|
I think a good starter broker is Ameritrade.com. I had an account there and was quite pleased with the whole deal (except for the commission). But for a beginner broker, IMHO, you can't beat Ameritrade's simple, and user friendly layout. If you want something cheaper, try out Scottrade. Also, user friendly and simple, but not so much as Ameritrade. If you want something far cheaper than both, try out interactivebrokers.com. Their interface pales in comparison to both Ameritrade's and Scottrade's in terms of user friendliness, but they charge significantly lower commission.
Ameritrade: $11.99 per trade
Scottrade: $7.00 per trade
Interactive Brokers: $0.005 per/share w/ a $1.00 minimum + $3.00 / month commission minimum
The commission at Interactive brokers is calculated as follows. Let's say I buy 100 shares of SOME RANDOM COMPANY. That would amount to a charge of .005*100 = $.50, rounded up to the $1.00 minimum. So basically, you will only be charged $1.00 if you buy or sell less than 200 shares (1 dollar / .005 dollars/share = 200 shares). The monthly minimum works like this. If you don't rack up at least $3.00 of commission within a given month, you will be charge $3.00 - the commission you did rack up that month. If you're thinking of longer term investments, Interactive Brokers might not be right for you.
But still, cheap commission won't guarantee your success. It will be very well worth your time to learn as much as you can before actually putting your money on the line.
|