Best online brokerage in terms of min commission and good research analysis?

Question

Hi, I am planning to start investing in stock market in US but i am confused abt selecting the brokerage firm- Banc of America, E*Trade, Fidelity etc..? I am by nature short term investor. plz suggest some brokerage site. I may be doing arnd 10-15 trades per month at the most.

Hi, I am planning to start investing in stock market in US but i am confused abt selecting the brokerage firm- Banc of America, E*Trade, Fidelity etc..? I am by nature short term investor. plz suggest some brokerage site. I may be doing arnd 10-15 trades per month at the most...
based on the answer ..let me add that i m not a big trader or investor ..i just manage to get myself into limit orders ..and yes i dont know what event-contingent order is .

Answer 1

This is an extremely difficult question to answer. The on line brokers have different offerings and your satifaction with them might be dependent upon exactly what your are looking for. Fidelity does not offer tools for short term speculators that I am aware of. They do offer an excellent screening tool and they do offer recomendation by other sources, quite a few I might add. TD Ameritrade offers interactive tools that you download to your computer to help sort through possible short term trades. I have used these on occasion, but they must be used with a skeptical eye. I am certain that ETrade also has some very good offerings, but I am unfamiliar with them. Perhaps another responder will be able to offer some elightenment. There are services you can buy and also even free services on the internet to provide recommendations.

Answer 2

every one of those online brokers gives the same research to tens or hundreds of thousands of clients. Thus, the value of that research is usually zero or even negative, especially to a short term investor.

Professional traders amke money by doing their own research and making their own decisions. that way they know they aren't following a herd of other guys whose already stomped all over the opportunity.

imo, the critical element in brokerages is the types of orders they permit you to place. if all that is being offered is the "plain vanilla" types, you can be sure that the professionals aren't trading there.

Answer 3

I have some experience since 1994. Started with a brokerage in Rochester, NY (it was so-so), then went to AGEDWARDS (big mistake...poor public relations and they would not respond to my e-mails, letters and phone calls...avoid them at all cost...), then Merrill Lynch which was good and I had a great financial advisor who invested well for me with a good pie chart distribution. I did so well with him that when he left Merrill Lynch for Wachovia I moved with him and remain 100% enthusiastic. He has handled my funds well and made money for me while protecting much of what I have through annunities etc. My #1 vote is for Wachovia Financial. Their quarterly fees are also reasonable and less than what I was paying Merrill Lynch.

Answer 4

THIS IS NOT SPAM: I'm making suggestions - that's ALL I'm Doing!
Investigate these on-line brokers:
TradeKing.com

Tradestation.com

MBtrading.com

OptionsXpress.com

Scottrade.com

interactivebrokers.com

I suggest opening a margin account as a "speculator" with options approval. This type of account gives you more room to maneuver by placing different kinds of trades.

Thanks for asking your Q! I enjoyed answering it.

VTY,
Ron Berue
Yes, that is my real last name!