Online trading accounts...

[CoffeeCat]

Does anyone trade online using E Trade, Scott or other online trading accounts?

Does anyone have any opinion about which one is best, or which offers the lowest
prices, with no hidden fees?

Thanks for any info...

[thecrow]

1. Sharebuilder is pretty good

they have several investment plans ranging from free to $20 a month.

[CoffeeCat]

6. thanks for that...

I haven't heard much about Sharebuilder, but I will check them out.

:)

[amerikat]

2. I use TD Ameritrade. Low trading fees $10 to buy or sell shares

but I would stay away from stocks right now. Dow 4000?

There is no good news about the economy US or around the world.

[CoffeeCat]

7. I'd like to short some stocks...

...and buy a few blue chips that I think might weather this storm.

I see exactly what you see, which is why I'm wanting to do this.

I know nothing about shorting stocks, so I'm doing some research.

I see the handwriting on the wall, and I agree with your Dow 4,000 guestimate.

[amerikat]

10. Shorting stocks is not investing........

it's gambling that the stock will lose money (go down in value). Shorting requires a lack of faith in the market. Going long requires a faith that values will go up.

Having said that, at this point it is every man/women for them selves. I would buy

pick one or a few. http://www.proshares.com/funds

You could also invest in the things you need to survive on, such as food, spare parts,medical supplies etc.

[Joanne98]

19. are you going to short stocks or industries? I don't have any money but

I play investopedia. I've been shorting banks FAZ and oil DUG. I'm probably going to short emerging markets too. EEV!

:hi:

[Statistical]

3. How much do you have? Ballpark.

I think TD Ameritrade is one of the best however I think the minimum is like 42000. $9.99 trades, good tools, no hidden fees (pretty much no fees at all except commissions + margin).

Etrade works but has higher commissions. They pretty much take anyone though.

I don't have any experience w/ Scott but they are decent from what I hear.

Fidelity is best of breed in terms of service, tools, research but fees are higher so I would not go with them if you have less than $5,000 ($10,000 - $20,000 would be better) because of the high min transactions on mutual funds and high comissions for stocks.

[CoffeeCat]

8. I don't have a lot...

...This is just play money that I've got in the mattress. I'd like to take
a chunk and play around a bit. Anywhere from $4-10k.

I'm wanting to do some trading when the market goes lower--and short some stocks as well.

I feel so dirty doing it, but I know an impending train wreck when I see one.

[girl gone mad]

11. shorting ins something you have to do on margin..

meaning you have to have good credit and be approved by the broker, then they will set a limit on how much you can borrow. It's more complicated than going long and technically riskier, since you could potentially lose more than you put in.

[Statistical]

13. Margin requires NO credit. Your assets are your credit

SEC requires an account to have a min of $2,500 to be approved for margin though.

[ipfilter]

21. The FED requirment is $2000 for margin

and brokers absolutely do a hard inquiry on your credit report when opening a margin account. The margin loan is secured by the securities held on margin, but they are still extending credit, collateral notwithstanding. Nobody but payday loansharks extends credit without a credit check.

[Statistical]

22. I guess IB, TD Ameritrade, and Fidelity are all loansharks...

None of the three did an inquiry (I track all 3 credit reports).

My latest account is w/ IB and rated for naked equity and index calls.

If any lender offered you terms at the same terms required by margin account they wouldn't have to check your credit. A car loan would be something like "you car must we stored 24/7/365 in our garage. You need to put 50% down and more down on exotic cars. In realtime we will compare the current value of your car to your debt. If ever the value between your debt and value of car drops below 33% we reserve the right to sell your car and cover the loan. Any losses incurred as a result are your loss."

[girl gone mad]

23. They all do credit checks.

It won't necessarily show up on your credit report.

TD Ameritrade clearly states on their application that a credit check is required to open an account. They probably run credit checks several times a year on margin account holders.

Fidelity initially rejected my margin application years ago due to lack of credit. I had to get a revolving line of credit and apply again 6 months later, even though I had over 100k in my brokerage account.

Access to margin accounts is more restrictive when compared to cash accounts. When you ask for a margin account, your broker will (if he or she hasn't already) run a credit check on you. You will also have to sign a separate margin account agreement. The agreement says that the broker can use as collateral any securities held in the margin account whenever you have a debit balance (i.e., you owe the broker money). Note that if you have a cash account with the same broker, securities held in the cash account (often non-marginable securities) do not help (nor can the broker sell them) if you have a debit balance in the margin account. Conversely, securities in the cash account do not count towards margin requirements.

http://invest-faq.com/cbc/trade-broker-accts.html

[Statistical]

14. For $4K to $10K TD Ameritrade is a pretty good fit.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE understand the risks of an open short.
You can lose a theoretically infinite amount of money in a short.

Quick example:
You buy a stock at $10 per share (called being LONG).
The most you can lose is $10 per share (stock goes to $0.00).
The most you can gain is infinite: your gain = sell price - $10.
Stock goes to $50 you gain $40.
Stock goes to $500 you gain $400.
Stock goes to $5000 you gain $4000.
Now those are extremes but your theoretical gain is unlimited.

Compare that to shorting.
You SHORT a stock at $10 per share.
The most you can GAIN is $10 per share (stock goes to $0.00).
The most you can LOSE is infinite: your loss = $10 - cover price.
Stock goes to $50 you LOSE $40.
Stock goes to $500 you LOSE $400.
Stock goes to $5000 you LOSE $4000.
Now those are extremes but your theoretical loss is unlimited.

