Is using a stockbroker for trades useful.

Question

I am new to trading stocks...never have but know a little bit about it. I really can't find the time to read a book by William O'neal I purchased and I am trying to find some time to finish it. My wife's uncle who is a dentist makes about $2000 per day trading. I want to start with $1000 that I have in my newly opened scottrade account. Is it a good idea to pay about $20 per aided stockbroker trade? I am really wanting to make some money to move out of my parents home and help them out as well.

Answer 1

Pick the best stock broker, one with low fees.., it took me some time to see that most of my gains were lost to the fees i paid to actually buy stock and sell it, i suggest zecco, they are the ONLY ones who offer free stock trades.

http://friends.zecco.com/r/a7a2877caab81...

Answer 2

I would not recommend you to jump into day trading.  It's not for beginners, and you could potentially lose a ton of money in a matter of minutes.  In addition, day trading would require a lot of money, and trading with $1,000 would definitely not be enough to cover for the commission costs.

You will need a broker to make stock trades for you but different types of brokers will charge different amounts.  Full-service brokers will provide you with a lot of advice.  However, their commission rates are much higher than the ones from discount brokers, who only make the transaction of the trade.  Personally, I prefer discount brokers because they are cheaper and they allow me to make my own decisions.

I currently use Firstrade ( http://www.firstrade.com/ ).  I prefer them over Scottrade because they offer free dividend reinvestment (DRIPs), which is essential for long term investments.  They also have slightly cheaper commission rates and much lower commission rates when compparing to ther big name brokers such as Etrade, Ameritrade, and Schwab.  Their customer service and website are great as well.  I would definitely recommend that you check them out.

If you aren't comfortable with your invest skills, instead of getting a full-service broker, I would suggest that you try mutual funds.   Mutual funds are diversified, thereby less risky.  They are also professionally managed so you don't have to worry about what to buy or sell.  To learn more about mutual funds, you could visit Investopedia ( http://www.investopedia.com/ ).

Answer 3

I would like you to keep away from such things because to earn a good amount you need to lot of research and dedication.

Also when your uncle makes $$$$ he will tell you and you will feel like I should also do the same but ask your uncle when he makes loses and quantum of them and you will be amazed to hear that provided he tells you the right amount.

Answer 4

if you're going to daytrade, then the answer is an absolute NO.  you'll profit from volatility and very short term trends, so a broker's advice (excluding inside info, which you don't wanna touch anyway) is useless.

if you're a long-term investor, brokers' info is not necessarily useless, but you're far better off using a nondiscretioary account to minimize your fees (and portfolio turnover, which generates trading fees for the broker) and investing in index funds, which match the market's returns.  pick one w/low managemetn fees.   There is very strong research out there showing that stock prices are generally in equilibrium, and that even a very shrewd investor can't beat the market.   any relevant data is already immediately imputed into the stock price by the many many market participants, including company insiders.

basically, if stocks do well, and you're invested in stocks, you'll do well.  and vice versa.   so diversify and minimize your managemetn costs in the meantime!