Any Freepers do online stock trading?

me ^ | 11/21/07

[LouAvul]

I have a couple of acquaintences who claim to be making substantial money off of internet stock trading. I think they specified "etrade.com."

Do any Freepers do this? Pros? Cons? Advice to get started?

thanx

[Greg F]

Be careful.

[50mm]

Ask your acquaintences for their last couple of years of 1099’s from E*Trade. If they balk, you’ll have your answer - they’re just blowing hot air. Lot’s of people claim to make lots of easy money trading stocks, few actually do since the bubble burst.

If you don’t know much about trading and don’t want to spend lots of time doing research, you’re better off buying mutual funds.

[50mm]

Ouch. Lot’s = lots

[Crazieman]

E*Trade is looking at filing bankruptcy protection. Not a good idea.

[sticker]

I know one person that tried it, luckly for him his wife is a doctor.

[JRios1968]

Advice to get started?

First, make sure you're logged in.

[Andyman]

I have several accounts with Scottrade. I like ‘em a lot. Day trading = bad idea. But if you can make your own decisions, the low cost and good service are a big plus.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

I’ve used Scottrade for years. No problems.

[martin_fierro]

[VOA]

Cons?

Bankruptcy. Suicide.

Sure, it's rare. But that can be the downside of gambling
(speculating) in any realm of bidness.

And moving rapidly in/out of the stock market, for most folks,
isn't much more than gambling.
I've friends that do taxes...they say that occassionally they
get someone with a stack of trade statements.
And that it's rare for them to break even for the year.

an old story about a speculator:
(e.g., Diesel, the inventor of the engine that bears his
name, suppossedly jumped off a boat in despair over some real
estate deals that had put him in financial straits. Too bad he
didn't stick around to enjoy all the $$$ with his family when
the $$$ earned off his engines started rolling in.)

[freespirited]

Last time I looked, Scottrade paid you bupkis on your cash balance. (There was no money market mutual fund). I use Fidelity so I can earn a money market rate on the cash balance.

[Greg F]

Are you talking day trading . . . holding stocks or options for a day or two or until strike . . . or just asking if online trading for buy and hold investing is a good idea? If the former, day trading and short term trading, it is very dangerous and really not a great idea unless you are one in a (100, 1,000, 1,000,000 . . .) in terms of your knowledge, talent, work ethic, experience and the like. If the latter, many brokerages allow you to buy and sell online without a telephone call.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Day trading is a prescription for failure if you don't know what you're doing. And even if you do know what you're doing, you're really rolling the dice. High reward comes with very high risk.

If you're just looking to trade online, fidelity.com rules. I have my accounts there, and I've been very happy.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

I use Fidelity so I can earn a money market rate on the cash balance.

You are wise indeed---because I do the same thing!

Plus, you can use their new mySmartCash account as a checking account/debit card/etc.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Money market values aren’t much, these days, but Scottrade does pay me monthly on my cash balance.

[freespirited]

The only people I know who make money in this kind of daytrading pick a single stock or two and learn how to trade it based on some kind of pattern or predictability.

They make a zillion trades, making money on small price changes. They also have the ability to watch the trading like a hawk on Level 2 because they are retired or self-employed. Level 2 is the electronic system that shows you all the current bid and ask prices for a stock.

It is hard to make money these days doing this. The system, like all systems, benefits the most sophisticated and the most sophisticated is rarely the retail investor.

[Army Air Corps]

Thanks for the information. I have also been interested in investing in this manner.

[shove_it]

Scottrade pays 3.5% APR on your cash balance monthly. They also have branch offices in most cities. If you maintain a balance of $25k in your margin account, you get a premium trading platform that includes a virtual trading option that allows you to try out your strategies using virtual money. All buys are $7 and sells $7+ change on major U.S. markets including pinksheets. I’ve been with Scottrade for over 2yrs. and am doing fine trading atocks as a profitable hobby.