Your broker can perform a margin call to limit your losses and close your position without your permission.
Once position is closed you can't recover your loss if/when stock declines.

If the broker doesn't move quickly enough:
You can lose MORE than you deposit.
You can end up owing the brokerage money and if you can't pay they can sue you.
Those shorting VW when Porsche closed the float lost up to 20,000% of their investment.

Much safer option is a SHORT ETF that tracks an index.
ProShares Short S&P500 is one example (ticker: SH).

It moves the opposite of the S&P 500 index on a daily basis.
IF the S&P500 is down 2% for they day SH is up 2% for the day.
IF the S&P500 is up 2% for the day SH is down 2% for the day.

For more risk/leverage there are 2x short ETF like ticker SDS
IF the S&P500 is down 2% for they day SDS is up 4% for the day.
IF the S&P500 is up 2% for the day SDS is down 4% for the day.

Unlike a short you can NEVER lose more than what you invest by using an ETF.

If you want short exposure on individual stocks you should look into OPTIONS.
A PUT gives you the ability to gain value when stock declines. Like an ETF the contract can never go below $0 so you have a maximum loss (100% of the value of the contract).

You really should do some homework and completely understand how options works including things like time decay, intrinsic value, time/extrinsic value, and greek symbols before considering options.

[Joanne98]

20. ETF's are the way to go!

[ipfilter]

17. You need at least $25K

to day trade on a regular basis. If you do more than 3 buy/sell trades in five rolling days your margin account will be marked as a pattern day trader and you will have to wait for T+3 settlement. IMO the best shorting opportunities were last year. Now your just trying to compete with other traders and your account will get ground down to nothing in no time. The current volatility can be your friend, but the whipsaws can rip your face off.

Here's my unsolicited advice. Don't use a margin account unless you fully understand how you can lose your ass with it. Margin accounts are great, but they are also a financial weapon of mass destruction. When you end up on the wrong side of a trade a margin account can bankrupt you. Notice I said "when" you are on the wrong side of a trade...not if.

Here's the FINRA Day Trading rules. All brokers enforce this rule without fail.

http://www.finra.org/Investors/SmartInvesting/AdvancedInvesting/DayTrading/p005906

[Nite Owl]

4. It really depends on how you

will use the account. Are you a frequent trader, what kind of platform do you need and how experienced are you?
I have Scottrade, Ameritrade and Interactive Brokers. They are all good in their own way. Cheapest is Interactive Brokers @ $1 a trade and if you are doing option trading this is the place to go. Scottrade is good for investing and general trading if you don't trade too frequently. I have an office nearby so if you need a check or need to go in to talk to someone there is someone there. They are $7 a trade. Very easy site and decent research. The Ameritrade account is new, it was deal and I don't have much there but it seems ok so far. I'm paying $5 a trade there for a year but haven't traded yet so I can't say if the prices that they get are good.
I haven't heard good things about etrade but have no experience there myself.

[CoffeeCat]

9. Thanks for the good overview on all of...

...those companies.

Scottrade looks decent from what little research I've read.

Thanks!

[metapunditedgy]

5. Ameritrade has cheated a lot of investors, and is being investigated

by state and federal regulators. I and many others were given false information by their sales reps, and we ended up stashing our funds in so-called money markets run by The Reserve. These funds "broke the buck," and we've been waiting for months to get (hopefully most) of our money back.

So I can't speak negatively enough about Ameritrade. (More details if anyone cares.)

I transferred over to Ameritrade from ETrade a year ago, and have to say that Ameritrade is far inferior in terms of professionalism and honesty. (And I'm not recommending ETrade, either.)

[A HERETIC I AM]

12. Regardless of who you use, if you sign a margin agreement, read it VERY carefully.

Most if not all margin agreements allow the Brokerage firm to lend out your securities and they do not have to tell you when they do it. None of those discount brokers can really make money doing $9.95 trades (or $7.00 or $1.00). They make money in other ways, one is lending out securities.

Here is Scottrade's account agreement document. Read the section on Margin accounts, particularly sections 59 & 60 on page 6 VERY CAREFULLY;


http://www.scottrade.com/formscenter/PDF/111_BrokAccAgreement.pdf

[.... callchet ....]

15. I am assuming the question was in jest.

If it wasn't, then don't even in your wildest dreams think about it. On the scale you are talking about it would be like trying to guess the lotto numbers everyday and getting them right. Look for how many day traders are flying Citations. Watch the ticker crawler, it is red and pointing down for 100's to one.

[.... callchet ....]

16. Buy gold and machine guns.

Seriously about machine guns. There are a fixed amount of guns available for private ownership. That number will never increase. In times of impending stricter gun legislation the price goes up. There is no moral issue here. It is like buying stocks,there are moral guidelines, it is strictly a profit motive.

[SlowDownFast]

24. LOL. You crack me up, callchet.

Tell us how you really feel!

:rofl:

[ipfilter]

18. I have a Scottrade margin account for trading

and I have some custodial accounts with Sharebuilder for my kids. Sharebuilder is good for long term investing but you don't even want to try to day trade with them. Their quotes and fills suck for trading. Scottrade is good and the $7 commissions are decent. Options with Scott can get pricey at $7 + $1.25 per contract.

[SlowDownFast]

25. thinkorswim.

https://www.thinkorswim.com/tos/client/index.jsp

I heard recently they are selling to TDAmeritrade in a few months, but they will still keep their online trading platform (voted #1 by Barrons) and I can't imagine commissions will change much, if at all. Might be a good time to jump in and get "grandfathered" in, if that's the case. Talk to a broker there to find out.