While TD Ameritade and Fidelity Investments charge upwards from $7 a trade, discount brokerage firms allow investors to trade with as little as a $50 initial investment. Discount brokers offer a number of advantages:
- lower commission fees than normal brokerage accounts
- lower or sometimes zero minimums
- fractional share purchase options
- automatic investing to take advantage of dollar-cost averaging
ShareBuilder
Online investors do not have the luxury of consulting with an investment broker, so discount brokerages like Sharebuilder offer free portfolio analysis to help investors create a strategic investment plan. Sharebuilder is also one of the cheapest discount brokers in the business. ShareBuilder boasts:
- No Account Minimums
- $1 - $4 Buy Trades
- $11.95 - $15.95 market orders
- $15.95 - $19.95 Limit Orders
- No Inactivity fees
Automatic plan orders process every Tuesday and make buying stock relatively cheap, but beware excessive sales of stock or your returns will shrink. Sharebuilder charges $15 each real time sale, so if you choose Sharebuilder, limit your sell trades to minimum.
Zecco Trading
Started back on July 4th, 2006, Zecco Trading offers $0 stock/ETF trades and $0 account minimums, making an attractive offer to investors of all experience levels. I reviewed zecco when I opened my first individual trading account, and was very happy to began trading stocks without paying commission fees.
$0 commission opens up opportunities for experimentation in day trading or more speculative investments because you have zero fees to worry about. If you’re looking to cut down on investment expenses, and boost your annual returns, I recommend trying out Zecco and giving them a shot.
Also, you can use these zecco promotional codes to find special promotion offers from Zecco Trading.
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I thought the comment “HeJustLaughs” made when you reviewed Scottrade applies here:
“I use both Sogoinvest and Sharebuilder. I use sharebuilder to buy my dividend-paying growing companies because sharebuilder offers the free dividend reinvestment. I use Sogoinvest for short term plays (1-6 months) because it costs $15 for sell market orders on sharebuilder and $3 on sogoinvest.”
It makes sense to me. They’re both now part of my investment plan. Thanks TJP and “HeJustLaughs”.
I like sharebuilder, but they do not carry all of the stocks…in fact, very few.
@ Dee
Sharebuilder is a good choice if you have limited funds and want to place your investing on auto pilot. They carry limited shares, but usually have the big Dow and Nasdaq names that most people are familiar with. If they increased their selection of stocks, I bet prices would increase, too.