MSN Money Online Brokers InvestingThese brokers work in co-operation with the MSN Moneycentral website and you can set your MSN setting to always presume that you use one of these brokers. The typical broker options range between a discount brokerage and a full service brokerage. With a typical discount brokerage, the focus is on getting your stock bought and sold for the lowest fees, maximizing your return on investment. This is a good option if your stock market needs are pretty plain vanilla, and even if you would require some more exotic investment options, such as access to foreign stock markets, you can always open another account at a full service brokerage. Almost independent of which type you choose, you will get a set of online tools to help you trade the market, including stock charting, news service, and a trading platform and portfolio tracking tools. More differences typically occur if you require human contact with the brokerage, as this is the area where the biggest expenses also typically lay for a brokerage. When going for a discount brokerage, read the fine print very carefully. Some discount brokerages have tiered fee structure, where you pay less the more you trade, which might be counter productive to your profits. The value of the full service brokerages over discount brokerages needs to be determined on a case by case basis, and you should determine whether the extra fees are justified for the extra set of services. These services may include access to the brokerages analyst reports, premium trading tools, live broker help, better access to IPOs, and financial advisory services. |