E*Trade or Sharebuilder for a first grader trader?

**SavingCash** · 03-12-2009, 07:24 PM

E-Trade will charge you anywhere from $9.99 to $14.99 per stock trade (depending on account assets) while Sharebuilder charges $4.00 per automatic transaction (only on Tuesday of every week). If you're contributing small amounts on a regular basis, Sharebuilder is the best deal...

BUT

If you're a green investor and serious about saving for retirement, I would strongly consider opening a trading account or IRA at Vanguard. Put your money into something solid like the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund or similar. The initial purchase minimum is $3,000 with $250 minimums whenever you add to your position. However, there are no transaction fees, so it makes it really affordable to contribute small amounts each month on a regular basis. Also, Vanguard funds are rock solid.

I used to rave about E-Trade and their line of proprietary no transaction fee funds, but they recently discontinued them so I'll be moving my entire IRA over to Vanguard.

**Broken Arrow** · 03-12-2009, 07:32 PM

I'm still pretty green myself, but I jumped straight into Scottrade and did just fine. So, I think pretty much any reputable brokerage will be fine for anyone starting out....

There are some minor differences between each brokerages though. Small pros and cons that are worth looking into, and finding out that best suits you.

**Pitman** · 03-13-2009, 03:24 AM

Thanks for the lengthy response SavingCash. I should�ve said in my first post, this is not my savings for retirement, I have a few dollars that I can risk, and willing to step my foot in the stock trade. I'll keep Vanguard in mind a little bit down the road.

I have an account with ing so opening up with sharebuilder seems like the ideal thing to do, but $4 per share only on Tuesdays, isn't winning me over. I don't plan on selling/buying just one day a week. The reason I mentioned etrade is I've heard nothing but rave reviews from many people, except for a few issues with customer service.

I'll look into Scottrade, TD Ameritrade, & others.

Hopefully my next post will be about which stocks I've bought.

**kork13** · 03-13-2009, 03:37 AM

I don't do active trading myself, but it seems to me that it's something that you would want to just find the cheapest transaction fees you can and go for it. They all provide you essentially the same service, and as long as you can do it all online, you will have little need to mess with their customer service or any of their other 'features'. .....I could just be ignorant and speaking out of the air, however....

**mommyof4** · 03-13-2009, 03:56 AM

I haven't found anyone cheaper than Sharebuilder for the automatic investments.

**Broken Arrow** · 03-13-2009, 06:19 AM

With an account balance of at least $2500, Zecco offers ten free trades a month. So, that's technically the cheapest....

Wells Fargo also offers 100 free trades a year I think, but requires $25k.

Last I looked, Sharebuilder's weekly bulk buy is $4 a trade, but immediate trades are $10, and I think sells are $12 a trade? Sogo has $3 per trade, and TradeKing is $5 per trade, but I don't have any experience with them. Scottrade has nothing but immediate trades, but they are $7 per trade.

But that's just off the top of my head, so I could be wrong.

**GrimJack** · 03-13-2009, 09:34 PM

What I like about TDWaterhouse IRA accounts is that they will automatically re-invest dividends which Scott Trade will not; and their IRAs are no fee.

**project15** · 03-15-2009, 05:32 PM

Originally posted by Broken Arrow View Post

With an account balance of at least $2500, Zecco offers ten free trades a month. So, that's technically the cheapest....

As of March 1st, they raised this to $25k. So it may not be helpful for the beginning investor.

I just opened an account with SoGoTrade.com. 100 free trades for the first month and normal trades are only $3.

**Broken Arrow** · 03-16-2009, 04:06 AM

Originally posted by project15 View Post

As of March 1st, they raised this to $25k. So it may not be helpful for the beginning investor.

I just opened an account with SoGoTrade.com. 100 free trades for the first month and normal trades are only $3.

I knew it wouldn't last long. Kind of funny because, elsewhere, I had other people argue with me that Zecco's free trade deal is a sustainable business model. But that's not what happened to Sogo for example. They used to be free as well, and now they're not even if they're still among the most affordable.

That's also why I didn't have my brokerage account with Zecco, because I didn't want to "rate chase" and constantly move my trading account around.

**yourtwobits** · 03-17-2009, 09:46 PM

I use Scottrade. I do very little active trading and most of my mutual funds, I purchase directly from the mutual fund company. Scottrade's $7 trades are pretty straightforward and the is clear enough. I hear about companies that offer trades for pennies/trade, but I don't know any of them off the top of my head. My guess is that you have to have a relatively high balance.

**reptile411** · 03-18-2009, 04:23 AM

I have used sharebuilder long before ING took over. They have there ups and downs as with any company but I am very happy with them.

**mrose1120** · 03-18-2009, 05:53 AM

i like tradeking myself

E*Trade or Sharebuilder for a first grader trader?