Trading platforms?

[haftafish22]

I have some money saved that I want to start putting in the market. Something other than my retirement. Anyway, what is a better site to use to do this. Planning on putting in 1000 to start. Any advice? Low fees, less commissions? I am a newb

[boneil]

I use options house for trading but TD ameritrade's think or swim platform for charts. Commissions are some of the cheapest with Options House. While commissions are important, ease of use might be more important for a beginner. You should visit and take a tour of all the major platforms. Maybe open a paper account to test drive.

Pay attention to commissions, they can eat you up.

[tj]

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[merc123]

I opened a Scott Trade because it's $7 per trade (online) which was the cheapest at the time I researched. There are some stipulations like stocks under $5 get a surcharge on top of the $7 and I think it's $35 if you call it in. I don't care too much for their online research tools and have most of my buys/sells in Google Finance portfolios. I can add transaction data into the Google portfolio and see loss/gains an an easier format than Scott Trade.

ST did just redesign their website and I've started to explore it more so I may switch over to it depending on if I can get the features I want.

ST is not a financial advisor. Their local offices can help you do things with your account or help you understand what things mean but can't give you stock advice.

[derek81]

Schwab has more info on their site than you would ever need.

[haftafish22]

I ended up getting in with scott trade. Seemed simple enough. I may play around with others in the future, but so far it's working out. Days not over yet, but I'm on the positive side after my trade cost. Not bad for the meager funds I contributed.