In years past buying stock was reserved for the rich. It was expensive and difficult to track and buy stocks. Sure you could go down to your bank, talk to a certified broker, and buy some shares. But that would cost you a bundle and make any small profit you made negligible if you were to only buy even 100 shares. That means the rich would be able to get richer, buying large blocks of shares while the commoner bought only 100 shares and spent most of his or her profits on fees.
Well times have changed since the dawn of the information age. Now you can by and sell shares, portions of shares, and all for under $10. Online brokers, electronic money transfers, and electronic markets (the NASDAQ) have made the average joe a stock trader (although most are still gamblers.)
Some of the easiest places to buy stock online are:
Sharebuilder.com - you can buy partial stock by buying just $100 of a stock rather than a share block
Scott Trade - $7, easy, cheap
E-Trade - Cheap and big, you can bank, loans, make toast, almost everything
TD Ameritrade - Cheap and easy as well plus TD Waterhouse backed
Buying stocks is easy now, start your research today and begin trading in days.
