This is not the only concern that most stock investors have for investing in stocks. Most of the time, even though an investor manages to gain profits, such profits are most often reduced by the trading and investment costs, such as broker’s commissions, transaction and service fees, margin interest, stock broker salary, and subscription to market data. The worse thing is, such reduction is often very significant, that what will be left for us is just a very small amount of gain. This is the reason why stock investors are really advised to find the online stock brokerage firms that offer the lowest fees and best rates, but at the same time, offer reliable and quality customer service as well. However, finding the best and cheapest online broker may be very challenging.

Based on various research that we have made, the following stock broker list is the collection of the best and cheapest online brokerage firms that also provide an excellent service to their clients.

1. Scottrade
   This brokerage firms usually charge $7 per stock/ETF trade. They provide truly excellent customer service and have more than 500 local branches. This broker is believed to be the perfect broker for first time investors. Initial deposit to open an account is only $500. They do not charge IRA fees such setup fees, termination fees, or annual fees.
2. OptionsHouse
   OptionsHouse charge $3.95 per stock/ETF trade. They provide good trading tools and charts, extensive educational materials, and virtual trading is available.
3. TradeKing
   TradeKing charge $4.95 per stock/ETF trade. They provide great customer service and competitive option tools and pricing. They do not charge IRA setup and annual fees.
4. OptionsXpress
   This brokerage firm charges $9.95 if under 1,001 shares, $0.01 per share if over 1,000 shares per stock/ETF trade. They provide great trading tools and top-rated customer service. They also provide great research amenities and virtual trading is available. They also offer free online classes, and require no initial deposit to open an account.
5. Zecco
   Zecco charge $4.95 per stock trade, and for stocks and ETFs priced under $1, online trades are just $6.95. Zecco is great for OTC and pink sheets trading, thus a very good choice for penny stock brokers. They do not require initial deposit to open an account.
6. ETrade
   ETrade charge $9.99 if 0-149 trades per quarter; $7.99 if more than 150 trades per quarter per stock/ETF trade. They have great trading platform, and no setup or annual IRA fees.
7. FirstTrade
   FirstTrade charge $6.95 per stock/ETF trade. They do not require initial deposit to open an account, and no IRA fees as well.
8. TradeMonster
   This brokerage charges $7.50 per stock/ETF trade. They offer extensive educational resources, and 24/7 help line. Free virtual trading is also available.
9. Choice Trade
   This brokerage has a flat rate plan of $5 per stock/ETF trade. They provide great trading tools, and has low per share commissions. There is no extra charges for penny stocks and OTCBB.
10. Lightspeed
    This brokerage charges $0.0045 per share with $1 minimum per stock/ETF trade for their Per Share plan; $4.50 per stock/ETF trade for their Per Trade plan; and $10 per order for their OTCBB and Pink Sheets plans. They povide fast executions, and best prices on almost all asset class.

How to buy penny stocks?

Just like the regular stocks, penny stocks may be bought with the assistance of some stock brokerage firms, such as the discount brokerage firms and full service brokerage firms. These penny stock brokers will generally do the actual purchase of stocks according to the instruction or orders of the investors. With a discount brokerage firm, the investors may make trades right away with little effort. But the investors are expected to know which stocks to buy, as the discount brokers do not offer advice on which stocks to buy. The main advantage of a discount brokers is that they are very cheap when it comes to their service fees and commission rates.

Using a full service brokerage is more ideal and recommended for the first time investors who do not know which stocks to buy. They offer investment advice and make suggestions on which penny stocks are best to buy at the moment. They also help the investors manage their accounts. The drawback, however, is that full service brokers are more expensive when it comes to commission rates and service fees, thus the investors need to spend more for such investment costs and expenses.

Hiring an online broker

Penny stocks may also be bought through the assistance of online penny stock brokers. In order to find the cheapest online broker available, the investors need to shop around and get a stock broker list of several brokerage firms, and compare their rates and fees as well. Making sure that they hire those who offer the best rates and lowest fees will generally help them minimize their expenses and investment costs, and maximize profits as well. The investors also need to read a variety of customer reviews and feedbacks about the brokers, and find out whether or not such brokers will be capable of handling or managing their investment accounts.

How much is the stock broker salary?

If you are wondering how much a stock broker makes, usually, they make money either through a commission per transaction or through principle transactions — which means that they make money on the difference between the bid price and ask price, which is known as the spread.

With the availability of the modern technology, we can now do the trading in the comforts of our own home or office, with the use of the internet, through online trading. With this, we need to hire online stock brokers to assist us with such transactions, as these brokers will be the ones to connect to the exchange network and look for a buyer and seller according to the orders of the traders. Because we all want to minimize our expenses, finding the cheapest online broker available is essential.

How to find a cheap online broker?

