I'm thinking of setting up an online trading account, would you guys recommend any particular website to go through?

something that is easy enough for a beginner, offers good advice/values, and has good customer support and low fees

I was thinking TD Ameritrade, Scottrade, or Sharebuilder (already have a capital one direct savings acct)

or is there another you prefer? Thanks

7/1/2013 2:07:09 PM

zecco (tradeking), optionshouse are low fee options. No idea how good the customer support is. The interface is usable.

7/1/2013 4:17:05 PM

If you sign up at Scottrade you can use my reference code to get us both 3 free trades. I can't say which one is the best, but I like Scottrade and the customer service is fantastic, since you have local centers that you can actually call a live person without a recorded voice prompt, or you can just get in your car and go there to see a rep. Here is my code, if you use it thx!

ReferALL code:YEHM0718

7/1/2013 7:24:33 PM

thanks!

7/1/2013 9:36:28 PM

also if you are planning to buy Mutual funds or ETFs, you could save money by opening the account with MF company. (Vanguard, Fidelity etc)

7/2/2013 12:18:37 AM

^ That's true, but I think they have very high minimum investments.

7/2/2013 12:54:28 AM

I have tradeking and love it. The customer service is great, and trades are only $4.95.

PM me if you want a referral.

7/2/2013 8:42:36 AM

^^ I guess it depends on what you consider very high. I thought their points of entry (at least on the funds I looked at) were reasonable. And once you're in, you're in and you can invest whatever amount you want for the most part.

[Edited on July 2, 2013 at 10:50 AM. Reason : ]

7/2/2013 10:50:23 AM

I also use Computeshare for DRIP accounts; no brokers involved technically, you buy stock directly from the company, and can opt to reinvest dividends or take a payout. There is usually small fee associated with buying stock, but you can get the company-paid ones that are best. Good thing about it is that you can buy into partial stock, instead of having to purchase an entire piece of stock.

7/9/2013 9:31:08 AM

interesting I was recently reading about DRIPs and thinking about investing. Any companies that offer DRIPs along with online stock brokerage account?

7/9/2013 2:04:02 PM

dharney do you have a retirement account already? Either through work or something you have set up on your own? If not I would recommend first setting up somthing that will provide a nice tax advantage. If you have a retirement account set up are you maxing it out? I would try to achieve that prior the opening up a general investment account that will be taxed at your normal income tax rate short term and 20% for long term investments thanks to the new laws. The max for a 401(k) is $16,500/yr and a Roth is $5,500/yr.


If you are already maxing out your 401(k)/roth then ignore everything I said.


[Edited on July 9, 2013 at 2:41 PM. Reason : df]

7/9/2013 2:39:40 PM

^^ Scottrade does FRIP:

https://www.scottrade.com/online-brokerage/FRIP.html

PLease use my referal code if you sign up for Scottrade - we both will get 3 free trades.

ReferALL code:YEHM0718

7/9/2013 5:03:11 PM