TD Ameritrade
- Thread starter GA_boi
- Start date
Congratulations. I've not used TDAmeritrade. We're currently using e-trade, and I really enjoy it because we have our main checking account and one of our savings accounts there, in addition to a brokerage account and IRA accounts. It's very easy to move money around as necessary.
I strongly, strongly recommend one focuses on making the maximum contribution allowable by law into 401(k) accounts, and Roth IRA's before trading in a regular brokerage account.
One is throwing away significant tax incentives otherwise. A Roth IRA will allow you to withdraw your original principle without penalty, and you won't have to pay taxes on your gains...ever...as you're funding the IRA with after-tax dollars to begin with.
Research and education is your friend. Yahoo Finance is a good place to start. I also like the Wall Street Journal online, and Stock Market News, Opinion & Analysis, Investing Ideas -- Seeking Alpha for more in depth perspective.
I like basic index funds for a small portion of our assets, and I think these are a pretty good place for new investors to park some assets until they get a better sense for how they'd like to proceed. DIA, QQQQ, SPY are a few.
My biggest score last year was Arcelor Mittal (MT). I wanted to buy it when it was $18/share, but I was so busy working multiple "jobs" that I forgot about some uninvested assets we had on the sideline. I got a break and bought in heavily at $26.70/share. Basic materials seemed a great place to put capital to work back in March/April 2009...and it paid off.
JST was another recent success. I've held that one since September 30.
Take your time, read a lot, study some basic economics, and learn about the world we live in from a global perspective...not just an American perspective. Success generally doesn't come overnight, and you'll probably have a number of "failures" before you start seeing more consistent success. Don't let the failures discourage you.
I went from Etrade to Ameritrade... Etrade was killing me with monthly fees etc.. TD only charges me for actual trades... I did not realize that etrade was sucking me for monthly fees for some time (my own fault) sure learned a lesson about auditing monthly statements.. (cost me a few hundred for that school, jerks)
Takeuon
Registered
Would love to see more members posting up these kind of threads. It behooves us to share investing experience & knowledge on the board. As we have such a tight knit group here on the org, why not help each other make smart financial decisions together!
At my age...my investing strategies have just recently been put into motion, so feedback from our "experienced" members like F=MA, Mr Bogus, and others are greatly appreciated.
At my age...my investing strategies have just recently been put into motion, so feedback from our "experienced" members like F=MA, Mr Bogus, and others are greatly appreciated.
my investing is only done at the behest of my better half.. she is pretty good at it.. The best thing to do if I invest in something? DONT... I am like the kiss of death for a stock..
I do take time for my Edward Jones guy... (at least they got me back to "pre-bust" values)...
I think she decided I was not very good at this when I went... "Yea that 180 mph drag boat is a great investment.."
"if it eats, floats or flies, rent, dont buy"
I do take time for my Edward Jones guy... (at least they got me back to "pre-bust" values)...
I think she decided I was not very good at this when I went... "Yea that 180 mph drag boat is a great investment.."
"if it eats, floats or flies, rent, dont buy"
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Takeuon
Registered
my investing is only done at the behest of my better half.. she is pretty good at it.. The best thing to do if I invest in something? DONT... I am like the kiss of death for a stock..
I do take time for my Edward Jones guy... (at least they got me back to "pre-bust" values)...
I think she decided I was not very good at this when I went... "Yea that 180 mph drag boat is a great investment.."
"if it eats, floats or flies, rent, dont buy"
Couldn't hurt to see what other members are doing w/ their money, should they choose to share.
Maybe you & the Misses could benefit by hearing from other parties. ....I know I sure could.
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you are not a kidding, I would LOVE to get some good help...
I use scottrade myself. I have an account with Etrade as well but the fees are higher than scotttrade.
For those that are interested in investing but are young and/or don't have a whole bunch of money I highly recommend Buy Stocks Online and invest your money at ShareBuilder. It is now owned by ING and has been good for me.
The way it works is each month/week (pick a period) they pull however much money you elect from your account and buy a portion of a stock or stocks that you apportioned.
Let me try to make that clear. Let's say I put in $100/month.
