Which online broker do you use?

Question

I think I have a list of online brokers that I am looking in to, but would also like some input.
- TD ameritrade ( higher commission that scott but the penny stocks has me worried)
- etrade ( Don't know much about)
- Scott Trade ( $7 flat commission)
- Sharebuilder ($4 if I invest only on Tuesdays with automatic investing.... could you give pros and cons of this as well)

I am thinking about opening a small account (probably to lose all or most as I learn with around $1,000 or $2,000 to start.) and was wondering which will give me the most help in learning as well as execution. I plan on trading stocks around $10 and under, maybe penny if I really feel like losing money :) Any advice would be GREAT.

I am looking at trading stocks, options, and maybe commodities. But to begin with I am most interested in stocks and stock options.

Answer 1

Whoever answers this question, will give you the broker that they have settled on and now use. But their criteria are different than yours, and you don't tell us what yours are.

Are you trading stocks, commodities, futures, options, or all of these? If the latter, TerraNova is the only one that you can trade everything, real time, online, direct access. A lot of online brokerages claim to give you direct access, but if they take more than a second to execute your trade, it aint direct.

Find the articles online that have evaluated and compared online brokerages. I found a good one online in Barron's, but you'll find others in the trading magazines.

This is worth putting a little time and effort into, because it's a pain to switch, so once you choose, you're kinda stuck with it.

Townsend Electronics, the Parent company of TerraNova, is the one that digitized and electronified the Nasdaq. They are technological industry leaders and have a powerful and well built trading system.

I use RealTick at TerraNovaOnline, but it costs $275/mo, even though it is unlimited what you can do with it. I think the Investor package is free to use, and just uses one screen.

What you should try is a free trial of their Investor platform, which is free. You only get one window to trade from, but hey, with $5,000-how many stocks are you going to watch? Their rates are good also, but of course, it depends on how often you trade. It will take you months to learn all the bells and whistles of what this program can do.

The other top-of-the line program is TradeStation, but it costs big bucks to join and operate. Some people consider it the Cadillac of trading and technical analysis.

TerraNova is the home of the Day Trader, so they think nothing of you making several hundred trades a day. You don't have to do that, but it's okay here if you do.

Answer 2

I have an Ameritrade account, but should probably switch to Scott Trade. Ameritrade offers spiffs to large account holders, of which I don't have. If you are ex[erimenting with $2K or less, AMTD charges account maintenance fees that could eat up some of your capital.
If you are looking at market timing, Sharebuilder is tough thanks to the wait driving you crazy (but probably not hurting you) with the automatic investing.
As long as you trade listed stocks, the under $10 won't be an issue at Scott or AMTD.

Good luck

Answer 3

I like Scott Trade the best!
I found no reason to go with any of the others I researched!
(They're more personal too!)

Answer 4

You can not trade Canadian listed gold/commodity stocks with Scottrade.

Answer 5

Scottrade is a very good site. Easy to use and good customer support.
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