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Ythan
ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ



Registered: 08/08/97
Posts: 18,774
Loc: NY/MA/VT Borderlands
Last seen: 33 minutes, 28 seconds
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Anyone used Zecco.com? Or other broker recommendations...
#7990163 - 02/07/08 01:36 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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So right now my portfolio is exclusively money market, bond and mutual funds. I automatically invest every month and for the most part I ignore it, since I'm in for the long haul and I don't want to make any rash decisions. I trust compound interest and dollar cost averaging to work their magic. But it's just not that fun. I'd kind of like to start playing the market and I'm looking at Zecco.com because they offer 10 free trades a month. Does anyone have any experience with them? Or do you have another brokerage you like, and why? It's kind of daunting sorting through all the options...
Thanks!
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GoodbyeOrb
Self-SacrificingPotency Tester



Registered: 04/09/07
Posts: 5,179
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Re: Anyone used Zecco.com? Or other broker recommendations... [Re: Ythan]
#7990708 - 02/07/08 07:46 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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I haven't gotten to where I am playing the market that regularly, but go ahead and check this out if you've got money to burn and you are looking for excitement.
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geokills
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Registered: 05/08/01
Posts: 23,417
Loc: city of angels
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Re: Anyone used Zecco.com? Or other broker recommendations... [Re: Ythan]
#7990812 - 02/07/08 08:48 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Zecco is fine, and obviously a great value in terms of the 10 free monthly trading comissions. It's not going to offer the same scope of research and analytical tools as the larger (and more expensive) discount brokers such as TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, or E*Trade, but it'll get the job done. Most research can be had through Google anyway... but you'll probably miss some of the nicely comprehensive individual stock reports.
For example, TD Ameritrade includes S&P, Ford Equity, TheStreet.com, and Jaywalk reports on most major stocks - which contain a good deal of information and can help you get an overview of what a company is doing and how it compares to its competitors. See attachment for an example (and incidently, I would advocate buying NLY, espcially below $20).
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-------------------- ┼ ··∙ long live the shroomery ∙·· ┼ ...╬π╥ ╥π╬...
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geokills
∙∙∙∙☼ º¿° ☼∙∙∙∙


Registered: 05/08/01
Posts: 23,417
Loc: city of angels
Last seen: 3 hours, 33 minutes
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Re: Anyone used Zecco.com? Or other broker recommendations... [Re: geokills]
#7990836 - 02/07/08 08:59 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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I'd also like to relate a couple of the major mistakes I made in the beginning of my investing career.
The first being worrying too much about comissions and taxes (long-term versus short-term capital gains). First of all, a lot of seasoned investors will tell you that if you don't have $10,000 to personally invest, you're not going to be able to diversify your portfolio and would therefore be better off allocating the equity portion of your investments into a mutual or index fund - which can maintain diversification for you.
Now, if you are running your own portfolio with over $10,000 - a $10 trading comission isn't going to be all that significant, especially if you are aiming for the long haul and won't be trading every day. That said, if an investment you've made isn't following your original thesis - either the fundamentals of the business have changed or the overall market environment has changed, don't be afraid to cut your losses or take your gains before you get to the 1 year tax break. I made this mistake personally of late. Bought Google almost one year ago at $495, held it all the way up to $747, and then rode it all the way back down to $505 where the stock sits today. That was a handsome gain I was just too stubborn to cash in on because I wanted to wait for it to turn into a long-term capital gain. Very stupid indeed, one ought to be flexible but measured in their investment decisions.
Secondly, don't go believing every piece of research you read out there - including these research reports. Everyone is in their own camp, some are notoriously bullish, some are bearish, some just don't want to be in the market at all. That's why it's important to solicit information from a variety of sources, but when it comes time to make your investment decision, turn off the television, close the reports, and outline your own personal thesis for why you will be investing in the stock. Don't chase stocks, buy them at your price (the price you think is fair or better), or don't buy them at all. You should also never be fully invested - always have at least 10% of your portfolio in cash, so that you can take advantage of unexpected market drops... that's where the easy (and very real) money is made. But if you're fully invested, you have no choice but to ride out the storm, or sell at the bottom and take your loss, most likely to watch your stocks subsequently rise back up again.
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-------------------- ┼ ··∙ long live the shroomery ∙·· ┼ ...╬π╥ ╥π╬...
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