We are considering trying out some online trading. I know there is a wealth of online brokerages.
Any recommendations?
TD-Ameritrade. My wife and I love it. Up to the minute help when you need it, knowledgable real people to talk to…nominal fees.
Trading what?
I use TD-Ameritrade.
There are cheaper places online for making single trades (like scottrade), but it’s possible that there are catches with their low fees. And even if not, it’s only a couple dollars difference per trade.
I used TD back when it was called etrade. I dumped them after a spat and am now using Scottrade, which I like much better. Research and other tools, and only $7 a trade.
I don’t understand that. E*TRADE still exists, and as far as I can tell, is a separate company from TD-Ameritrade.
I’m a broker at TD Ameritrade. I suggest using us!
TD Ameritrade has never been part of E-trade.
My roommate swears by Scottrade if you are in the sub-$10,000 range. I’ve never used it, so take that for what it’s worth.
I use Fidelity with good effect, but I haven’t really shopped around so I can’t guarantee that it’s better than anything else - but it does work.
TradeKing seems to work just fine for me.
I don’t need or want many extras from a broker. I just want the trade. I get my info and do my research elsewhere. It may take a couple days to get the account funded and set up but after that things move fast.
Disclaimer: I’m just a nooB myself at this but I think it very largely depends on how much you have to invest. I have my Roth IRA through BuyAndHold.com and am happy with them. Very good site for very basic investing.
First of all…if analysis and charts and graphs, and write ups are what you’re looking for, BuyandHold is NOT for you. There is very little research available on the site. That’s not to say there’s not a wealth of information ELSEWHERE on the internet, you just have to go and find it. It won’t be all at one place.
It’s CHEAP. They save money by making “window trades.” They save money buy buying blocks of stocks three times a day (10, 12, and 3 I believe). For MOST people this is no problem, though it makes the brokerage pretty useless for day traders. Life market trades are $16 I believe.
A regular account costs you $6.99 a month and includes two free trades. This is SORT OF along the lines of ShareBuilder, I looked at both and chose BuyandHOld, though I don’t recall the exact reasons why at the moment. After your two free each trade is $2.99. To set up an IRA is $25 a year, waived if you set up automatic investing (which you still have to pay commissions for).
Other limitations include the inability to trade in traditional Mutual Funds, though you can purchase the most popular ETFs (including the Dow Diamond, NASDAQ100, S&P Indexes, and the one I’m in, Vanguard Total Market) and some bond funds.
BuyandHold is definitely not for everybody so definitely look around. But if bare bones and cheap is what you’re after, it definitely fits that description.
Amount you have to invest is very important. A $10 commission out of a $100 purchase means your stock has to go up 10% before you even BREAK EVEN. However with a $2000 stock purchase that $10 commission only requires a %.5 increase to make up. I only had a couple hundred to invest, so I went cheap.
Yeah, it didn’t sound right when I wrote it. I used an online brokerage that was among the first of the cheap trade outfits. They ended up sellling out to a larger company, which I thought was Ameritrade. For the life of me, I can’t remember the name of the company.
Oh wait! It was Datek! Apologies to all.
My vote would be for Scottrade. You get real-time quotes for free regardless of the amount of money in your account. Ameritrade (at least a couple years ago) didn’t offer the real-time quotes unless you paid a fee or had several thousand in the account.
Also, I don’t like trusting other people’s opinions on what stocks to buy, so Scottrade works for me because I like to do my own research. Plus, you can’t beat $7 trades.
Ameritrade always made me feel like they were trying to “sell” me something. Scottrade leaves me alone. And the couple of times I’ve actually had to call Scottrade they were helpful.
TD Ameritrade does not charge for real time NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ Level I, or OPRA quotes.
I agree. The times when I’ve needed cash quickly, it’s been a quick, easy transaction. Having a local office is great! But regardless of where someone decides to trade, remember that they will NOT help you manage your money. They’re there to take your fee and nothing more. I get unsolicited mailings from Ameritrade all the time, which annoy me. But try shutting it off.
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