These days the term discount broker nearly always refers to an Internet broker. Investors both big and small now have access to low fee stock trades on their home computer. As a result, there is a lot of competition for your investing dollar. There are tools available to help evaluate and compare the pros and cons of different discount brokers.
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Difficulty:
Moderately Easy
Instructions
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How a discount broker ranks depends on your priorities. Some investors only care about low fees and commissions. Others want the most accurate and up to date information and research. Still others want the latest trading tools and technology. Of course customer service can win over or cost discount brokers clients. Decide what is most important to you before looking at the ratings. What works for someone else might not be good for you.
2
The company Jupiter Media Metrix provides much of the Internet commerce research and analysis on the discount broker industry. Unfortunately it is very difficult for you to get your hands on this raw data. If you did you probably wouldn't be able to make much sense of it anyway. Fortunately there are others who crunch the data and offer free comparisons of discount broker ratings.
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Bargaineering.com offers a succinct evaluation of most of the major discount brokers in the industry. They stick to brokers who charge $10 or less per trade. It does a good job discussing fees and resources but cuts out some of the discount brokers affiliated with larger financial institutions.
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TheNetFool.com compares a discount brokers in all the basic categories. They limit their list to the top 12 and give higher ratings to lower cost brokers. Customer satisfaction is the top factor in their survey while brokerage features are considered less important.
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Smartmoney.com has evaluated discount brokers for 16 years now. They publish an annual comparison of brokers based on six criteria. It is considered by many to be the most comprehensive and reputable discount broker ranking service available to the public. There is a lot of information here so you need to have an idea what you are looking for in a discount broker to benefit. A link to their latest survey is in the Resources section.
Tips & Warnings
Take your time and read through all the information. Choosing a broker is an important financial decision.
Before you invest in anything, be sure to read all the disclosures and consider all the fees and rules. An educated investor is a smart investor.
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