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Consulting What we do What makes us different What we can do for you About Contacting Us Free book samples Books Other publications Resources Links
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| Question #8: How Do I Buy or Sell Mutual
Funds, Stocks, and Bonds Online?To have a fully functioning account, brokerages are
required to have your signature on file. After they have your signature, you can buy or
sell as much as you want, 24 hours a day. However, you orders aren't executed until the
market opens.
After you open your account, you can log onto the
Internet, go to your brokerage Web site, and enter orders by completing the online form.
You can access your account at any time, check all your investments, and monitor your
investments by using online news or quote services. |
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| Examples of
Good Online Brokerages for Beginners
If you think an electronic broker is right for
you, you may want to consider the following examples (all prices are subject to change
without notice):
* Ameritrade
(www.ameritrade.com)
requires $2,000 to open a trading account and $1,000 to open an IRA account.
Market and limit orders are $10.99. Ameritrade offers a trading demo and
investor education center called Investor Basics. Expect to pay a $15
maintenance fee every quarter.
Note:
Market orders
are instructions for the broker to immediately buy or sell a security for
the best available price. Limit orders are trading orders that
specify a certain price at which the broker is to execute the order.
* HarrisDirect (www.harrisdirect.com)
is ideal for beginning online investors because it doesn’t require
any initial minimum deposit for trading or IRA accounts. The more you trade
the less the cost of trading. For example, 1 to 17 market or limit orders
are $19.95, 18 to 59 trades are $14.95 and 60 or more trades are $9.95. The
brokerage offers access to a wide variety of research resources. (Investors
with $100,000 or more have direct access IPOs). Customers can place trades
via the Internet, telephone, or wireless devices in addition to proprietary
software.
* E*Trade
(www.etrade.com)
is one of the top-ranked online brokerages. You’ll need $1,000 for the
initial deposit. Market trades are $14.95 for up to 1,000 shares. Customers
have unlimited access to IPO information, real-time quotes, charts, baseline
reports, market news, and more.
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| Checking out your brokerThe
Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) insures brokerage accounts in a way that
is similar to how the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures bank accounts.
Each customer's account is insured to $500,000, and some brokerages have additional
insurance. In other words, if your brokerage firm fails, your investment is covered.
Investors are wise to look into the background of
a brokerage firm before investing. The Central Registration Depository (CRD) files are
available at your state securities agency or the National Association of Securities
Dealers (NASD). Additionally, each month the New York Stock Exchange releases a
disciplinary action list at www.nyse.com. |
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Getting the best online
trading services for lessThe table below shows a few examples of the features that
online brokers offer. These additional benefits change regularly, so check at the online
brokers Web site before you open an account.
| Brokerage |
Web
Address |
Additional
Benefits |
| American
Express Financial Direct |
http://www.americanexpress.com/direct |
Unlimited quotes,
charts, news, S&P reports, and Zacks estimates. |
|
HarrisDirect |
http://www.harrisdirect.com |
Stock screens, fund
screens, research, S&P research, Lipper Reports, Zacks Research, and DLJ IPOs
research. |
| E*Trade |
http://www.etrade.com |
Check-writing
privileges, investing game, news, and delayed quotes. |
| Fidelity
Investments |
http://www.fidelity.com
|
Trade online, use
online calculators, and get news, quotes, research, interactive investment tools. |
| Muriel Siebert
& Company |
http://www.msiebert.com |
Free check writing, no
per-check fees, free trades for referring customers, customized commission for active
traders, $100 million account insurance, and free dividend reinvestment. |
|
TD Waterhouse |
http://www.tdwaterhouse.com |
Free check writing, ATM
card, free dividend reinvestment, research, real-time quotes, news and charts, portfolio
tracking, Zacks earning estimates, and S&P stock reports. |
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