majik

I'm looking for anybody with experience in online-trading of stocks.

The market is in horrible shape, everybody knows that. But stocks are at their lowest in 3, 5, or 10 years. Such as GE, they haven't been so low since the mid 90's.

I'm looking at putting some of my tax refund into use, buying a few shares of stocks. For the stock I'm pursuing, I'm considering about 150 shares, at $2/share.

E-Trade advertises "100 Commission Free Stocks & Options Trades." What are the related "commission" fees? What are the non-commission related costs for purchasing stock? When I decide to cash in, what are the related costs?


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It looks like $7.99 to purchase 150 shares. (Source: https://us.etrade.com/e/t/prospectestation/...1206010000#TOP)

The sucky part is:
"Your account will be reviewed on each quarter's Activity Record Date and a $40 Account Service Fee (ASF) will be assessed, if applicable, on the Fee Date, which is Wednesday during the last full week of each quarter as indicated below:"

I don't want to pay $40 every quarter ($160/yr) just to own stocks.

So how do I buy stocks for the long term, without any strings attached?

avblueshark

I just opened a TD Waterhouse account. I'm looking into a lot of alternative energy/ renewable energy companies. The word is, it's a bit early to put money into them, but I see it like there is no way we're gonna make it out of this without renewable energy. Why not get a jump on it. GE is a company that is surely gonna have a big part in all of that some day. I'm not sure a ton of people would tell you to invest right now, but things are gonna get better eventually..... Personally, I think if you have any "spare" cash, take a shot at it.

I'm sure anyone can still find money that they spend on stuff they don't need. Investing isn't just spending, but isn't far from gambling, right now.

majik

if you have spare cash, and are certain that the company you're investing in won't go belly-up, then it's a good time to invest. Stocks are at their lowest.

I was looking at GE last week, but they aren't the company I've been following. I'm looking at investing in AMD, which I've followed since I was in high school. They've bottomed out a few times at $2 / share, and I want to get all my information together so I can purchase next time they drop to that point.

At $2/share, investing $300 could yield $700+ profit (after making my investment back) when it reaches $7/share ($7 * 150 shares = $1,050).

http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives...ne_brokers.html
Kiplinger rated the top 10 Online Brokers

I looked into Fidelity, I didn't see anything that mentioned an "account service fee" or any maintenance fees. Looks good so far, but I think I'm going to call them and get a definitive price on how much it'll cost to just purchase stocks and let 'em sit for a while.

tanc

I would look into preferred stocks with dividend options. Make sure the company does not announce a dividend decrease in the future, its a sign of poor cash flows.

frozen

My dad has been holding a couple of good stocks in oil tankers. Pretty high dividends, low market fluctuation, and pretty stable. He initially bought $10,000 in shares, and he's made almost $2 thousand in dividends in the last 6 quarters I think.If I can resist putting $ from my return into my car, I'll probably put $1000 into stocks just to play around with them a bit, however doubtful I'll hold long term.

majik

Looking into this again.

I really wanted to dump about $1,000 into AMD back in March but couldn't find enough info online. I also wanted to go cheap and didn't want to pay all the fees.

$1,000 of AMD @ $2 back in March = 500 shares
500 shares today @ $6.50 (and growing) = $3,250

Profit = $2,250. What is that, 225% ROI? Hindsight, wish I would've invested $2,000 and paid the damn $75 in fees.

01tibby

they're benefiting big from the 1.25 billion intel has to pay em.

majik

^ yeah, it was up 20% last I saw, but it's been hovering above $6 off and on.

i8acobra

I'm still buying/selling Sirius.

majik

through what process? Someone today told me Scottrade is good.