Thanks

Zecco is a scam…I don’t trust their free monthly trades. I’m convinced there’s gotta be a catch somewhere in that racket. Anyone know what it is?

I’m trying to compare online discount brokers and some of them look pretty competitive to each other. The premium brokers like Fidelity, Charles Schwab, T Rowe Price, Merrill Lynch are too pricey for my taste. Gonna stick with the cheapo brokers like Tradeking an Scottrade…maybe even TD Ameritrade. So many choices…does it make sense to register for more than one brokerage trading account? I’ve heard it makes sense to have accounts at Fidelity and Vanguard if you want to trade Fidelity+vanguard mutual funds but that it’s best to keep a cheap commission stock trading broker for individual stock trades.

Does anyone have experience managing multiple brokerage accounts? Which brokers did you initially consider and which ones or one did you ultimately stick with?

Well online discount brokerage TradeKing doesn’t seem to advertise on television as prominently as the ones you’ve mentioned. In fact, I’m not even sure they advertise via television media at all, seemingly preferring to stick to online advertising sources exclusively. If you read financial blogs or websites such as Wall Street Journal or Kiplinger’s, you’ll probably notice their banner ads on occasion. TradeKing’s well known among personal finance bloggers and those who write about financial news and subjects, but probably not as well known by mainstream consumers. But don’t let TradeKing’s lack of advertising aggression fool you – it’s a pretty well established and well run online brokerage company.

Speaking of alternative choices mentioned online broker Etrade is also a very good discount brokerage choice. The fees are higher than that offered by TradeKing, but in exchange, it offers a complete all-in-one full service online bank (checking, savings, CD deposits) and brokerage service.

Yes I would recommend TradeKing as a beginner broker choice. There really is no such thing as a #1 perfect top online broker for everyone’s needs, but TradeKing’s got the low commissions and full trading features you would desire as a new investor. Plus it has plenty of educational instruction videos and articles to get you up to speed to the world of investments and financial planning. Zecco is a similar type of low cost discount broker as well, but it’s not as fully developed as TradeKing in my opinion.

Yes, prices are currently at historical lows…down almost 60-70% compared to 2008, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best time to invest yet. Beware of bear market rallies, aka as sucker’s rallies when prices seemingly soar up, only to come tumbling down in full force a few months later. For new investors, I’d recommend sticking with low fee, low cost exchange traded funds (ETF’s) that offer the cost benefits of individual stocks, but also include the diversity and lower volatility of mutual funds.