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Old 03-30-2009, 02:27 PM
 
242 posts, read 732,973 times
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I was thinking about doing a small investment test and was thinking of using one of those cheap day trade sites.

The charge of $7 a trade sounds good, but not for small trades.
But the ability to just do it when and how I want without a 'pro' talking me out of something or waiting for them to respond seems worth it.

so do any of you use them, do you like them? Any serious issues? Favorites?
Things to look out for?

It does not seem to allow you to trade currencies or other commodoties, which is a bummer.

What does your normal broker charge you?
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Old 03-30-2009, 05:24 PM
 
Location: San Jose, CA
7,688 posts, read 29,063,095 times
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First off, you can't "pattern day trade" with any broker unless you have $50K in the account. If you day trade more than 3 times (5 times?) a month they can hit you with a margin call requiring you to put that money down; the first time they'll give you a reprieve, second time they'll probably shut down your account and hit you with penalties.

Second, you can trade certain futures with these brokers, but commodities are represented mainly through exchange-traded funds (ETF). For example, GLD, which has substantial gold holdings and is intended to mimic the performance of "paper gold." If you want to actually own the commodity, then just buy gold bullion or whatever and rent a safe deposit box. It'll be less expensive than ETrade's nasty quarterly fees.

The best option for someone who just wants to dabble is a stock-exchange game like the VSE. The commission rates are too high to justify speculating with small money - take it from someone who fell into that trap and had to dedicate way too much time to reversing all the damage he did to his little retirement account.

Last edited by sonarrat; 03-30-2009 at 05:39 PM..
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Old 03-30-2009, 05:30 PM
 
Location: Virginia
931 posts, read 3,792,526 times
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Scottrade is $7 a trade (trade being buying AND selling)
E-Trade is $12.99 a trade

I use E-trade.
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Old 03-30-2009, 07:13 PM
 
Location: Warwick, RI
5,429 posts, read 6,195,180 times
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I use ING Sharebuilder, which is NOT for daytraders, but I love it. I do my own research and buy my own picks, and automatic weekly trades at $4 a trade are cheap enough for me. It's a great site, and I urge you to check it out even if it isn't really suited to your needs. Good luck!
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Old 03-30-2009, 07:43 PM
 
Location: Central NH
1,004 posts, read 2,336,218 times
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I'm by no means very knowledgeable in these matters, but I had similar questions and started this thread.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/inves...er-advice.html

I received great help from several posters and after a little research went with Scottrade which has worked out nicely for my needs.
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Old 03-31-2009, 12:16 PM
 
Location: Houston, TX
17,029 posts, read 30,791,229 times
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I use Charles Schwab, but I dont day trade...mabe some month-trades but its 12.95 regardless.
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Old 03-31-2009, 07:45 PM
 
Location: Banana Republic, LA
378 posts, read 1,202,710 times
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I use Scottrade and love it. Trades are $7.00 and executed instantly, and I've never had any issues. Also, they will allow you to day-trade with a $25,000 minimum.
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Old 04-01-2009, 09:02 AM
 
Location: The Pacific NW.
879 posts, read 1,956,973 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sonarrat View Post
First off, you can't "pattern day trade" with any broker unless you have $50K in the account. If you day trade more than 3 times (5 times?) a month they can hit you with a margin call requiring you to put that money down;
This is incorrect. $25k is the minimum required for daytrading, and you get flagged a pattern daytrader for daytrading more than 3 times in a 5-business day period. (This just applies to DAYTRADES--you can trade as often as you like if they're overnight trades.)

Anyhoo, Thatguywho, it sounds like from your description that you may really just be looking for a discount broker as opposed to a full-service broker and not necessarily the best platform for daytrading. If you DO want a cheap daytrading platform and the ability to trade futures, forex, etc., Interactive Brokers is a popular one, but it's not for newbies. Better to start with a virtual trading site (like sonnarat suggested) or something like Scottrade first, IMHO.
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Old 04-02-2009, 05:15 PM
 
242 posts, read 732,973 times
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I do not really want to sit and play the stock market everyday, just buy stocks now and then. Buying less than 3 different companies a week could be hard and I am not gonna go all 'pattern for 25,000 alex' on it...

I imagine I can buy a whole bunch of different stocks at once and have it only count as one trade, we'll see.

I did decide on scottrade though due to I am only going to be buying 100 bucks of stocks here and there. Nothing big.

Seems like the right way to stay out of trouble to me.
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Old 04-02-2009, 05:26 PM
 
Location: San Jose, CA
7,688 posts, read 29,063,095 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Thatguywho View Post
I do not really want to sit and play the stock market everyday, just buy stocks now and then. Buying less than 3 different companies a week could be hard and I am not gonna go all 'pattern for 25,000 alex' on it...

I imagine I can buy a whole bunch of different stocks at once and have it only count as one trade, we'll see.
Nope, they'll all count as different trades..

Quote:
I did decide on scottrade though due to I am only going to be buying 100 bucks of stocks here and there. Nothing big.

Seems like the right way to stay out of trouble to me.
If it's only $100 at a time then you might as well make a trip to Vegas, at least you get free booze.
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