Best Online Stock Trade

In general, there are two kinds of online brokers: full service and discount. For most people, full service brokers are not typically hired, unless you have about $5 million to work with. For most of us, this is not the case. So for the purposes of this article we will focus on the discount online brokers.

Some examples of discount brokers include Zecco, Scottrade, and TradeKing. They offer deals very frequently and are the names you will see most often. In general, the key difference between discount and full service brokers, besides the amount of money you should have on hand, is that discount brokers may not give you advice about what you are buying. They may help you with technical things and that is it.

There are two levels of discount brokerages, and being aware of each one will help you choose who you want to work with. Some are in the $5-7 range for price and others are more in the $15-25 range. If you pay more, in most cases you will see a difference in execution of your trades--in other words, how fast they may be completed.

For day traders who likes to use BATS Level II Quotes and if you have a super short half second window, you might do well to try Fidelity or Vanguard. But if you are a news or swing trader, which means you have a bigger window to work with of days or even weeks or longer, then there is no real reason to go this route with your trading.

Next, make a call to the person you chose to work with and get advice from. Ask him or her a question that is pertinent to your work , like "what is your payment for order flow policy?" or "Can I direct to the ECN that I want?" Listen closely to how you are treated and how they answer you. Whatever they say and do on that day will be very similar to what they will do with you longer term.

Once you make your call and are satisfied with their reply, pit the services you want against each other. Divide your money between them for three to six months and then sit back and watch who does best. Consider going with the company who stays out of your way the most during this time. If the company goofs in any way, from having no one to speak with you, to getting in your way or having computer and internet crashes on super busy days, go with another choice for your stock work.