What's the cheapest place to buy stocks? And what do you all think about...

[UserNameNeeded]

closed-end funds? Do you think they're a sham or questionable?

Fidelity charges $20 per stock transaction. I think Charles Schwaab charges a few bucks less. What's the cheapest one to use to buy stocks/etfs/closed-end funds (assuming no other fees for opening/having/closing the account)?

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[etf]

who your broker is depends on how much money you have to invest and what features you need. i use fidelity.

closed end funds can be a good way to diversify - i own the india fund (IFN), and while it is sometimes overvalued and has high management fees, it has done well for me.

 

[Buckeye(OH)]

It seems like, for do it yourselfers, Scottrade is the winner according to my own research as well as JD Power and Consumer Reports.

Although Sharebuilder is fairly nice because you can choose x amount of money to go into any given stock per week/per month...meaning you don't have to buy whole shares and you are dollar/cost averaging.

 

[UserNameNeeded]

Thanks!

Scottrade says:

1. Trade Online for Just $7!

Scottrade now offers one flat rate for all online market AND limit equity orders, regardless of trade frequency, account balance or the number of shares in a transaction. Stocks under $1 are just $7 + 1/2% of principal.

I hope there's no catches to that.

 

[etf]

It seems like, for do it yourselfers, Scottrade is the winner according to my own research as well as JD Power and Consumer Reports.

Although Sharebuilder is fairly nice because you can choose x amount of money to go into any given stock per week/per month...meaning you don't have to buy whole shares and you are dollar/cost averaging.

sharebuilder does have a low $4 commission, but they have terrible execution - meaning that when they buy your shares every tuesday, you will be paying a lot more per share than if you had done the trade yourself. scottrade is cool.

 

[etf]

one thing i can suggest that i do myself is that you open a different account for different investments, depending on the commission. for instance, scottrade charges only $7 a trade for stocks and options, but bond trades cost $35 + $3 per bond, and also have hefty minimums ($10K for CDs/treasuries?). Fidelity lets you buys CDs and treasuries for free, and the minimum is $1k (which is usually the face value anyway). Mutual funds are also something that you should buy directly from the source. And if you want to trade forex/commodities (which you probably shouldn't), you'll have to go somewhere else...

 

[Docxter]

A review and ranking of the three broker categories:

http://www.smartmoney.com/brokers/index.cfm?story=2005-intro&nav=dropTab

 

[etf]

no surprise that fidelity is the number 1 premium broker again - they just offer things that the other guys can't touch...

 

[Buckeye(OH)]

no surprise that fidelity is the number 1 premium broker again - they just offer things that the other guys can't touch...

Happen to catch who ranked #1 in the full service department....

 

[etf]

Happen to catch who ranked #1 in the full service department....

hehe, looks like your edward jones guy (or gal) is the man/woman! but for the record, i prefer to do my own stockpicking... btw, i didn't know that wells fargo was considered a full-service broker - i have an account with them and love it!

p.s., they say that edward jones has the "best" statements? what's so good about them - is there somewhere where i could see a sample?