Investing

List of the Best Online Discount Brokers

August 26, 2009

Updated List Of The Best Discount Stock Brokerage Firms I‘m looking at online discount brokers to determine where to open an IRA account later this year. And in the process I’ve learned three important things about online brokerage firms. First, there are a lot of them. You’ve probably heard of many discount sites that allow [...]

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Sogotrade Offers Online Stock Trading for $3 Per Trade

August 21, 2009

As I search for online stock trading sites for my SEP IRA, it’s been intresting to watch the discount brokers compete on price. Zecco was one of the first deep discount brokers, offering free stock trades. They’ve since scaled that offer back, but still offer low cost trading. But Sogotrade.com recently caught my attention because [...]

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Zecco Offers $75 Refer a Friend Program

August 14, 2009
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Zecco, an online discount stock brokerage firm, is offering up to $75 for each friend you refer to Zecco. And the program is really easy to use. If you currently are signed up with Zecco, just follow these steps: Visit http://hello.zecco.com/raf/index.html Fill in your name and the same e-mail address associated with your Zecco Trading [...]

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How is the Dow Calculated?

June 19, 2009

Recently, Travelers and Cisco replaced GM and Citigroup as part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJIA). When it became clear that GM and Citigroup’s days on the Dow were numbered, people began speculating which companies would take their place. Because there are no set rules on what companies will make up the Dow, [...]

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10 Reasons Direct Reinvestment Plans (DRIPs) Should Flood Your Portfolio

June 1, 2009

Direct Reinvestment Plans, or DRIPs for short, enable investors to purchase stocks directly from companies. DRIPs typically do not require payment of commissions or fees, and dividends are reinvested in the company’s stock. In this article, Clare from Money Energy lays out 10 key benefits of DRIPs, after first discussing the difference between full and [...]

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How to Avoid a Mutual Fund’s Minimum Investment

May 30, 2009

Here’s a tip I picked up from Matt Krantz of USA Today. Most mutual funds require a minimum initial investment. Even most Vanguard funds have a $3,000 minimum. When I started investing a long time ago, you could bypass the minimum investment requirement by agreeing to an automatic investment plan. Today, this option is often [...]

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Zecco Online Stock Trading for Free

May 10, 2009
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Zecco Trading is the online discount broker best known for giving away 10 free trades each month. But low cost is not the only thing Zecco offers. Zecco also offers powerful investing tools, a community for like-minded investors to share their portfolios and investing tips, and great customer service. We’ll cover all of these features, [...]

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Why Suze Orman SHOULD be in Bonds, and You Should NOT

May 9, 2009
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Suze Orman has been getting her share of criticism lately. Liz Weston has pummeled Suze for advising folks to make minimum payments on credit cards while building up an emergency fund. And now Orman is taking heat for investing her portfolio in bonds, while advising others to invest in stocks. For example, in what is [...]

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Morningstar User Guide

December 13, 2008

Morningstar is the premier destination for investment research, news, tools and analysis. Whether you invest in individual stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, derivatives or even hedge funds, Morningstar can help make you a smarter (and richer) investor. I’ve been a premium member of Morningstar for a long time, but even its free level of membership offers [...]

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