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Originally Posted by Red SVX 92
Start with Scottrade. They have the cheapest commission for trades (at least the basic ones that most people get started out with). $7 flat rate. They require $500 minimum to set up an account. To be honest, it's really not worth trading $500 at a time. It's better to trade at least $1000 (and preferably more) each time so that the commission is only 0.7% ($7/$1000) to buy or sell rather than 1.4% @ $500 ($7/$500). Basically, at $1000, you would need a 1.4% gain just to break even, and 2.8% at $500 to do the same.
To be honest, I do trade $500 at a time, but I've been picking VERY risky stocks, so I either make more than 20% or lose more than 20%, and that's the only way I can justify such low trades.
I've noticed that most people want to trade often when they first get started, assuming that they can make small gaisn with each trade and make money. I'm in that mode right now. A better approach is to buy and hold a stronger stock, rather than trying to beat the market on its ups and downs.
How much are you planning to invest? I'm assuming not that much, and I don't recommend much when you start out, but Ameritrade has a promo where you can get a free Treo 650 and 25 free trades if you put in $25,000. Not for most folks.
If you want to sign up with Scottrade, PM me. Scottrade has a referral program that gives both parties three free trades. I always feel like I'm soliciting when I mention referral stuff, so if anyone else has a Scottrade account, post up here, and you can just take your pick from someone in the SVX family. I don't really mind getting the referral as long as someone in the family gets it.
EDIT: The Motley Fool has some very entertaining articles, but they cross-promote their products heavily, which irks me. Not to mention that a lot of their stocks they recommend as "hidden gems" and the like have obviously already been discovered, so they might not be the best values. I personally like to buy stocks that have taken a huge tumble for some reason or another, i.e., FDA rejection of a pharmaceutical company's drug, bankruptcy filings, etc. I personally don't recommend it to anyone, because the risk/reward ratio is extremely high, but it's made me money (and given me heartburn for a while as well).
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