New Trader Wanting to Learn About Brokerage Accts

[tweevy]

Hi, I am new to day trading and I currently only trade stocks and have a Scottrade acct. Is that good enough for now or do you know of any other discount brokerage accts that offer low fees, excellent tools (charts, screeners etc...) and great service?

[angelaktariel]

As from one newbie to another I can say that you have come to the right place. I just joined TL last month and also new to day trading and also am trading stocks. I can tell you this much, this is a journey, so you have to really be ready and open for that. My life right now has been taken over learning everything I can about stock trading pretty much, so one has to be willing to put some things aside in order to learn.

The people on this forum are just wonderful and very knowledgable, so I am sure your questions here will be answered.

When I started trading (which was just in December of last year) I had an account with Ameritrade and still do, as I am just now transitioning my account to Tradestation. Reasons for choosing Tradestation is that I plan on being mentored and so far the people I have been talking with, who do the mentoring, all use Tradestation. Perhaps down the road I will change my mind, however right now, it will be best for me to use the same as they do, it only makes sense.

If you are not looking into mentoring, I believe Thinkorswim is a very good broker, so you might take a look at them.

I am sure more knowledgable people will give you their opinion, this is just mine, so take it for that.

I personally love reading books, so those have been very helpful. Also this forum is really all you need as far as information on the internet, what I found personally is that if I look in too many places, I get overwhelmed as it is too much information to take in, so finding the right place for me was the first step.

Anyway, I wish you much luck and good learning.

Eva

[Trvlwanderer]

scottrade elite is great for swings with decent sizes, but the comissions will dent your P&L if you scale in or out or make many round trips.

If you are making several trades a day, TS or IB are far cheaper (except in the 1000 share range...TS $8 vs. ST $7). Don't forget the platform fee for TS if you do not trade enough.

IB gives you portability vs. TS, but the charts leave much to be desired. You can use many front-ends for IB to overcome the problem....check IB website for a list of third-party tools. Quotetracker does a good job.

Also, IB has better interest rates on idle money if that is a concern. A 100k base with all positions closed at EOD will add up quickly.

It all depends on what you want...but if you are new, this may be a struggle. I'm not plugging one over the other as they both have strengths and weaknesses.

Good luck and happy trading.