any other services like sharebuilder?

Looking for something that maybe charges less if you want to buy multiple stocks per month...

who's going to do the reeming?

supertle said: who's going to do the reeming?People who don't even bother searching before posting.

freetrade.com if you qualify

If you're NOT looking to trade, but, rather to buy and hold, then FOLIOfn might be what you're looking for. They allow up to 200 trades per month for $19.95. The catch is that they are "window" trades. They offer two "windows" each day - 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM. When you place a trade they will execute it at the next available "window". Like I said, if you are looking to buy and hold, then this might be what you are looking for. In addition to their "window" trades, they also offer standard trades that are executed whenever you wish. They charge $14.95/market order and $17.95/limit order (if you are going to need these frequently then there are other places that are less expensive). They will sometimes add some other fees depending on your activity and type of account. You can check their pricing details HERE.

If you're accumulating stocks or ETF's on a regular basis (in effect creating your own diversified basket of securities, something like your own customized mutual fund), then the price plans of FOLIOfn will probably suit you. They also allow you to download to Quicken or Money, maintain your cost basis for you, provide tax related guidance when selling, and will reinvest your dividends (unlike Scottrade).

But, as I said, if you are looking to trade, then this would not be the place to do it.

loserguy said: I've been using them for 3 years, and love not having to pay commisions.
Well, there are commisions. They might be low, but they still exist. You can choose to pay $4 per window trade, $19.95 for up to 200 window trades per month, $14.95 per market order or $17.95 per limit order. You can choose what approach you wish to use, but one way or the other you are going to pay. You can call it a monthly fee if you wish or a service charge, but a commision by any other name still stinks.

Buddino said: mikeres said: but a commision by any other name still stinks.I agreed with your point up till your commission point, everyone has to make money one way or another!
I'm glad you take such an egalitarian view. I too don't mind if other people make money, it's just that I would prefer if it weren't making it off of my money.

Buddino said: mikeres said: view. I too don't mind if other people make money, it's just that I would prefer if it weren't making it off of my money.When you figure out a way to trade directly to sellers, then let me know! I d also not like to pay my broker their due!
We're beginning to get a bit off-topic here. But (hehe), if Scottrade can do trades for $7, and FOLIOfn can do them for $4 apiece or 200/$19.95, and IB can do them for $1/100shares, then exactly what is a fair price to pay a broker?

If all a broker does is enter your trades into an automated system, then perhaps s/he should be compensated the same as a data entry clerk. However, if the broker adds value and helps you come up with winning trades then there would be much less reluctance to pay their requested commissions.

SUCKISSTAPLES said: freetrade does them for free
Free is good (even if it's only for the first 20 trades/month).
I looked at them a while ago, but wasn't satisfied with something about them - don't remember what. Time to give them a second look.

I went to the sharebuilder site, this is what I found out, No min. balance, bonus will be credited to the account in 4 to 6 weeks, must make at least one transaction, so can I send them $10, buy a cheap stock, pay the $4 fee for the trade, and than close my account and get $50, seems to easy IMO. I bet they will try to charge service fees, or they won't add the $50 bonus, cause I didn't fund my account with enough money.

Nobody mentioned Equiserve? I don't use them, but they are the official way to buy stocks directly from the companies that are listed with them.
link

Any experiences with this?

loserguy said: mikeres said: loserguy said: I've been using them for 3 years, and love not having to pay commisions.
Well, there are commisions. They might be low, but they still exist. You can choose to pay $4 per window trade, $19.95 for up to 200 window trades per month, $14.95 per market order or $17.95 per limit order. You can choose what approach you wish to use, but one way or the other you are going to pay. You can call it a monthly fee if you wish or a service charge, but a commision by any other name still stinks.

What do you want, a company to buy and sell stock for you for nothing? Not a good business model. To me, 200 trades for $14.95, or 7.5cents per trade, is FREE. I still remember when you had to pay like $200 per trade, back before the internet.

The problem with this is the "free" trades only trade at 11:00am and 2:00pm. If you don't mind the restricted trading times of foliofn.com, then go with them. One, however, usually should ONLY be placing limit order anyways. Also you have to make a 4 trades a quarter, and if you don't you get slapped on a fee of $15/quarter. I would prefer scottrade in the aspect that its $7 per trade (market or limit), and you can trade when you want. Not to mention the site doesn't update right after the trade, it usually takes 5 minutes to update to know what your stock actually sold for, because you won't have any idea due to the fact its a market order traded at a certain time (11:00am) which also I might add is not guarenteed.

I had a "window trade" ready to trade at 11:00. After checking the stock price at 11:00am through my scottrade and yahoo account and noticed the price of my stock traded was about 4% lower because it had gone down at like 11:04am. I called and stated that the 11:00 price for my stock was wrong and they claimed it isn't guarenteed the stock trades at that time exactly. My stock actually traded at 11:04 and like 47 seconds. Not knowing when your stock will actually trade is not worth the low $4 trade, because that cost me about $375.

I just got done (well in the process) of cancelling foliofn.com's account, and it is a pain. When you transfer stocks out, they hit you with a $50 charge. Also, If you open a new EFT you have to wait 10 business days to transfer money out. But only 2 days to transfer in. If you want a check, they charge you a $20 service fee.

The customer service reps have been extremely rude, and when I ask them a question they give me snotty remarks and an attitude like I should already know the answer. I have not run into 1 nice one and have called them probably 10 times over the 3 years being a customer.

IMO