What broker do you use?

[patfergie44]

Since I'm so new to this, my criteria was to find someone who didn't charge any inactivity fees or monthly fees. I found Firstrade and have put a little money into that - haven't even made my first trade yet. Their per trade fee is 6.95. They do have some various tools and streaming real time quotes. They also pay a "whopping" 2% interest. The only other fee they have is $2 per month if you want your account info mailed to you (which you can opt out of).

[TheCrack]

I too am new to this, and was looking for someone inexpensive to start....
I opened an account with TradeKing for options trading initially, and recently opened an IRA with them, where hopefully, someday soon, Ill be able to execute some money making trades....

[mose]

www.sogoinvest.com is place to keep your eye on. However, they don't really have enough tools in place, yet, for trading. They are more for a "savings account automatically invested in stocks" plan. They don't have stops, for example, but it's coming. They don't have IRA accounts, yet. You can't trade options. There don't have real-time quotes. The list goes on. I think in half a year to a year they may have more features in place, and then I'll look at them, again. Otherwise, they have $3 trades.

Someone mentioned cybertrader.com. There is also realfasttrader.com, but I know hardly anything about them. Some people like www.interactivebrokers.com. Check if these places require a minimum investment. Sometimes you need to invest at least $2,000 to $5,000 to get the best features. Of course, you're investing more than that, it won't be problem. :-)

mose

[jwhat]

I use TD AmeriTrade and dont have any complaints... I've emailed them questions in the past and I've always received informative answers.

[MercutioATC]

I use TradeKing. Not a lot in the way of tools, but I use other tools anyway. $4.95 trades, no inactivity fee, no minimum account size...and SmartMoney, Barron's and Kiplinger's all speak highly of them.

[e1ucas]

We consolidated all our stuff at ETrade. A couple rollover IRAs, a Roth, and a regular margin account. Normally trades are $13, but because of our recent volume of activity we qualify for $10 trades and real-time streaming quotes (which is pretty cool). The charts are good. Very customizable. Some parts of the GUI are a little clunky, but nothing horribly wrong. We've had the margin account for several years but just a couple months ago rolled the other stuff over and started with the Rule #1 approach. A close friend of mine has accounts at TDAmeritrade and he's happy.

-- Ed

[burdick101]

This seems like a stupid question, but I'm reviewing online brokers and I'm stumped by something. Some brokers offer checkwriting, which seems like a good way to get your money out. But if the broker doesn't offer that... and they say $20 for outgoing domestice wire transfer, does that mean it's going to cost me $20 to get to my own money in my cash account? That's a bummer.

I guess if you have a Roth or IRA, it's no big deal. but if you're working with a cash account and you want some money out of it.... that could get steep.

I'm considering going with Tradeking.com just to get started because of the low trades $ and my research done elsewhere. Any new thoughts on Brokers would greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Nick

[will1037]

I've done some paper tradng and have decent watch list of companies. I've cleared the emontional barrier and am ready to trade. But now to choose a broker. I didn't think this choice would be so tough.

My wife and I both put into our 401k plans but like most people want to do more. I would like to open up an Roth IRA and need to find the right broker. What experiences have rule 1'ers had with the different brokers with Roth IRAs? Recommendatons?

Also, with the sites like Trade King offering lower price trades, would I be better off opening an account here?

I like having choices...it'a a lot better than too few. Maybe I have an emotional barrier actually picking a broker!!! Any help will be appreciated!

[sierra1]

I use optionsXpress, and love them. They were rated as the top online brokerage in several side-by-side magazine reviews.

Just a note for those who may be considering them - after a few trades they drop your commissions down to $9.95 a trade - very competitive.

Thanks, and good luck with your decision.

S1

[gordo]

I just opened a Scott Trade account about a month ago. Very happy so far and only $7.00 per trade.

-- Gord