Honestly it depends on your style of investing, do you want to short stocks? If so SureTrader and Interactive Brokers are the best hands down. I like penny stocks, they can be very predictable pattern wise. You just have to know when to get in and when to get out. Unless you have a large account to buy thousands of shares imho bigger stocks aren't even worth messing with.

 

Just to follow up: got my first month's set of documents, and TD Ameritrade has me swamped in real and e-mail papers (trade notices and prospectuses). They appear to want to keep me well-informed, even with a money manager behind the scenes.

 

This is all regulatory. You should be able to opt out of the trade confirms, and go paperless for the prospectuses. Even if you have a managed account, i.e. paying firm X percent to manage a portfolio, you will still get these.

 

I understand this, but the amount of paper I'm getting is significantly higher than with my previous brokerage. Some of that, as it came to pass, was initial-account papers, some of that was also the fact that I'm now invested in ETNs, which, they have to all-but-spell-out the formula upon which the note is based, so that's a French novel right there.

 

This can be a daunting task, i recommend starting a phantom portfolio, try your hunches without buying except on paper for a while to see how well you do.

When you are ready to sign up...I use Merrill Lynch, if you have $25,000 in a B of A account(s) or can start a Merrill Account you can TRADE FOR FREE up to 30 times a month, that's saving 6.95 per trade which adds up. You can be in and out of a stock and it's free! They have other programs as well.

I have been doing this for over 14 years now and have a pretty good track record....My financial advisor is Jim Kramer, MAD MONEY on msnbc and his various books. He is a great guru to listen to and learn from. I also believe a good financial advisor would be one that does not need to work.

Valueable lessons: pick stocks in companies you research and understand what they do. Like Tesla for example, we know what they do and that they are well run, but do research, read articles and look at multiples of price vs. earnings as example...all indicators and your hunch works well....and when it does not, do not be afraid to sell when facts CHANGE, it's only a theory, and you are not right all the time. Take that money and put it into the next one.

Also selling high and buying low, all relative and nobody gets it right to the dollar....its timeing, luck, skill, experience, etc...

And do not invest what you cannot afford to loose and consider the timeing....in that will you need this money and when????

Best of luck. its a process.

 

I was a long-time E*Trade customer, and then used Wells Fargo Advisers (w/ prof. money management) for a while. Earlier this year, I switched to TD Ameritrade. While not the cheapest, their platforms are awesome, w/ Think or Swim being a truly professional trading tool. Also, their Investools subsidiary rocks. I got $50 educational credit for every $10K invested, and I've truly learned some great trading rules and techniques, esp. since I already considered myself an experienced trader.

Due to lack of time to adequately follow the market and research trade ideas, our IRA's are professionally managed (using TDA as the broker/custodian), and I self-manage the after-tax portfolio.

BTW, TDA's commissions are negotiable.

 

I switched to a self directed ira, stocks of my choice. so far this year i am 6.5 % ahead since april when i made the switch....my former ira was safe as milk 3% annual return, so I like my choice so far.

 

I use Robinhood, it's an app for iOS. Doesn't charge to trade but lacks all analysis charts that the bigger companies have handy. It's a clean app and I enjoy using it.