Which online broker do you use?

[TMoney]

Hello All-

I'm very curious in which online broker site you have an account with and why? I'm now gearing up to start investing and have been looking over the differences between brokers (scottrade, sharebuilder, etc.).

Any insight would be great!

Thanks.

[sweeps]

I use Scottrade because the commissions are cheap ($7 real-time trades), trades execute quickly, and the customer service is good.

I tried Sharebuilder for a while -- mostly just to get the account opening bonus -- but quickly found it wasn't the best choice for me. I didn't like having to wait until Tuesday for my $4 buy order to execute. And I didn't like that selling costs $16 a trade. (Granted, there are different plans that allow you to reduce your trading cost, but I still wasn't excited about that.)

I'm considering opening an account with Zecco. Zero commissions, period.

[QueenOphelia]

Fidelity=Retirement

My initial exposure to them was through an employer and I grew very comfortable with it's easy-to-use interface. I rolled over other 401ks into it and it is where the bulk of my retirement investments live. They have a sliding commission scale based on how much $$ you have with them and offer many No-Load funds.

Bank of America=Non-Retirement

I have been using them since they were Fleet. One of my brother-in-laws turned me on to them and it is fine. They charge $11 per trade if you don't have a BOA account and less if you have savings/checking accounts. There are probably cheaper ways to invest but I'm too lazy to move all my positions to another investment company.

[TMoney]

Thanks guys, any others out there?

[tinapbeana]

i am also looking at scottrade. for me it's a balance of low online commisions and the fact that they have an office 1 mile from my house should i ever need some face time. there are about 4 other brokers that have offices equally close, but none of them are as competitive with their online rates as scottrade.

[JBinKC]

It really depends upon what type of stock you favor, i.e. the price of the stock, the size of the lots you buy and what market it trades on.

I use Ameritrade and Interactive Brokers. Since I am very active in international markets and have little exposure to U.S. equities I think the above two are better. Ameritrade is more economical for larger share limit order trades on the Canadian exchange. On the other hand Interactive Brokers you pay 1/2 cent per share with a $1 minimum. The advantage with them is you have direct access to any market in the world as well as purchasing smaller share lots economical.

Scottrade is a more economical choice for larger share blocks in US equities priced over a $1 a share.