anehabeni
11-14-2016,
First of all, like to say hi. I'm new to the site as well as investing and personal finance really. I would like to start investing in stocks via an online broker. I'm currently a beginner and just looking to get my feet wet. I’ll be investing an initial $2,500 into the account then adding an additional $175 monthly (which I would like to let accrue on the online broker until I’ve decided to invest into current stocks or purchase additional ones). This is money outside of my savings/emergency fund/401K that I feel comfortable investing into stocks. My plan is to start with $1,000 towards blue chip stocks, $800-1,000 in a blend of Income/Growth/Value Stocks, $200-400 in commodities, and the remaining $300 will go towards any penny stocks I’d like to invest in (this wouldn’t be immediately and not until I found a company I really believe in). I would continue to add additional funds of $175 monthly and let the cash accrue until I found a stock I felt comfortable investing in. Being a newcomer I figured I should look for an online broker offering a wide variety of free stock research and an easy to use interface. Obviously I’d also like to keep commissions as low as possible. After researching online I’m leaning towards Fidelity investments. The have a low commission ($7.95), a wide variety of investment choices, and large amount of available stock research. I also already have Fidelity net benefits for my 401K. But I’ve also heard good things about E-Trade. And Charles Schwab seems interesting since I’d be able to have my savings, MMA, and brokerage all in one place. Trade King and Scottrade also seem to get good reviews. What do you guys think? Given my particular situation outlined above does any online broker jump out at you as being my best choice? Thanks for your help and advice,