online stock brokers (E-Trade, TD Waterhouse, etc)

[Craptacular]

The "dot com" thread brought up a timely question I have for any of you who do any online trading.

What websites have you guys used, or would you recommend, for basic research and online trading. I have a Simple IRA retirement account through work that I'm mainly investing in growth-type mutual funds, but am finally getting to a place where I might be able to dabble a little in stocks for some riskier, shorter-term investing. Basically, I might take something like $5K, and see what I can do with it. Honestly, for now, Im looking at it as much for a hobby as an actual way to earn income. I'm not gonna risk anything more than I can afford. If I can make some money towards a pool table, then great. If nothing else, it will give me some investment experience for later times when I'll (hopefully) be dealing with some serious money.

I haven't really started digging into the different sites, but I figure I'll start with places like E-Trade, Ameritrade, Schwab, TD Waterhouse, etc. The most important things to me would be cheap trades and the ability to set up a custom ticker or something that could notify me when a stock hits a certain price. I'm basically on my computer all day at work, so I should be able to respond fairly quickly to any big movements if need be.

Any thoughts on the subject would be appreciated. Thanks!

[st.cronin]

at that level, scottrade is the cheapest

[Craptacular]

at that level, scottrade is the cheapestI'll check 'em out. A google search for them led me to a site called Dogs of the Dow, which has price comparisons and customer reviews. I'll obviously have to research them all thoroughly, but that's a good start.

I also see that JD Power loves Scottrade.

[st.cronin]

I have used scottrade for a long time and have had zero complaints about them. It's a very smooth operation.

[Craptacular]

They also have a local office near my old apartment in the city, so that's nice.

[cthomer5000]

I believe scottrade does not allow after-hours trading, correct? That should be a consideration for anyone.

[MacroGuru]

Scottrade is good.....I use e-trade, just because it was who I was set up with, when I received my stock from Macromedia.

For currencies, I am using Oanda, and I like them better than the others out there.

[Craptacular]

I believe scottrade does not allow after-hours trading, correct? That should be a consideration for anyone.
I saw that in a couple of comments that I had briefly looked at ... I'm assuming most of the other major ones do allow that?

[cthomer5000]

I saw that in a couple of comments that I had briefly looked at ... I'm assuming most of the other major ones do allow that?
I would think so, but you should definitely be aware of whether they do or don't. I know Ameritrade does, as my decision basically came down to these two sites. I'm going with Ameritrade for that reason alone. I don't want to be held hostage if some bad news breaks in the early AM or after-hours.

[BYU 14]

If you are interested in Currencies I would recommend FXCM.com. You can use the same the philosophies you would use for the stock market, with the advantage of having much less to track. (I only trade the Euro, the Yen, the Pound and the Swiss Franc.)

The web site caters to all different levels of investors from a mini account ($300.00) to those you have many thousands to trade. You can also open a practice account so you have no risk as learn the ins and outs of Foreign currencies. Once you set up a real account, trading is fairly cheap as well at 3 pips a transaction.

Oh yeah....since it runs off all the major currency markets you can trade 24 hours.

[bionicgrov]

I would have to say interactivebrokers.com. i have been using them for the better part of the last 6 years, and i have never had a problem. their executions are lightning quick, and their commissions are easily the lowest in the business. i will never trade through another online broker.