Which Broker/Platform Do I Want for this situation?

Hi, so basically I'm trying to buy Alibaba (BABA on NYSE) ASAP. Shares might be available Monday if I'm not mistaken, but most likely at least next week.

I have never bought stock before, never even paper traded but I'll learn how to really use the platforms (possibly other ones besides what's recommended for now) eventually, I just want BABA and QQQ right now long term just buy and hold.

I'm only putting about $400 into BABA next week and then like $400 into QQQ and another $300 into BABA in the following weeks and holding those through pulls back etc for at least about a year. So in other words, I only want to make two or three 'buys' now and then two more 'sells' when I sell in about a year.

What platform is relatively simple to use (although I'll probably be on the phone with them anyway making sure I buy the stock correctly) and will cost me the least in commissions and fees etc for such a small account?

Also, can I open the account today and not deposit money into it until a few days and no be charged? Because I still have to deposit cash to my savings account to transfer it to the broker platform. I might do that a day or two after and would like to have the account with no money in it only just to figure out basically where the 'buy' button is and how to find BABA (or something else since BABA won't be listed yet) on the NYSE and QQQ in nasdaq.
thanks.

It really doesn't matter. You still have a few days on BABA. Actual ipo day looks to be 18th or 19th.

Several brokers offer $4.95 trades or lower and they make finding the buy button easy....

MB Trading, SogoTrade, KingTrade are $5 a trade.

More trusted retail sites Etrade, Scottrade, Ameritrade are $8/10 per trade.

You can always change later if you decide you want more features or better trading platform.

Good Luck.

In my opinion, it seems that brokers are another example of "You get what you pay for". From what I read in broker reviews and comparisons when I was initially looking for a broker, those $4.95 guys usually don't really have much in the way of phone help or online tech support. That's why I chose TDA... a platform with lots of bells and whistles, a great educational section on their website, and professional help always just a phone call away.