Comments on: What is the difference between a trading account at a brokerage firm and an online trading account? http://fyinance.com/financial-questions/what-is-the-difference-between-a-trading-account-at-a-brokerage-firm-and-an-online-trading-account All things Financial, FYI Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:07:29 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Logan V. http://fyinance.com/financial-questions/what-is-the-difference-between-a-trading-account-at-a-brokerage-firm-and-an-online-trading-account#comment-16 Logan V. Thu, 28 May 2009 12:46:02 +0000 http://fyinance.com/?p=135#comment-16 There are usually some differences such as cost and the services you are getting. So, when opening an account, check what fees they are going to charge you (per account or per transaction etc.) When comparing a brokerage firm's account such as a Schwab account against an Etrade account, look for the fees as well as what services you are getting. Those that claim to offer a "full service" may be beneficial if you do not want to be so hand-on when it comes to investing. Some "full service brokers" are: Merrill Lynch Edward Jones Wachovia Goldman Sacs JP Morgan Morgan Stanley UBS Paine Webber Smith Barney etc.. There are lots of them. These brokers tend to have very little available on the web. Their strength is having a personal broker assigned to you. The weakness is that they are usually extreamly expensive (compared to e-accounts) with sometimes flawed advice. You are basically relying on the advisor to tell you what to do and they can be wrong sometimes! Some brokers offer advice and online capabilities such as: Schwab Fidelity Most "on-line" brokers offer little advice or none at all, but they are a lot cheaper to open an account and start trading with. These are, for example: TD Ameritrade eTrade Scottrade ThinkOrSwim Interactive Brokers Tradestation Tradeking The best way to go about this is to do your research first, compare them all, read several books on Investing stocks or mutual funds. You will learn a lot. There are usually some differences such as cost and the services you are getting. So, when opening an account, check what fees they are going to charge you (per account or per transaction etc.) When comparing a brokerage firm’s account such as a Schwab account against an Etrade account, look for the fees as well as what services you are getting. Those that claim to offer a “full service” may be beneficial if you do not want to be so hand-on when it comes to investing.
Some “full service brokers” are:

Merrill Lynch
Edward Jones
Wachovia
Goldman Sacs
JP Morgan
Morgan Stanley
UBS Paine Webber
Smith Barney
etc.. There are lots of them.

These brokers tend to have very little available on the web. Their strength is having a personal broker assigned to you. The weakness is that they are usually extreamly expensive (compared to e-accounts) with sometimes flawed advice. You are basically relying on the advisor to tell you what to do and they can be wrong sometimes!

Some brokers offer advice and online capabilities such as:
Schwab
Fidelity

Most “on-line” brokers offer little advice or none at all, but they are a lot cheaper to open an account and start trading with. These are, for example:
TD Ameritrade
eTrade
Scottrade
ThinkOrSwim
Interactive Brokers
Tradestation
Tradeking

The best way to go about this is to do your research first, compare them all, read several books on Investing stocks or mutual funds. You will learn a lot.

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