Buy Stocks Online

Price Wars With Online Stock Brokers

If you watch enough TV, you’ll see everyone of the discount online brokers advertisements. Each of them stating that they have the best price for trading stocks online as well as claiming they have the best customer service, quickest trade time. If you haven’t started to trade stocks and you’re looking to open an account with one of these major online brokers, don’t get caught in the hype of their sales pitch. You need to research which one is right for you.

I’ve been with TD Ameritrade for years now and I plan on staying with them for the rest of my trading years. You can read about my thoughts and review of TD Ameritrade to see what I mean. That doesn’t mean that you have to do the same thing and only deal with TD Ameritrade. I suggest you look into each of the other competitors to see which one works for you. I have a friend who doesn’t like my broker and he uses E-Trade.

E-Trade is a good reliable broker and also takes good care of their customers. Their prices for regular trades vary a little. If you do less than 150 trades per quarter (three months), your trade fee will be $9.99 per trade, however if you do more than that in the same time period, the fee is only $7.99 per trade. So if you don’t expect to make that many trades in one quarter, it’s something to think about. E-Trade’s option fees are work the same way, at the same pricing plus $0.75 per contract. I feel E-trade is not for a beginner or for someone who isn’t so active in trading on a daily basis.

Scottrade is probably the most known out of all the online brokers. Scottrade is more reasonable when it comes to their stock trades and their option pricing. They charge $7 per trade for wither stocks or options. The price is only for online trades. If you call into their automated trade desk, the fee is $17 per trade and if you call a representative to make a trade, it wil be considered a broker-assisted trade and you’ll be charged $27 per trade. Scottrade does have many different fees involved with each service you may need, but remember that you get what you pay for, They have been know to be the best at customer service within the online discount brokers.

What about the new kid on the block, Zecco? To be quite honest I’ve never used them since they are relatively new to the game. I will say that they do offer the lowest prices when it comes to making a trade. Zecco will give you ten free trades every month and charge you $4.50 per trade afterwards. Remember that you must maintain a balance of $25,000 or make at least twenty-five trades per month or you will be charged the $4.50 for each and every trade. As for their option trades, it’s the same price as stock trades plus $0.50 per contract. I have not used Zecco, but I will say that I’ve talked to a few people who do use them and they all pretty much say the same thing when it comes to customer service. They don’t care about it. These traders I’ve talked to don’t use Zecco for their customer service, they are just in it because they do their own research and due diligence that the only thing they care about is the low fee per trade.

So whichever one you want to use, you need to think about which one will be best for your needs. After all, it’s your portfolio and not anyone else’s you worry about.

© 2010 Buy Stocks Online
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Trading With TD Ameritrade

Over the past year I’ve been getting a lot of investors and traders asking me what online discount broker do I use to buy stocks online. I’ve mention it in past posts, but I guess I should give a more of a clear answer to why I use TD Ameritrade.

I’ve been trading stocks for many years and over those years I’ve used different online brokers. I started with E-Trade which is a good site, but I wasn’t too happy with their customer service as well ad their fees. Of course that was many years ago and they have changed since then. I then moved to TD Ameritrade after it was recommended to me by a good friend who was using them and loved the service he was getting from them. It’s now been several years since I went to TD Ameritrade and I will never go to another broker no matter how much they want to give to me.

When I started with them, they were called TD Waterhouse. Their prices were competitive with their competitors, but their customer service was so much better than anyone else. After a short time of trading stocks with them, I called them up to discuss a few courses they were offering to their clients. When I asked the representative about why I shouldn’t go to another online broker since they keep sending me offers to join them at lower rates than what TD Ameritrade was charging, she asked if I could hold on for a moment to look into something. When she came back on the line, she informed me that she will be lowering my fees per transaction to what I was being offered by the others. The funny thing was that I wasn’t looking for her to do so since I felt that the quality of service they provided me with justified the fee I was being charged.

As for TD Ameritrade’s other services. they have a large selection of courses for their clients can take to improve their trades. Courses that will explain different trading techniques and so forth. These courses are free to any and all clients. They also offer consultations with one of their many representatives, also at no charge. The research they do for their clients is far beyond any other online broker that I’ve used in the past.

A little over a year ago they teamed up with SinkorSwim.com to increase the programs they offer to their clients. Sink or Swim is awesome for those who need to learn more about trading stocks or if you’re looking for some great investment tips. The seasoned investor and trader will also benefit from the program as well.

I don’t know who you are using to make your trades, but I will say that TD Ameritrade is the on stop for all you online stock market trades. No matter what trading style you use or how often you make a trade, they have everything you’ll ever need in an online discount broker.

© 2010 Buy Stocks Online
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Buy Stocks Online: E*TRADE

E*TRADE is a financial corporation that offers online discount brokerage services to investors that allow them to buy or trade stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other securities online. The company paved the way for a lot of other online stock brokers that exist today. It also expanded its financial services that offer banking, certificate of deposits, retirement, and money market accounts to the public. Today E*TRADE is one of the biggest and more popular places to buy stocks online and you can expect their company continues to flourish.

When choosing an online broker for trading stocks, you must sit down and evaluate all the pros and cons of each company out there. After all, E*TRADE created a trend of other online companies attempting to provide similar services. Therefore E*TRADE must have something that differentiates them from the rest of the pack, besides the fact that they were one of the first companies to provide discount brokerage services. Year after year, E*TRADE continues to get great reviews from SmartMoney and Barron. They continue to expand their online packages, which makes it intriguing for one to go online and create an  etrade account. It only takes a couple of minutes to create a life changing impact that can impact your life in a positive way. 

With a highly competitive market, there are other online brokers that offer cheaper brokerage services around. There are others that offer a cheaper price per trade, an annual fee that is lower, and other monetary dynamics that may effect a person’s decision when evaluating this broker firm. Some say their customer service isn’t the best, it’s difficult to take money or close the account if needed, and the prices are higher in some categories compared to others out there. The process of a trade going through may not be as quick as some people prefer. Their minimum balance on an etrade  account is also higher then other brokers, such as Scott Trade.

However one must look at the value you’re getting rather then the cost your paying when making a decision on whether to go with E*TRADE or another firm for investing online. The good thing about E*TRADE is the diversity of services they offer as they continue their expansion. They are well known for their market analysis, which is probably their greatest strength. With this analysis of the market, it creates credible stock market tips to utilize, especially with the current state of our economy being in a recession. The website and tools that E*TRADE provides is user friendly which allows the account holder to make better and smarter decisions when trading. Mobile etrade applications have also received recognition as our technology in pocket pc smart phones continues to evolve in a market where today’s hottest product will soon be yesterday’s old news.

In conclusion, E*TRADE still stands at the top of the list in online brokers. As they continue to successfully market their products and services, they will maintain their competitive edge against rival companies as long as they continue to strengthen their research and development areas. With all the attractive monetary accounts available, it is easy for a potential client to be in awe of the diversified products that they offer.

© 2010 Buy Stocks Online
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