Reviews of the Best Online Trading Companies

Online trading in recent years has taken off with the boom of the internet. First came the day traders who ran up internet stocks in the late 1990's. They made online trading famous and now it's come even further so that everyone can trade stocks online. With the boom came many online stock trading companies like ETrade, Ameritrade, Scottrade, TD Waterhouse, and Charles Schwab. They all offer the ability to setup an account online for IRA's, Mutual Funds, Money Market funds, Options, and trading of regular stocks. Fees for trading online range from $5 all the way up to $19. Each company is a little different you need to do your research to find a match in terms of how much trading you plan on doing. All sites offer powerful trading tools that let you track the market in real time, analyze trends, and place trades instantly. Online trading companies also offer an unlimited amount of research you can do with financial reports and histories of all stocks you want to trade. You can view your porfolio online and determine where to allocate your $$ so that it grows at a steady clip. As with all investing, please be sure to read all documents available about companies and meet with a financial broker to get started. One thing to keep in mind is that all these online banking institutions charge a quarterly management fee on many accounts if your balance is not high enough.

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Ameritrade:

Ameritrade online trading has always offered the lowest Internet Equity trade amounts in the business (at the time of this article they were at $10.99 a trade). They also offer some high tech trading tools. Their Ameritrade Streamer has streaming quotes, intra-day charts, real-time account information and more. The Advance Analyzer is a charting and research tool that watches for trends and takes advantage of potential income opportunities. Overall, Ameritrade offers some high end trading tools that the more sophisticated online trader would want.

ETrade:

Etrade offers $6.99-$9.99 stock and options trades. They have advisory services and asset allocation models to help you setup a strong porfolio. Their banking has high yields and no ATM fees. They have recently offered lending services for homes, cars, etc. You can get all the forms online you need for any type of financial transaction and research to your hearts content with page after page of mutual fund reports, retirement planning scenarios, and trading "how to's". As a beginner trader years ago, ETrade helped me with learning about the various types of trades you can make, stop loss order, options trading, market order, etc. Great for the first time investor. Find them online at Etrade.com.

Charles Schwab:

Charles Schwab is an all in one banking and trading company that offers online trading. They have trading and investing, advice and research, retirement planning, banking and lending and market insights. They recently lowered their rate per trade and have added more traditional banking options to their money market accounts. I use them for all my online trading and have never had a problem. Their online reports are outstanding and filled with answers to all your questions. They have online support as well as an 800 # you can reach. You can add funds online to your account, transfer funds, etc. They do charge a quarterly account management fee if you don't have a certain amount of money in each type of account (be sure to clarify this when you start an account). Find them on the Internet at Schwab.com.

Scottrade:

Scottrade offers $7 trades on all online market and limit orders. You pay the same low commissions regardless of the # of shares you trade. There are no inactive account fees or account maintenance fees. They have 240+ local branches to help you in person. They require just $500 to open an account and get started. Their site offers all the regular market information, a breakdown of account options and types, and up-to-date stock quotes and listings.

How Do I Trade Online?

Go to any of the major online trading companies online websites and signup for a new account. If they have a local storefront, you can go in person and deposit your money and setup your online login information.

Do you have a quality site or product that belongs in this guide? We are always happy to evaluate or review new products and websites. Feel free to contact us at the email address below and let us know about you. If you have a demo product you'd like us to look at, please contact us before sending anything. Thank you.

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