So many online brokerages to choose from...help?!

[Cubicle]

I am looking to start investing in some mutual funds and maybe some individual stocks. I am really just experimentinig with the market so I might be trading more often than the typical investor. Is there any online brokerage like Scotrade that you all recommend? or does each have unique benefits associated?

[jthegreat]

Depending on the mutual fund, you can likely get it much cheaper if you open an account with the fund company itself. IE - if you want Vanguard funds, open a Vanguard account. That way you avoid commissions.

The only brokerage account I have right now is Scottrade. Trades are $7 and I like the site well enough. That's all the info I can offer at this point. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[gull]

Zecco is the cheapest. It has $0 trades.

SogoInvest is also cheap. It has $3 trades.

Thinkorswim and Tradeking have $5 trades.

All four of the above options have free IRAs.

MB Trading is also cheap. It has $1 trades.

There are many other brokerages out there and I'm not qualified to recommend any.

If you want 3 free trades at Scottrade, PM me for a referral (disclosure: I get 3 free trades too).

[Cubicle]

Zecco has free trades? How can they do this? Anybody have experience with Zecco? are they reputable and do they offer trades on everything that the other sites do?

[Fishhead24]

Thanks

[Preem]

Dow Jones SmartMoney magazine does an annual survey of the best brokerage houses in three categories: Premium - formerly called premium discount (Fidelity, Etrade, Schwab, ...), Full-Service (Merrill Lynch, Smith Barney, Morgan Stanley, ...) and Discount formerly called deep discount (TradeKing, Firstrade, OptionsXpress, ...)

http://www.smartmoney.com/brokers/in...ory=august2006

[Sniper]

[ QUOTE ]
Zecco has free trades? How can they do this? Anybody have experience with Zecco? are they reputable and do they offer trades on everything that the other sites do?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not sure I'd want to use a broker running google adsense ads on their site [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

That said, they are making money off margin & cash balances... your fills are also likely to not be great and they make money from that.

Their expenses are kept low by not advertising... though that probably has other implications if you ever need support from them. You might want to review their forum for more info on this...

[Pendimethalin]

[ QUOTE ]
Zecco is <font color="red">scary </font>
SogoInvest is also <font color="red">scary </font>
MB Trading is also <font color="red">very scary </font>. It has $1 trades.

[/ QUOTE ]

Fixed [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]