Online Stock Brokers

[d4mo]

I would like to get into the stock market, and I was curious what you guys use for online brokers. From the little bit of looking around i've done, Scottrade seems to be the best deal.

From what I see it's $7 a trade. And is this correct, as long as you have stocks purchased through them, you can use their tickers and what not for free?

 

[Cheesetogo]

I've heard that scotttrade has some extra restrictions and such, although I'm not really sure what they are exactly. Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

[Superrock]

Etrade sucks. They charged me a monthly fee without telling me about it.

 

[d4mo]

Anyone else?

 

[ppdes]

Zecco is 10 free per month and 4.50$ past that provided you have some minimal amount. I've used them about a year without any problems.

 

[gotsmack]

It really depends on what you are looking for in a broker. I use Fidelity and TD Ameritrade, because I want 24 hour customer service (I tend to be up at 2am). As soon as my account at Fidelity is established long enough for me to get level 2 options I'm dumping TD Ameritrade. Schwab is good too, about the same as Fidelity.

If you want cheap with some services use tradeking.com or optionshouse.com


If you're a little experienced and want cheap + a good selection of products then use optionsxpress.com, or mbtrading.com/. High volume traders should also look into interactivebrokers.com

 

[edro]

Sharebuilder was just purchased by ING.
I signed up for an account, but haven't transferred any funds yet.

Their pricing structure is pretty cheap as well, with no minimums.

Sharebuilder Pricing
Baiscally $9.95 per buy + $5 if you transfer funds immediately from an external account.
All of the $7/trade places have minimums and usually monthly fees.

 

[LuckyTaxi]

I use sharebuilder and i love it. No mnimums and transferring money to/from sharebuilder is a breeze. I did a transfer late one afternoon and my money was available the next business day before the market open.
Yea $9 is a lot compare to zecco and tradeking but i trust them more than I would with the the other 2.

 

[DaWhim]

I have 3 discount broker accounts

tradeking = $5 a trade. my first online trading account. they give me $100 for opening an account with them.
ameritrade = $10 a trade. very good customer service, I have a money market account with them.
sogotrade = $3 a trade. They give me 25 free trade when I opened my account with $2500.

you get what you pay for. I am moving my money to sogotrade. it is the cheapest.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Thanks for the info everyone.
I am looking to open an account for my daughter. I figure I can buy her some stocks instead of letting her money sit in a savings account. She is only 3 months old, so in 18 years I am hoping some wise stock investments will pay off far more than having let the cash sit in a 4% savings account.

 

[imported_Lothar]

Scottrade
Bank of America (if you own a checking account with them). Wells Fargo will also work here.

That's all you need for stocks/options. Nothing more, nothing less.
Those $3/trade discount traders have maintenance fees and many other hidden fees attached that make them not worth it.

I don't trust Zecco enough yet.

 

[alien42]

i am an active investor/trader and overall am happy with TDAmeritrade.

the online broker you choose should be guided towards the type of trading/investing that you do and the tools you are looking for.

 

[gotsmack]

http://tdameritrade.com/offer/...dameritrade.com%2F7%2F

Even if you have an existing account, just call up and threaten to move your account if they don't give you $7 trades. You'll get $8 if you're a regular account holder and $7 if you're an Apex holder.

I don't really like Ameritrade because they have crap interest rates and don't accept direct deposit.

 

[lightstar]

i use firstrade. they're cheap (like $7/trade) & efficient with a nice simple online interface.