TDAmeritrade
Trade commission-free for 30 days.

Offer valid for one new individual or Joint TD AMERITRADE account opened by December 31, 2008 and funded within 30 days with $2,000 or more.

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Are there any "hidden" fees? Can one buy "and" sell with "Zero" fees? (Just pay the stock price).

Also, do we have to keep the 2,000 amount in cash .. or simply fund it with 2k, and instantly buy stocks with it to leave no cash balance?

rts said:Are there any "hidden" fees? Can one buy "and" sell with "Zero" fees? (Just pay the stock price).

Also, do we have to keep the 2,000 amount in cash .. or simply fund it with 2k, and instantly buy stocks with it to leave no cash balance?

I did this last month and am pretty happy with TD Ameritrade. There are no hidden fees. I was able to buy and sell with no costs for the month. You do not have to keep the money in cash. You can use it to buy stocks. I'm not sure if you get "unlimited" trades because there was a count down that started at 500 free trades. That's a lot more that I needed. If you have more money to fund the account they have bettter incentives. Scott trade is cheaper and Fidelity and Schwab offer more options but I felt Ameritrade offered the best mix for me since I'm not an active trader.