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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.

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Stock Buying Tips

Buying stocks is not rocket science, but without proper research and planning you’re doomed before you even start. Everyone wants to get the latest information about a stock or some type of investment tips. Who wouldn’t want to get the upper hand on the rest of the investors, I know I do and that’s why I research constantly on different companies that I want to invest in. I also belong to a stock market forum or two to help search for stocks. I’ll try to give you some stock buying tips to make it easier for you.

One tip to help keep you in the green would be to decide if the investment you’re making will be long term or short term. When buying stocks for the long term investment, you need to think about how the economy is doing presently and in the next couple of years. Look into buying stocks that have dividends. Dividends will help increase you portfolio over the years even if the stock price hasn’t even changed. When you want to buy stocks for the short term, you’re more or less looking for some sort of catalysis to move the price of the stock, and once that event is passed, you sell your position no matter what. Either way you need to know how to pick stocks for the type of strategy you are using.

Knowledge is power. The more you know, the more profitable you’ll be in your stock trades. There are some software out there that many use to make their picking the right stock easier. Of course there are many that aren’t any good, but you’ll have to find the right one for you. When investing in the stock market, it’s best to be well informed about the world markets and latest business trends. It never hurts to take some stock market courses too. The internet is the best way to keep in touch with the latest news of the financial markets. In this day of age, what happens in one part of the world will effect the rest of it. The world economy is so intertwined that there’s no way one country can stand alone and not be effected.

The stock market is a place where people can become rich overnight or they can completely lose all their money. It’s not a place for people to put their money if they look at it like a gambler looks at Las Vegas or a horse track. Especially when it comes to going to other people for a “stock tip”. You have to do your own research and keep up on the company’s doings if you want to make some money. You can’t expect someone else to know what’s good for you as an investment.

This is a guest post from Thomas B, a long time reader and friend. Thomas is fairly new to the stock market and wanted to share some of his insights to other beginners.

Reader Question: What are YOUR best stock buying tips?

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