The third kind of discount broker is totally electronic. These brokers operate
through their Web sites and because they have much lower expenses can pass the
savings on to their customers in the form of even lower commissions. Firms such
as Ameritrade (www.ameritrade.com), Datek Online (www.datek.com), Credit
Suisse First Boston Direct (www.CSFBdirect.com), E*Trade Securities (www.
etrade.com), National Discount Brokers (www.ndb.com), and Wall Street Electronica
(www.wallstreete.com) are designed for knowledgeable traders who like to
buy and sell stocks, bonds, options, and mutual funds on their own at the lowest
price possible. You can open an account online. All of these online brokers offer
real-time price quotes, account information, research links, and technical support.

PART III: Controlling Your Financial Destiny

phone, higher commissions are charged, as shown here. An order on a listed market
means it is executed through the specialist system on the New York Stock Exchange
or the American Stock Exchange. A Nasdaq order is executed through the
Nasdaq mark

Deep-discount firms charge even less but offer fewer services. Some of these
firms—such as Scottsdale Securities in St. Louis, JB Oxford Co. in Beverly
Hills, Brown Company in Boston, Waterhouse Securities in New York, and

Following is a sample of the commissions you would be charged for particular
trades at several discount brokers. Most of the trades shown here are for completely
electronic execution. If you trade using a broker in person or over the

Discount brokers use two methods in quoting commissions. Share brokers
charge on a per-share basis. They might charge a flat $.03 per share, for example,
no matter whether you trade 100 or 10,000 shares. Value brokers charge according
to the value of your trade. The more money involved, the lower your per-share
costs. You can calculate in advance whether your commissions will be less with a
share or a value broker, depending on whether you trade many shares at a low price
or few shares at a high price. Some firms mix the two systems and base commissions
on both the number of shares traded and the value of the trade. All discount
brokers set a minimum fee per trade, which ranges from $8 to about $40.

about 100 others—may execute a trade for as much as 90 percent less than what
Merrill Lynch or Salomon Smith Barney charges or 50 percent less than what
Schwab or Fidelity charges. Deep discounters do not have offices across the country,Chocolate Ugg,
and they do almost all of their business with customers over the phone. They
can buy or sell the full range of securities, including stocks,Ugg Knightsbridge, bonds, options, futures,
and often mutual funds, in both regular and IRA and Keogh accounts. Several
deep discounters also offer stock-price quotes and automatic ordering systems
over the telephone. Deep-discount firms are designed for active investors who
know what they’re doing. However, if you just want to sell some stock you inherited
from your grandmother, you might as well do it through a deep discounter because
you will pay the lowest commission possible.

Chocolate Ugg Everyone’s Money Book3954sXj

ed, from sources such
as Value Line or Standard Poor’s. All full-service discounters offer elaborate Web
sites allowing you to research stocks, bonds, mutual funds, options, and other investments,
as well as track economic news that will affect your holdings. Some firms will
assemble research reports from many sources, showing you, for example, how many
analysts from full-commission brokerage houses recommend buying, selling, or
holding a particular stock and why. However, the discount broker will not make its
own recommendation on the stock. In addition, you can call them 24 hours a day, 7
days a week to place orders. Yet the commissions they charge can be anywhere from
20 percent to 60 percent lower than a national full-service brokerage house charges,
depending on the size of your trades. Most discount broker will give you a further
discount if you trade online instead of speaking to a live broker.