I am looking to start investing in the stock market. What full service brokerage firms are best rated?

I am a beginner and I am not savvy with the market and investment strategy (yet). Does anyone know what full service brokerage firm is rated best, for stock picks, service, research, and fees? What is the minimum investment amount?

Whoa there!!
Okay! First things first, do NOT focus on a brokerage for their stock picks. Nasty idea!
The competition within the online brokerage market is pretty stiff, so they all will essentially offer the same services. If you are concerned about price, then look them up. A LOT of the prices you see advertised have strings attached. For example, you need to make at least 120 trades a year. That is trades, which means there is a buy and a sell in their, which means a total of 240 transactions...multiply that by $10, and you can see how expensive that can be. Or you may have to maintain an account balance of a certain amount...usually $100K. I have also seen the fine print advise that these rates that are being offered are introductory only. So it pays to read!
Moreover, your best bet is to educate yourself.
I first started out watching MadMoney and reading Cramer's books. I no longer see that as a sole resource, but for a pundit, he certainly is passionate about breaking down the jargon in a way that anyone can understand. The jargon was specifically created to keep people out of the business, so you can see the value in his work already. I would then expand your horizons to include reading some books on your own as well. People only do well in the market when they learn to fish, rather than have fish handed to them.
I think it is awesome you are breaking out into the unknown like this. I wish you the best of luck and I would first recommend learning the ropes in a sector you are already interested in. This makes the knowledge retention all the more easier.
Good luck!
I hope this helped some!

If you go to a brokerage firm with less than $50,000 you are going to get stuck in mutual funds. If you insist on trading stocks, and you don't have a lot of money, every trade will likely be "unsolicited," that means you make the decision and the broker just executes the trade for you. For that service you will pay 1% or more for a stock trade. That's not very attractive.

I suggest you start by understanding what every stock trader is up against. Read Charles D. Ellis, "Winning the Loser's Game." You don't have to do what he says, but you have to understand why he's recommending what he is.

Next, read John Mauldin's "Bull's Eye Investing." Finally, read Van K. Tharp's "Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom." Good luck.

i use Scottrade.com myself. you can start with as little as $500.00. but i would first read the following books.

1. the intelligent investor
2. security analysis
3. financial accounting text book

I agree with the previous answers, read some books and start tracking some stocks first using Yahoo's Portfolio Tracker. That way, while reading the books, you can see what the stocks you want to buy are doing on a day-to-day basis.

Chance favors the prepared mind.

Erik

I agree with all of the answers above. Most full service brokerage firms will stick you with mutual funds, if you don't a large amount of money. Also, the fees at these places are too high for the level of service they provide. I would do a little research and read the books above and definitely check out fool.com

http://www.investors-insider.com