Best online broker question



Advanced Search Essentials Popular Topics My Favorite Forums Join Discuss to setup a list of your favorite forums.		Discuss > Forums > Shop Talk > Best online broker question All Posts Forums Blogs Sharing Topics Join Best online broker question LA-ron 07-18-2008, 10:05 AM \| Post #2540678 \| 2 Replies Good morning everyone. I was wondering what everyone's opinion or thoughts were on the best online broker. I am 32 and my wife and I have funded Roth IRAs for the last 6 years as well as our retirement at work. We also have additional money set aside in various mutual funds. I would like to take a little money and just try my hand at stock picking. It would be a small amount (< $5,000 or about 1% of our portfolio) to just play around and I would guess about 10 trades a month. The $5,000 would not be a big part of our portfolio and if I lost it all would be no big deal. I would consider it a life lesson learned and just stick to mutual funds. I have done my own homework but would also very much appreicate any other input. Thanks Reply Quote Favorites Flag Contact Print Thread Re: Best online broker question HappyT90 07-18-2008, 11:37 AM \| PostID #2540713 Zecco gives 10 trades a month as long as you invest more than $2,500. However, I probably wouldn't recommend them to you because they have a very complicated interface that is definitely not for beginner investors. I personally use Firstrade. They're $6.95 per trade, definitely more expensive than Zecco, but still cheaper than big name discount brokers like Scottrade. I've used Firstrade for a couple years now and I am very happy with them. I'd definitely recommend Firstrade. Reply Quote Favorites Flag Contact Re: Best online broker question RatonBob 07-19-2008, 5:37 PM \| PostID #2541148 I chose Firstrade for a similar purpose, to buy/sell individual stocks of interest outside of my IRA. At the time they were, or almost were, the very lowest price. $6.95 trade commissions, no minimum balances, no min to start an account, no min trades, and no account fees. It wasn't a difficult system to learn and I've had no significant problems; there have been zero surprises or hidden fees. The only minor glitch was learning how to sign up for reinvesting dividends. There are some new brokerages around today with lower commissions that might be worth investigating. KingTrade, for example. A bit OT, but I also chose Firstrade for The Boy's ESA account. The reason, the initial mutual funds I was interested in happened to be NTF at Firstrade. Reply Quote Favorites Flag Contact Top