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22 Comments
- Drizzit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Last I remember commodities dont pay dividends.
And if currency goes to nil. What are you really going to do with gold?
Is it in your posession? No, then how do you plan on getting to it. Do you think those who have your paid for gold will just give it to you if everything went bad anyways.
He who has the gold rules is the old saying. It's probably true even if he has your gold. - JRumph, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2That has got to be the worst information I have read in a while. Just how have gold, silver, and rare coins "wildly outperformed stocks"? Maybe they have in the last six months, but over the long-term it isn't even close. Just look at historical commodity prices. In 1979 gold was at over $850 per ounce. Today it is at another peak of $600/ounce. So if you bought gold in 1979 and held it for 27 years you would have lost nearly 30% on your investment, and that average is brought up greatly by the recent run-up in gold. Gold was as low as $250 just a few years ago.
Now look at stocks. The stock market, on average, will net roughly 10-12% per year on a long-term investment. It will be volatile in the short-term, but that volatility is much lower than the commodities you recommend. In 1979 the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 500. Today it is nearly 11,000. That is 22X the price it was in 1979. Let's see, over the same time period you could have either lost 30% of your investment, or multiplied it by 22. Which do you think is better?
Commodities are more of a gamble than an investment. It is irresponsible to insinuate that gold and silver is a better investment than stocks. Commodities have a place in a diversified portfolio, but that should never be your entire investment.
I won't even dignify your whole "The US Dollar suffers from stupendous fundamental weakness and, as a fiat currency, is doomed to reach zero value some day no matter what" argument with a response. That just isn't worth my time. - Geeshboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This article is weak. It doesn't even mention all of the online brokers.
- deanlowe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Any stock site like Yahoo finance are filled with ads for discount brokers. Just click on any of them to fine their rates.
- shawnb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1does anyone know of a good list of online brokerages with a list of their prices? I am looking to get into stocks but I have no idea what site I should buy from...
- thund3rstruck, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I recommed sharebuilder.com. I've been with them for years and it costs $4 per trade and you can invest as much or as little as you want. if only I could learn to pick winners...Damn Sirius Radio (SIRI)!
- dsmudger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Another 'yes but I use this one' kinda reply, but I think this one's really worth mentioning :o)
http://www.interactivebrokers.com
and the UK version http://www.interactivebrokers.co.uk
USD 0.005 per share commision (yes, half a cent :), subject to a minimum of $1, maximum 0.2% of the value of the trade.
So for example, if let's say you wanted to buy 250 shares of NYSE:PBR, that's $1.25 commision to open a $19,000 position! ...about a week ago anyway - they're up around 8% today :D
In this example, 0.2% of the trade is $38.33 so it's nowhere near that.
Of course being in the UK, I need to convert my pounds into dollars first if I'm buying US stocks - no problem, commision is 0.2 basis points * trade value subject to $2.50 minimum (1 basis point = 0.0001), so it's $2.50 for buying currency amounts under $125,000.
They also have extremely cheap leverage if you're into that game (LIBOR plus 1.5% or something...) - life99, on 05/26/2009, -0/+1To choose a good Forex Broker, you have to make sure they are registered under Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) along with the National Futures Association (NFA) as the expert.
To be Forex Broker they must first get fully certificate lessen which is under guard which is very strict and difficult to obtain. Forex Broker company should meet the above requirements and follow the international regulations before they can get lessen.
read here http://best-forex-info.blogspot.com/2009/05/what-f ... - onesix18, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Plain and simple--go for the lowest commission broker. I like Scottrade, but Sharebuilder is good too. Do your research and pick your own stocks. If you're new to this, just start with index funds (and plan to add regularly to them and hold them long term). Trying to make money in stocks short term is a lot like gambling.
- pittel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1http://www.sharebuilder.com/sharebuilder/Index.asp
have been using this one for over a year, very easy and have had no issue with them. support has always been helpful and answers e-mails fast. - edhm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I use Banc of America Investment Services (Banc is not misspelled). I am charged $7 a trade like many online brokers since I have my checking/savings with Bank of America. So for me it is easy since all my bank and trading accounts are linked. In addition to all the online brokers check out your bank (if it is available), you may get the same deals with the same tools/research available.
- Hydraulix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0They forgot one. www.buyandhold.com. I've been using buyandhold.com for years now. $6.99 a month with two free trades. Works for me.
- jpholga, on 12/22/2008, -0/+0This is a VERY helpful article, thank you for writing it. I want to share a site I just built–I’m trying to make it easier to compare online stock brokers as efficiently as possible. Check out www.online-broker-guide.com and let me know what you guys think.
- nopepper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@shawnb: Here are a few links to get you started:
http://www.fool.com/dbc/dbc.htm
http://www.smartmoney.com/brokers/index.cfm?story=2005-intro
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/TheBestOnlineBrokers.aspx - stylerm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1If you can, I am not sure how since it is a japanese company, but I would buy lots of Nintendo before Wii is released.
- demon0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I unfortunately chose E*Trade because that is what my dad and uncle used, and I trusted that they did their homework. It was $9.99 for awhile, but recently went up to $12.99. That really hurts, and I bet I'd be better off somewhere else. I just don't feel like transferring.
- MikeHinds, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I also use ScotTrade. $7 per trade, and I only rebalance my portfolio once a year.
My strategy is to use Index ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) - 20% in a broad market index ETF, 20% in an aggressive index ETF (small-cap value+growth), 20% in a broad foreign ETF, 20% in a real-estate ETF and 20% in gold and oil ETFs. - idempotent, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I am an active daytrader and I am using scottrade’s elite platform. I don’t have many complaints about scottrade. I’ve used Ameritrade before (and still have an account with them). For trading sizes at 1000 shares or more at a time, it’s cheaper than the per-share commissions of, say TradeStation and the like. There are people that say they cheat you out of a cent on orders by outsourcing their order flow, and all I can say is sometimes it does seem like that’s happening, but other times my fills are instantaneous.
The biggest downside to scottrade right now, in my opinion, is you have very little flexibility for trading options. I don’t expect someone like scottrade to allow me to write naked options, but they won’t even allow vertical or calendar spreads, for instance.
The second biggest complaint I have, is that you can’t tell how many shares (if any) are available for shorting without just trying to make the trade. That means wasting a fair amount of time waiting for a great setup, only to find out that your order won’t go through. In general, though, it is rare when I can’t short a stock. They have pretty good short inventory.
At some point, I will get the energy to switch to Tradestation or CyberTrader, but scottrade is good enough that it hasn’t overcome my laziness to switch. I do this for a living, so I can’t think of any casual traders that wouldn’t be satisfied with scottrade.
I have a day trading/system trading blog if anyone is interested in learning more about day-to-day trading life (daytraders do still exist!) http://idempotent-trader.blogspot.com - bstolzberg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Really good information.
- stealthc, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Stocks are not the best place to put your money. Gold, silver and rare coins have wildly outperformed stocks, and the fundamentals of these assets are more bullish than they've been in 30 years. The US Dollar suffers from stupendous fundamental weakness and, as a fiat currency, is doomed to reach zero value some day no matter what.
http://www.blanchardonline.com/gold_as_investment/gold_vs_stock.php
http://www.goldline.com
http://www.kitco.com
http://www.bulliondirect.com - panheaduk, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Only in the richest country in the world could this be considered a problem.
- jcvaldez, on 10/12/2007, -9/+0great article.
http://marketlinks.org
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