Hi All,
I'm looking to begin investing in stocks for the first time. Due to having no specific experience doing so, I was wondering what the best brokerages are. I don't plan to invest high amounts and would love a platform that's easy to use. I keep hearing a lot about Robinhood as an option. Thoughts?
It can depend on if you're looking to invest and hold long term or short term.
I've been using Robinhood for about a year now and there's nothing really to complain about besides the fact that they don't have a trading website, you have to use the app. They also don't have much in terms of data research, but that can easily be done elsewhere. Overall I would recommend it simply because of the $0 trade fee
Cool, I think I'm going to start with them. I read something about using a referral code to get a free stock? Is that something you could give me? Not sure if that benefits you as well.
They're coming out with a web platform in "early 2018".
RH doesn't let you go short or trade anything but equities, right? A beginner probably shouldn't be doing anything else. At least until they've read The Intelligent Investor and Winning The Loser's Game.
Both on my reading list ;)
Robinhood if you don't plan on trading anything outside equities (though they have some mutul funds on there..)
Heard good things about TD Ameritrade although I personally never used it. It does come equipped with research tools should you want to have access to competitive tools
If you wanna get involved with options, check out Tastyworks.
Robin Hood - easy to use TD thinkorswim - can practice trading with paper money Motif - thematic investing and portfolio management made simple
cap! rip Certified members chat!
Ignore everyone above and open an Interactive brokers account.
Good for futures, requires a $15,000 deposit though.
minimum is 10k$, but if you are younger than 23 y.o. minimum is 3k$
This. It's far and away the best platform.
Agreed, most of the research provided by big brokerage accounts are BS at best and automated at worst. Commensurate sentiments on institutional / large investor reports; nothing in there you couldn't read within the subject company's most recent investor deck (usually more informative). Also stock analysts change price targets like the weather, typically pegging the target to the current price, once a volatility event has ended. Look at the reports and price targets on LB over the last 12 months.............
Why IB
Mix and match data services, paying like $10 for options, equities and bonds: the price of one commission leg on etrade
Phone app works
Margin is stupid cheap
Very low commissions
Not much to add on this front, there are a bevy of options nowadays that i have no idea on and no time to figure out.
I've used Etrade for years now - I like their app, i like the research and the interface. It's definitely not the low cost and I've been looking to switch out to something else but change is tough on this front.
Go with a large discount broker like TD, Fidelity or Schwab. Each provides a ton of research options, tools to learn and easy to use interface/app. Can trade options, wide range of ETF's. Worth the small trade commission over something like Robinhood
Preference out of those 3? I just started and maxed out a Roth IRA with Vanguard as well. Are they an option?
True, I agree!
Would strongly encourage you to stay away from brokerages like Robinhood that are trying to bilk the commission model and snag millennial investors. Ask an old timer about the times markets collapsed in the late 20th century - many of them will tell you that brokerages were unable to handle the tumult seamlessly, and that's talking about major brokerages not picking up the phone, filling orders, etc.
I thought Robinhood et al had brokerage risk before, but now they let you trade cryptos on there too, no less without commission. Ridiculous. Wouldn't be at all surprised if some of these brokerages and their customers get burned in the next downturn.
Good points. What platform do you use?
I use Etrade - they were once the cheapest option in terms of commission, but the brokerage market is so competitive nowadays that there are definitely cheaper ones of equal quality. All the same, since you plan to buy and hold long term, commissions are basically negligible.
Based on what you've said, I think you have the right idea as far as how you should go about this. Get your feet wet with some vanilla investments through a major brokerage, and leave the more exotic stuff for later when you have gained some experience and have a little more risk capital to lose.
OP, if you can deposit more than $3k then go with TDA. They have a promotion that gives you 3 (I think) months of trading commission free. If you are looking to just buy and hold then commission doesn't matter.
Yes, I was planning on that amount and looking to buy-hold large caps or etfs and wait it out.
Then just open an account with TDA. Srsly people here are drooling over commissions it don't matter if you just buy and hold.
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