| Choosing the best stock broker can be a chore if | | | | based solely on your instructions. |
| you are not aware of what you need to be aware | | | | You should also be aware that in most cases brokers |
| of. This choice really depends on the type of | | | | earn their income on commissions from your stock |
| investment you plan to participate in. A broker is a | | | | transactions. This commission is generated whenever |
| person who can buy and sell stock on the stock | | | | you participate in a stock buy or sell through your |
| exchange and usually is employed by a brokerage | | | | broker. Your broker will typically get a percentage of |
| firm. If you are thinking of your need for a broker | | | | this fee as well. However, it should be noted that in a |
| then the simple answer is yes if you plan to engage | | | | lot of cases the broker will charge a flat fee. |
| in buying and selling stocks on the stock exchange. | | | | Keep in mind that there are more then one type of |
| This article will focus on finding the best stock broker | | | | broker you can interact with. There are two general |
| for your needs. | | | | categories that exist:Full service brokers and discount |
| To get their license all stock brokers are required to | | | | brokers. The difference is usually in the amount of |
| take and pass two tests. Most who have taken the | | | | service you receive and the commission you pay. |
| tests will agree that they are pretty difficult to pass. | | | | The Full service brokers will usually have a much |
| In fact most brokers usually have some exposure to | | | | larger set of services that they can do for you, in |
| finance or business. Most brokers have at least a | | | | some cases offer investment advice and is usually |
| bachelors degree with many also having advanced | | | | paid in commissions. |
| degrees. | | | | On the other hand you have the discount broker. For |
| Since many people tend to confuse the roles and | | | | the most part they do not offer investment advice |
| responsibilities of a stock market analyst and a stock | | | | or market research. They typically just execute the |
| broker I will define them here. A stock market | | | | trades that you have asked for and that's it. |
| analyst's role is to analyze the stock market and | | | | Given this knowledge then the biggest decision you |
| based on that data come up with a prediction of | | | | will make when it comes down to choosing the best |
| what it won't or will do in a given time frame. A | | | | stock broker is deciding if it will be a discount or full- |
| stock broker's role is simply to buy or sell stocks | | | | service one. |