I can put 50% towards MSFT, 25% towards GOOGle and 25% towards BAC (bank of america)
They would buy
$50 worth of MSFT (about 1.6 shares)
$25 worth of GOOGle (about .04 shares)
$25 worth of BAC (about 1.4 shares)
They do buy at the strike price when the money is taken so you're not "playing the market". What you are doing is investing in the stock's future. If you decide to sell they do the same thing in reverse. The way they do this is by combining everyone's orders together until they hit whole numbers. Definitely a novel idea.
As far as stocks go, I like BAC. I got in at $7 when the banks were going belly up and I'm up around $16 now. I expect it to settle around 25 late this year barring more gov't intervention. I base my outlook on historical trending.
If you plan on daytrading watch the fees. You pay a fee when you buy and another when you sell. Scottrade charges $7 each, so that's instantly $14 you have to take into account. Make yourself a spreadsheet that helps you track your transactions, what you paid, what break-even will be with charges and use a different worksheet for each transaction, even if it's the same stock.
For those that are interested in investing but are young and/or don't have a whole bunch of money I highly recommend Buy Stocks Online and invest your money at ShareBuilder. It is now owned by ING and has been good for me.
The way it works is each month/week (pick a period) they pull however much money you elect from your account and buy a portion of a stock or stocks that you apportioned.
Let me try to make that clear. Let's say I put in $100/month.
I can put 50% towards MSFT, 25% towards GOOGle and 25% towards BAC (bank of america)
They would buy
$50 worth of MSFT (about 1.6 shares)
$25 worth of GOOGle (about .04 shares)
$25 worth of BAC (about 1.4 shares)
They do buy at the strike price when the money is taken so you're not "playing the market". What you are doing is investing in the stock's future. If you decide to sell they do the same thing in reverse. The way they do this is by combining everyone's orders together until they hit whole numbers. Definitely a novel idea.
As far as stocks go, I like BAC. I got in at $7 when the banks were going belly up and I'm up around $16 now. I expect it to settle around 25 late this year barring more gov't intervention. I base my outlook on historical trending.
If you plan on daytrading watch the fees. You pay a fee when you buy and another when you sell. Scottrade charges $7 each, so that's instantly $14 you have to take into account. Make yourself a spreadsheet that helps you track your transactions, what you paid, what break-even will be with charges and use a different worksheet for each transaction, even if it's the same stock.
I use Scottrade. Dont get any bills or monthly fees.
Last thing i really did was make some decent money on Fannie Mae stock.
I bought it at .58 in July and sold it at 2.00 in August.
Made enough to pay the folks I borrowed from to do the deal and still had a little roll in my pocket left over..
I am just a simple dabbler who sometimes can make a good one.
Last thing i really did was make some decent money on Fannie Mae stock.
I bought it at .58 in July and sold it at 2.00 in August.
Made enough to pay the folks I borrowed from to do the deal and still had a little roll in my pocket left over..
I am just a simple dabbler who sometimes can make a good one.
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Takeuon
Registered
Thanks guys!! What I'm looking to do for the time being is use this like a savings account that earns me a little more than the banks .25% intrest. I'm in my last semester of school so I dont have a paycheck coming in regularly where I could make regular contributions. I did just get through taking a managerial finance class so I have a basic knowledge of how things work but I am lacking in the pratical knowledge of the do's and dont's of these sort of things.
What I'm looking to do for the time being is use this like a savings account that earns me a little more than the banks .25% intrest. I'm in my last semester of school so I dont have a paycheck coming in regularly where I could make regular contributions. I did just get through taking a managerial finance class so I have a basic knowledge of how things work but I am lacking in the pratical knowledge of the do's and dont's of these sort of things.I use scottrade.....My advise is long and long research...research research research will get you there! Congrats and good luck!
I've had an Ameritrade account for 10 years. Don't use much but they are consistent.
