sell/buy. As far as dividend goes, you will earn it as cash into your account or you can choose to DRIP to invest further for that particular stock. However, I noticed that Scottrade currently does not offer DRIP (I did DRIP with Etrade however).

As far was ease of use, Etrade beats Scottrade hands down. Etrade also has much more information and faster response time. If you trade every once in a while, you can't go wrong with Scottrade (even if you trade often $7 is much cheaper than $ 19.99 to buy and $14.99 to sell Etrade charges).