BROKERAGE ACCOUNT » Online Trading

Online brokerage firms have become a fierce and competitive business in the 21st century. With the advancement of the Internet and online banking, many companies are taking it to the next step and allowing individual investors to buy and sell securities online. Consumers can quickly and easily complete online trading account applications allowing them to become the masters of their financial domain, with no broker involvement required.

New Account Perks

All online brokerage firms need to expand their customer bases and the amount of trades they conduct to keep increasing their revenue stream. As with any financial business they will do what they can to attract new investors and that includes offering promotional incentives to new customers to open new accounts. Some of these perks include offering a starting cash balance (free money) of up to $100, or even offering free trades for new accounts.

If you are partial to getting free trades as a bonus to opening a new account, the process for locating that promotion is quite simple. Just visit your favorite search engine and enter keywords looking for free trades. Within seconds you will get both paid advertisements (in the shaded areas on a page) or other page information (under the search box and not shaded). Click through the option of your choice and then you can review the offers from online brokerage firms. Bookmark your favorite pages, open up several web browser windows and compare the offers side by side.

By comparison-shopping, using the internet to research your request and opening a new account, you can easily secure free trades. You can also visit investor forums where they will often trade coupon codes and special email only offers with members.

Getting free stock trades by opening a new online trading account is the modern equivalent to the old practice of banks handing out toasters to customers who opened a new savings account. The practice of promotional giveaways is an old one that is experiencing a new spin courtesy of the Internet and the online trading boom.

Investing in the stock market can be difficult, even for the most financially savvy investors. The money to be earned can be enormous while the effects of losing money can be devastating both financially and personally. If you are about to enter the realm of buying and selling stocks utilizing an online trading account, it is important that you understand the different between real-time and delayed stock quotes.

Real Time Quotes

Real-time stock quotes provide you, the investor, with actual continuous streaming information as it is happening in real time. Whether a stock increases or decreases in value, if you follow the activity via a real-time stock quote, you will be following the actual trail of movement. Some websites offer real-time stock quotes for a fee, courtesy of a live feed so you can not only see what is happening not only in the United States, but in the world wide markets.

Delayed Stock Quotes

Delayed stock quotes tend to run about 15 minutes after the fact as the information feed is delayed and the theory is to provide NASDAQ traders on the floor a bit of an advantage. According to NASDAQ's website, "Trading information on NASDAQ and OTCBB companies is delayed at least 15 minutes. Trading information on NYSE and AMEX companies is delayed at least 20 minutes per those exchanges' rules. The Most Active section is delayed at least 15 minutes for NASDAQ and 20 minutes for AMEX and NYSE. The NASDAQ Indices and the Major Indices scrolling ticker are delayed at least 1 minute. Mutual Funds are updated at the end of each day." This theory is generally applied to stock market feeds around the world.

The main reason why both real-team and streaming stock quotes exist is for money. Many brokerage firms pay large amounts of money for the right to access real-time information. When there is money to be made, the stock market will find a way to make it.

Many consumers with a couple of bucks to their name and access to the Internet are trying to figure out ways to gain more control over their financial assets. One such way is by opening an online trading account and acting as your own money manager.

When it comes to online trading, buying and...

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