How To Choose A Stock Broker For Online Stock Trading

Investors who wish to focus on online stock trading and who don't have any desire to meet face-to-face with a broker are a fortunate lot, nowadays. There is a broad selection of deep-discount internet brokers offering online stock trading at very low commissions.

Quality Executions

Over the past few years, the execution quality of online stock brokers has grown to rival that of the most prestigious of full-service firms, and they have expanded their services to include features like real-time streaming quotes, interactive charts, customizable interfaces, advanced option metrics, compound option orders, and more, often at little to no additional cost.

More Advanced Features

A growing number of discount stock brokers have also begun offering level II quotes and direct-access trading, making online day-trading accessible to a much wider group of traders. For self-directed investors who have some technical acumen, and prefer to make their own investment decisions, online stock trading provides a value that's difficult to match in any other medium.

What's Important to You?

Still, the growth in options for online stock trading platforms raises a question: which broker should you work with? The answer depends on a number of factors, and if often somewhat personal. Commission rates are an important consideration, of course, but they are far from the only factor to consider. Other questions you'll want to ask yourself include:

• How large is your trading portfolio?
• Are you a conservative investor, focusing on buying and holding for the mid to long term? Or are you a more active trader?
• Do you base your decisions on technical analysis or fundamentals?
• Would you like to meet with your broker face-to-face occasionally?
• Do you want access to options? Bonds? Mutual Funds? Preferred stocks? Overseas stocks
• Do you plan to trade on margin?
• In addition to standard online stock trading, would you like to trade over the phone, or with a wireless device or PDA?
• Would you prefer to work with a software platform running on your desktop, or are you comfortable trading on you Internet browser?
• Would you like to interact with other traders, and share real-money trades and performance?

 

Each of these questions is an important consideration, and can have a significant influence on which online stock trading platform you choose. Depending on your trading style and personal priorities, the absolute cheapest online stock trading platform may not be the best one for you. So when reading our stock broker ratings, be sure to keep them in mind.

Everyone is Different

Our opinions as to which are the top stock brokers on the market are geared toward the general market, and may not fit your personal situation perfectly. Be sure to visit the official Web sites of any brokers you consider, and make a fully informed decision.

For more details about a wide variety of brokers currently offering online stock trading, check out the menu to the left.

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