Word of advice: DON'T DAYTRADE WITH MORE THAN YOU ARE WILLING TO LOSE. To be good at it, you have to study/research and make good unemotional decisions. Stay away from the web boards there's alot of hype going on there that people are playing you for. I've lost more than I ever made. I realized I'm not cut out for daytrading so I keep mine in mutual funds that have a good record and let THEM make the right decisions. I still use it when I think it's a no brainer (bought APPL when it was down)
Word of advice: DON'T DAYTRADE WITH MORE THAN YOU ARE WILLING TO LOSE. To be good at it, you have to study/research and make good unemotional decisions. Stay away from the web boards there's alot of hype going on there that people are playing you for. I've lost more than I ever made. I realized I'm not cut out for daytrading so I keep mine in mutual funds that have a good record and let THEM make the right decisions. I still use it when I think it's a no brainer (bought APPL when it was down)
I think once one has a certain level of assets, e-Trade doesn't charge fees. We don't pay fees in any of the accounts we have with them. They may not be the best choice for all, but they do a good job for us.
Another thing that is well worth keeping in mind is the tax rates you will pay on your gains and losses. Initially this may not matter much, as you're allowed to write off up to $3000 in losses from your taxable income per year. This applies to stocks traded in a regular brokerage account...not an IRA or 401(k).
In time though as your assets grow, $3000 becomes a pretty insignificant amount. This is when day trading on the side can become a problem. Short term tax rates apply to stock profits earned in less than a year. Unless one is using mark to market accounting methods, losses cannot be written off beyond that $3000 limit. Basically you're paying your marginal income tax rate on profits you make, while not getting tax benefits on the losses you will incur while trading.
To be considered a long term capital gain, a stock must be held for at least a year. The top capital gain tax rate is currently 15%, whereas the top marginal income tax rate is currently 35%.
This is one of the reasons it can be wise at times to buy and hold stocks for the long run. It doesn't mean it should completely drive one's investing decisions, but it is a factor new investors need to be aware of when making decisions to buy and sell stocks.
Another thing that is well worth keeping in mind is the tax rates you will pay on your gains and losses. Initially this may not matter much, as you're allowed to write off up to $3000 in losses from your taxable income per year. This applies to stocks traded in a regular brokerage account...not an IRA or 401(k).
In time though as your assets grow, $3000 becomes a pretty insignificant amount. This is when day trading on the side can become a problem. Short term tax rates apply to stock profits earned in less than a year. Unless one is using mark to market accounting methods, losses cannot be written off beyond that $3000 limit. Basically you're paying your marginal income tax rate on profits you make, while not getting tax benefits on the losses you will incur while trading.
To be considered a long term capital gain, a stock must be held for at least a year. The top capital gain tax rate is currently 15%, whereas the top marginal income tax rate is currently 35%.
This is one of the reasons it can be wise at times to buy and hold stocks for the long run. It doesn't mean it should completely drive one's investing decisions, but it is a factor new investors need to be aware of when making decisions to buy and sell stocks.
Some very good advice here. If one wants to make high risk investments, it absolutely cannot be made with capital allocated to pay next month's mortgage payment.
We still own APPL stock purchased at $29/share.
Some very good advice here. If one wants to make high risk investments, it absolutely cannot be made with capital allocated to pay next month's mortgage payment.
We still own APPL stock purchased at $29/share.
Thats a nice turn around on your money
Thats a nice turn around on your money
We've had our share of successes, and failures. To correct the typo it's actually aapl.
Still down on my two hundred shares of CSH purchased at around $44/share. Sometimes your best isn't enough. CSH is coming back some, but when I purchased it back in mid 2008 with credit becoming tight it seemed like a solid decision.
I've always wanted to own a pawn shop, so I hang on to the shares. Plus, I'd already taken advantage of our allotted $3000 in writeoff losses for 2009. We'll see how this year develops.
Sometimes you just miss opportunities. I'd been looking pretty hard at railroads, and was just about to pull the trigger on Burlington Northern (BNI), then about three days later Warren Buffett moved in and the price increased about 30% overnight.
Still, all frustration aside, investing beats throwing away capital by financing new cars, or other less productive items.
Question: Would you say on average that the money you do make is because of a large number of shares, or a sizeable gain in a stock that you have a few shares in.
Example 1000 shares of $1.00 stock that increase one dollar or
100 shares of something that increases ten dollars
Example 1000 shares of $1.00 stock that increase one dollar or
100 shares of something that increases ten dollars
