Scottrade

[DangerGoodson]

Going to mess around in the market after reading a couple of texts on a small investment (2k). Does anyone know anything about scottrade? There $7 Fee for all trades looks reasonable.

[FishHooks]

What are some good texts on "small investment"?

[DangerGoodson]

[ QUOTE ]
What are some good texts on "small investment"?

[/ QUOTE ]
The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book On Value Investing, Revised Edition by Benjamin Graham, Jason Zweig

and

The Warren Buffett Way, : Investment Strategies of the World's Greatest Investor by Robert G. Hagstrom

are the two I read.

[FishHooks]

cool thanks, those will be some of the first I read then, I didn't want to get into books that were designed for people with large amounts of capital, I'm just 18 and looking to get familiar with the market.

[mcb]

i use scottrade and have no problems with them. the site is very clean and easy to use and it has some of the cheapest commissions that i have seen. i'm more of a value guy and dont make a lot of short term trades but their low $7 fees are always nice.

I'm very happy with Scottrade. I'm not a daytrader either, but the trades seem to get filled very quickly. The research resources aren't any great shakes, but there's no annual fees or minimum balances, and the commissions are the lowest of any internet brokerage.

One Scottrade caveat: in my Roth IRA, I am now allowed to reinvest dividends. For a "value investor" (which is my style), this is a HUGE negative to Scottrade (albeit the only complaint that I have).

[Aceshigh7]

[ QUOTE ]
One Scottrade caveat: in my Roth IRA, I am now allowed to reinvest dividends. For a "value investor" (which is my style), this is a HUGE negative to Scottrade (albeit the only complaint that I have).

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like your problem is with the funds you own, not with scottrade.

[FredJones888]

Both of those books are designed for people with large amounts of capital. I have read both of them.

If you are 18 and have a small amount of capital you should look exclusively at mutual funds. Why ? Because buying individual stocks with just a couple thousand bankroll is the same as playing too high a limit in poker. The best you could hope for is winning big on your first investment which is about a 50/50.

[FishHooks]

Yea makes sence, I ended up buying A walk on Wall street, and The intelligent Investor (seems interesting and does have a lot of beginning stuff in the first 10 chapers). Also baught Freakanomics as well, should be some good reads, when they come in.

[zipo]

Look into Interactive Brokers.

They have a direct access program you can download with gives fast executions and low commissions - 1 cent a share, 100 share minimum - i.e. 200 shares buy/sell - 2 bucks. 1/2 cent a share over 500 shares. Options trades a buck per contract, no minimum (i.e. one contract, one buck - five contracts five bucks etc). They can do domestic and foreign futures as well provided they are traded on ECN's.

2k minimum to open an account. Real time quotes. 10 bucks a month maintenance fee if you generate less than 30 bucks commissions per month.

I've been using them since 1999 and they're awesome for their range of products, fast executions, and cheap commissions. Their phone service sucks and you will get absolutely no handholding from their staff, although they have a good active forum on their website.