We need to make some research and do a comparative reports on various stock brokers online. Making a stock broker list, with their corresponding commission rates, service fees, and other expenses that we need to pay to them, and comparing these different expenses will help us find out which one is the cheapest. As investors, we need to be very vigilant when it comes to the price. Knowing all possible expenses that we have to pay to such brokers is important before we finally decide to hire a particular one. However, we should learn not to compromise quality over price; as there are some stock brokers who offer low commission rates but gives unsatisfactory services.

For penny stock investors

Those investors who want to invest in penny stocks — stocks that are sold at less than $5 per share — must find the best penny stock brokers that can help them with such risky investment. There are various stock brokerage firms to choose from, and two major penny stock brokers are discount brokerage and full service brokerage.

Investors who hire discount brokers are expected to know what they are doing, as discount brokers do not offer advice on which stocks are best to buy. Thus, the investors who hire this type of brokers must be aware which penny stocks are best to invest into, and they must also be knowledgeable about certain effective strategies in managing such investment which is believed to be a lot riskier.

For the first time investors, and also to those who are not confident enough with investing in penny stocks, a full service brokerage firm is recommended. However, this type of brokers charge big amount of commission rates and higher service fees. Thus, the stock investors need to shop around and find the one that charge the lowest stock broker salary and affordable fees in order to help minimize their investment costs and expenses.

Most often than not, a stock broker is required in order to process the trading of stocks — especially when trading is done online. In order to find the cheapest online broker available, stock investors need to shop around for various stock brokerage firms and make a stock broker list so that they can do a comparative analysis on a variety of stock brokers and their corresponding commission rates and service fees. Obviously, hiring those that offer the best rates and lowest fees — while at the same time offering an excellent and reliable customer service — is the wisest thing to do.

Investing in penny stocks

Some stock market investors take the risk and still buy penny stocks even though this type of stocks are rather riskier to invest into. This is because penny stocks are worth less than $5 per share, thus, owning a great number of shares is made possible, even if the investors do not have plenty of money as capital. These stocks are not sold in major sock markets, just like the regular stocks. These stocks are usually sold in pink sheet markets and over-the-counter markets. Usually, penny stocks may be bought through discount brokerage or full service brokerage.

Full Service Brokerage

A full service brokerage is more recommended for the first time penny stock investors, and those who are not too confident in penny stock investing. The stock investors will need to inform his broker how many shares of stocks he wishes to buy, and how much he is willing to pay for this. Then the penny stock broker will try to purchase such stocks in behalf of the investor. The stock broker will make money through a commission per transaction — this is still different from the stock broker salary that they receive. Sometimes, a stock broker gets paid through principle transactions, which means that the brokers would make money on the difference between the bid price and asking price, also known as the spread.

This type of broker is advantageous for the first time investors because they give investing advice and help them manage their investment accounts. Although this type of brokers can really be expensive.

Discount Brokerage

Creating an account with an online penny stock discount brokerage may also be chosen as an option. The discount penny stock brokers are more affordable, as their commission rates are relatively low. However, they do not offer advice;l thus, those people who hire discount brokers are expected to know what they are doing and which penny stocks to buy.

Stock investors will need to choose a broker with which they will open their investment accounts. This is a very critical part of stock investing, as the brokers will be the ones to help the investors in managing their accounts, and making sure that we hire the right persons and stock brokerage firms is very essential. Thus, as investors, we also need to spend some time to shop around for and look for stock broker list, and of course, compare their commission rates and service fees as well. Choosing the one that offers the best rates and lowest fees is the wisest thing to do so to minimize one’s investment costs and expenses.

Investing in penny stocks

Those investors who plan to invest in penny stocks (i.e. stocks that cost less than $5 per share) must hire the best penny stock brokers to process the trading transactions for them, and to give them advice on which stocks are best to buy. Since penny stocks are not traded in major stock markets, they are rather riskier to invest into. Thus, as investors of penny stocks, we need to take extra caution and be very careful in choosing which stocks to buy.

The two major ways to invest in penny stocks, just like investing in regular stocks, are through discount brokerage and full service brokerage. Those people who hire a discount brokerage must be aware on how to invest in penny stocks, and they must also be knowledgeable on how to choose the best penny stocks to buy, as discount brokers do not offer investing advice — they just process the purchase of the stocks. The advantage of a discount brokerage is that they are much cheaper compared to the full service brokers.

The full service brokers, on the other hand, are more recommended for the first time stock investors, who do have have plenty of experience in investing with penny stocks. They offer investment advice, and assist the investors on which stocks are best to buy. The drawback, however, is that they charge more service fees, and their commission rates are relatively high.

Finding the cheapest online broker

In order to minimize our investment costs, we need to find the best and cheapest online broker there is. That is why we need to make a comparative analysis on several online brokers, and know their stock broker salary, service fees, and commission rates.

It is very important that as investors, we need to be very vigilant in reading the price. However, we must never comprise quality over price. Some brokers may be offering low commissions but the quality of their services will never be satisfactory.