What is the best online brokerage option for a beginning investor?
Posted by admin in Finance Wednesday, 23 November 2011 05:15 2 Comments
I am 19 and just starting out and wondering which online brokerage to use. Ameritrade? Scottrade? E Trade? ING? What’s the best for a beginner?
http://www.optionsxpress.com
Do u have experience making money in the stock market?
I have experience with Scottrade, TD Ameritrade, and E-trade. I make anywhere from 3 to 10 trades a week.
Scottrade.
This was the first account that I opened, and I still have it.
PROS–The interface is pretty straight forward, good for beginners. I like their easy access to a lot of research info (like insider trading.) Their live trading platform is the coolest I’ve used (dare I say, the most fun.) Most trades are only $7. Their customer service is UNPARALLELED. I received a call from their local office on the day I opened the account. Anytime (night or day) I have a question, I can call and speak to a human being without any hold time. They are very patient, and no question is too silly.
CONS–If your trading becomes more sophisticated, Scottrade is very limited as to trading tools. Straight up buy and sell. If you want conditional trades (ie: buy (or sell) IF this happens) or if you want multi-tiered conditional trades (ie: buy (or sell) IF this happens, THEN buy (or sell) once the previous transaction has taken place), Scottrade cannot accommodate you. Also, if you want to trade on your blackberry, your options (not stock options) become even more limited.
TD Ameritrade.
My third account, and probably the one I currently use most.
PROS–You get those multi-tiered conditional trades. Also, they make it a lot easier to do pre-market and after market trades. Their mobile site (for trading on your blackberry), is much more stable and sophisticated than Scottrade. 30 days of free trades for signing up (that kicks a**!)
CONS–Research can be cumbersome (depending on info you are seeking), live trading platform less sophisticated than Scottrade (but better for pre and after market trades). I also don’t call their customer service unless absolutely necessary, because I have waited as long as 45 minutes to speak to a person. If you want to call on your lunch break, forget about it!
E*Trade
This is definitely the best of the three that I have tried as far as level of sophistication (both online and blackberry). HOWEVER, i no longer use them because their pricing is geared more towards active daytraders. If you don’t make X-amount of trades per month, you pay more. Lots of nickel/dime crap. In fairness, I should also let you know that my experience with their customer service was great. I had a specific contact (name and extension) whom I could call regularly as well as 24 hour support.
In short, for beginners, I recommend Scottrade. It is the most reasonably priced (per trade), great customer support, and the easiest to understand/learn.
Hope this is helpful
Good luck!