Do stock market websites charge you per share, monthly fee, or both?

[unknown]

I'm 18 years old and want to learn more about the stock market by investing in some blue-ship/penny stocks.

[jaualka]

don't do penny stocks. they will lose you money. i know... i've tried them. better to invest in stocks of good companies with earnings.

check out my stock recommendation blog for some good ideas:

http://kmsweeklystockpicks.blogspot.com

you can connect to me on twitter through my blog. this way you'll get notified when i create a new blog entry. i'll be making at least 2 recommendations next week.

you can also chat with me through my blog if you have any questions.

oh, a brokerage account will charge you a fee for each transaction. some, like ETrade also charge a monthly fee. read ALL the fine print.

good luck.

[Kevin S]

Most charge you per trade. It doesn't matter if you're buying $1,000 or $5,000 worth of stock; there's a flat fee for each purchase and another fee (or commission) when you cash out.

Some sites, which are clearly intended for established investors, might also charge you additional fees if your total portfolio is below a certain amount -- and that minimum might be as high as $100,000.

The best site I've found for investors who are just getting started is sharebuilder.com. There is no minimum and trades are only $4 on the buy side, which is all you'll need to worry about for a couple years. They also have a decent research/education section, but of course you'll want to gather information from several sources before you start investing.

Along the way, you'll probably find that you want to be careful with penny stocks. The potential rewards look very appealing, but you may well end up with a bunch of stocks that never pay off at all.

[jlf]

They are called brokerages, not "Stock Market Websites." They charge per transaction.

[iluv2tradestks]

You will want to open an online broker account. Each trade will cost you between $4.00 a trade to $25.00 a trade depending which on line broker you go with. A stock broker full service brokerage charges per share. It costs multiple times more.

You need to buy some books on investing, before you trade. You need a strategy. Your strategy will tell you what your entry price is, and your exit price. You will know why you chose the in and out price. If you don't know you are only guessing, hoping and gambling.