Ameritrade, Fidelity, and E*Trade; Which is good for me?

I have done some looking into these companies. Each requires around $500 in an account to start trading. I can fund that easily and know a good deal about investments. I also know that for some stocks I may need an investor to buy them for me.

The money I put in to open an account, is that money I can use to buy stocks, or is it a buffer, so if I lose money it eats into that? Simply put do I have to use more money after the $500 to buy stocks?

I plan on investing in Vanguard funds and several $20-30 stocks. What are your experiences in Vanguard? What stocks work best for you? I have been learning for the last 3 years. I am now ready to put some money into this.

What are your thoughts?

What about Scottrade? They have won the following award 6 times in a row.
"Highest in Investor Satisfaction with Online Trading Services"
- J.D. Power & Associates

It probably won't matter to you much....just look for the one that has the smallest commissions for these trades. I believe that's Ameritrade among the ones you've listed, but verify to make sure.

The $500 is what you need to open the account. That's the money you'll be investing with. There won't be any buffer. If you lose money, you're losing the money in your account.

Vanguard is pretty stable. Nothing to worry about there. Probably a safe way to play it until you've built up enough capital to start diversifying on your own.

Go ahead and get started. Just be prepared to make mistakes. You won't get it all perfectly right the first time. In investing, it's a matter of averages. On average, if you make more good choices than bad ones, you'll come out ahead. Don't kick yourself every time something goes wrong...just recognize that this is the cost of investing, and try to learn from that mistake. You'll do fine.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions.

I am goign to go with Sctottrade. Report It

fidelity ..... & go forward . thanks

Fidelity is not cheap. You can trade for $8.00 -- their cheapest rate -- ONLY if you have at least $1 million in your account or do 120 trades per year (they have to first see that you indeed had 120 trades the last year). Otherwise, you'll trade for $19.95 http://personal.fidelity.com/accounts/se...

Here is a comparison of "Fidelity vs. Ameritrade: brokerages compared" that you may want to check out http://www.calicocat.com/2004/07/fidelit...

I use Fidelity and I like their customer service, reports and researches available and their easy-to-use trading screens