Online Trading

Darren Wright

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I've been trying to decide what to do with some common stock that my previous company gave me for my years of service. It's not a lot of money and I have always toyed with the idea of doing some day-trading, so trying to figure out if it would be worth doing.

Anyone here have experience with using Scottrade? So far they seem to be the cheapest for trades and doesn't look like they have any annual fees.

Would like to know what others have experienced with them or other online trade sites.

Thanks,
 
No, but I don't like single stocks. Obviously it's yours to do with as you please. But if it were me I would sell in a heart beat.

I would put that money in a Mutual Fund and let the experts invest it for me. A single stock has much more risk than any Mutual Fund. Very slim chance of every company owned in a Mutual Fund going out of business or becoming a BP.

Mine dropped in value like a rock during the recession just like everyone else but I am in it for the long term. I am already seeing big gains each quarter and probably made back everything I lost and then some. Before it is over I will be way ahead. And if I looked back at what I first put in I am probably still way ahead of my initial investments. It's not a loss or gain till I sell it.

Again, not my money! ;)
 
When our son died I invested his insurance money into conservative mutual funds recommended by my broker, a family friend. This was to be used for our daughters college education. Within three years they had vanished to less than 1% (you read that right, one percent) of original value. She (the broker) kept telling me not to sell because they would come back. Didn't and never have. This may sound very un-American, not like me, but if I had investment money it would not go any where near the stock market.
To get back to subject. I have heard Scott Trade is reliable.
 
I had etrade until my balance fell below a thousand and they hit me with a huge fine. I promptly closed that account and opened up an account with Ameritrade. No complaints so far.
 
I had etrade at one point, and started getting inactivity fines, swapped to scottrade and have been very happy. They're a straight foward easy to deal with company.

I generally agree with the above statements on day trading though. It's fun, it's a hobby of mine, and I do better than a CD with a portion of my savings. The greater the risk, the greater the reward, but it gets offset by big downsides on other stocks. So have fun, but don't let it go to your head. I've known some people that thought they could ride the market day trading and lost $50k in a week because they were leveraged out, thinking it's gotta come back up.
 
Ouch. Yeah I try and keep about 8-12 stocks in fairly varied sectors. It's more risky than bonds and cd's, but it's fun keeping up with them. I've lost a bunch on a couple companies, made a bunch on others.
 
Thanks for all the replies and advice. I was mostly curious if Scottrade had any hidden fees or fees for lack of transactions and I'll continue to do some research. It looks like the stock is starting to recover from the drop after the recession and I'd like to be able to dump out of it when it does. I'm willing to give the day-trading a try. I've watched several stocks that I've researched do well over the years, so it could be interesting to see how I do.
 
Thanks for all the replies and advice. I was mostly curious if Scottrade had any hidden fees or fees for lack of transactions and I'll continue to do some research. It looks like the stock is starting to recover from the drop after the recession and I'd like to be able to dump out of it when it does. I'm willing to give the day-trading a try. I've watched several stocks that I've researched do well over the years, so it could be interesting to see how I do.

darren yu must live in a differnt part of the world the recession isnt over up here and is somewhat gettin worse... good luck in your trades but i would avoid the auto industry,, try for solar or green stuff..or buy property they stopped making dirt some time ago..:D
 
darren yu must live in a differnt part of the world the recession isnt over up here and is somewhat gettin worse... good luck in your trades but i would avoid the auto industry,, try for solar or green stuff..or buy property they stopped making dirt some time ago..:D

Well, to give my old company credit, they process stock/mutual fund transactions, so they still make money whether someone is buying, selling, or just moving money around. With all the job cuts and restructuring they did, they look good on paper. I was one of the more fortunate ones to find other work quickly, still have a lot of friends out of work, but many have had good luck here.

I actually am looking at energy and health care stocks for trading...oh and we are doing some real estate investing soon. :D
 
Darren, maybe I'm overstepping here, but when you say day trading do you mean turning stocks over quickly, perhaps in a day or a few days, or are you thinking simply of buying stocks on line, through a discount brokerage?

Day trading is incredibly risky. Akin to gambling. So, if you're out to have fun, fine, but as a serious investment vehicle, yikes. I've used TDAmeritrade for online transactions, and have been happy with them.
 
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