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I have been using Zecco for 3 years now and have not had any problems at all, which you can't beat for $4.50 a trade after the free ones per month.

There is a site that has more recent info on pricing, reviews, etc @:
http://www.nakedhedgefund.com/about/online-brokers/

Here is a good site that reviews online brokers. They seem to recommend Scottrade, TD Ameritrade and Schwab:

http://onlinebrokerreview.blogspot.com/

Subject:TradeKing Not allowing me to sell my stock.


A few days ago on 10/31/08 I bought ( MGM ) when the stock started to tumble I tried to sell it, and tradeking sight would not let me. It returned a message saying:( that I was trying to sell a stock that not yet settled ). This cost me, I lost over a dollar a share so I called and I was told that I had to have a margin account in order to buy and sell up to 3 stocks in a 5 day period of time. so I opened a margin account and waited. After about 2.5 days I got a letter saying my margin account was now open, So tried to sell ( MGM ) and there sight let me. The next day I bought (s) and (GNBT). I held it for 2 days and then tried to sell it. Again there site would not let me. I got a message that said the account was restricted. So I called trade king and ask why. First I was told I bought more shares of (MGM) then I had money so the account was restricted for 90 days. I told trade king I did not buy to many shares that af...(Read more of this comment)ter I bought my shares that I had money left over. Then I was told that I sold MGM to soon. Well after I opened a margin account 2.5 days latter, I told tradeking there site let me sell (MGM) so I assumed that everything was alright because the only thing that will over ride there site, is if a person calls in and tell them to sell it. Which I did not. Trade king told me that they sent a letter saying that I was restricted, which they did not. ( I told tradeking check there sent mail and you will see that they did not send me a letter ) and even if I was restricted why did trade king allow me to buy more stock after I was restricted? And if I was restricted I told tradeking they need to reimburse me for the difference. The money I lost on the stock after I was restricted since I was not allowed to sell it. It seem to me a person can buy stock at Tradeking but they can not sell it. So I got fed up and called and asked trade king to sell all my stock, (S) (SIRI) and (GNBT) I had to argue with them for over 30 min. before you sold my stocks for me and it was falling in price.
Sincerely, Judy T Matthews

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Be vary careful about ETrade! They suck!

1) They make sign up easy, but when you want to quit and transfer your holdings, they will charge a 60$ fee! (many other brokers are free for this)
They also did not

2) You can NOT see real time quote in your account page! Unless in the stock detail page. You want to know how much your holdings worth in real time in yoru account page? OK, that needs extra fee. Hey, even yahoo finance now has real time quote for free.

Stay away from ETrade!

Use this code: SLHN6967 for 7 FREE TRADES when you sign up for Scottrade! Only 3 free trades after 10/31/2008.

I've been using Scottrade for a while and I really like their live ticker and trading system.

Banc of America Investment Services customer service got only one star, but the problems I experienced were not really the fault of the customer service department, but their awful web site functionality.

I was initially attracted to Banc of America Investment Services from an advertisement that clients may be eligible for as many as 30 online equity trades per month at $0, if certain accounts and/or certain deposit account requirements are met, such as keeping at least $25,000 in a Bank of America certificate of deposit, or checking account, or savings account.

Here are the problems I ran into:

Some Day Trades Cannot Be Placed Online
After I opened the account I was told that an order for the sale of a stock that I had bought on the previous day (an unsettled trade) could not be placed online, but required a broker-assisted trade (at a higher commission).

Online Trading Web Design
Online FAQ and other help documentation don't go near...(Read more of this comment)ly far enough to explain the operation and behavior of the web site. There are some odd hidden quirks, such as dependencies upon browser cookies, which sometimes do not work correctly, and should be documented online. The web site automatically logs the user off at regular intervals even if a user has continuous activity on the site.

Communicating With Customer Service
The web site allows secured messages as a way of communicating with customer service, but it works inefficiently. It always seems to take at least a day to get a reply, and the replies tend not to acknowledge the previous messages regarding the same unresolved issue. Communicating by phone works much better, but I find it rather like dealing with polite zombies who often lack sufficient knowledge of their information systems to solve a problem.

Money Manager Account
If you do use Banc of America for online brokerage, I would recommend against the Money Manager type of account. This is a linked checking account/brokerage account combination. The checking account is handled by Bank of America, N.A., a separate unit. If there is ever a problem with transactions and balances, it can lead to a situation where each side is pointing a finger at the other, asking you to go to the other for help.

Considering the numerous quality discount brokerages, I would say that the dealing with Banc of America Investment Services for $7 trades, or even $0 trades in self-directed investing is not worth the frustration.

The Bottom Line: Low commissions do not justify poor service.
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Tradeking is not all what it seems to be. I have been with them for over a year now. At first, they were very helpful, via live chat and phone. Recently, I have been having problems logging in, and so I fired up the chat window to ask why. They could not help me there saying we are experiencing maintenance outage. Maintenance outage, for 4 days straight! I called them up about half dozen times and finally someone answered. Now here they show their true colors. After explaining my problem, the rep got the manager on the phone and he says 'we wont be able to service your account anymore. We have marked your account close and you can transfer your money out'. I wasnt expecting that. Demanding a reason, they said 'we are unable to cater to your account needs and wish you all the best in your investing future'. I asked doesnt headqurter send a mail or notification of some kind rather than letting the customer know that he has been locked out of his own account when they try to login and has...(Read more of this comment) to call to find out why. They said no. We have the right to do so, its in our Agreement Contract. Furious and Aggrevated, I demanded to speak to his head manager and gave him a piece of my mind.

Bottom line is: They may have been providing good customer service and their low fees may seem attractive, but in the long run they give you a run for those low fees. Very unprofessional. I'm just happy to get my money out and if this can help even one would-be trader aware of the horrids that await with Trade King. I'm switching back to E-trade. Even with higher fees than Trade King, they are what they say they are. No hidden surprises.(Show less of this comment)

Posted by: Cloe on Business Pundit

i have used reliance money account for the online trading.. and its been fine, tips are provided to make the right decision while trading..

Posted by: Cloe on Business Pundit

i have used reliance money account for the online trading.. and its been fine, tips are provided to make the right decision while trading..

Posted by: Moe on Business Pundit

Of the more well known online borkers (Ameritrade, Etrade, etc.), scottrade is the best for first time investors. They have good research tools, $7 trades (far less than the 9+ you’ll pay with the other guys), no inactivity fees and you can get 3 free trades using promotion code: SNEG9782. Again, it’s only $7 per trade no matter the quantity of shares purchased. Also, there are plenty of podcasts that show you the various tools available on the scottrade site.

Posted by: Moe on Business Pundit

Of the more well known online borkers (Ameritrade, Etrade, etc.), scottrade is the best for first time investors. They have good research tools, $7 trades (far less than the 9+ you’ll pay with the other guys), no inactivity fees and you can get 3 free trades using promotion code: SNEG9782. Again, it’s only $7 per trade no matter the quantity of shares purchased. Also, there are plenty of podcasts that show you the various tools available on the scottrade site.