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You trade in and out of investments all day long, or at least several times a month. You’re always looking for an edge that allows you to squeeze extra profit from every transaction.
- Commissions matter -- and so does execution. Your brokerage is going to make a ton of money off you, so you should be getting cheap trades and few or no account fees. You might want to chat with other traders to get their evaluations of how quickly and how well orders are filled.
- Evaluate the interface. Presumably, you’ll be trading online, so check out the brokerage’s Web site for ease of use. A good phone center is important, too, in case problems arise. See how long you have to wait on hold and how helpful the reps are.
- Assess your research needs. Some of the no-frills brokers that cater to active traders are pretty skimpy in the research department -- as in, they have none. That may be fine with experienced traders who have access elsewhere to analysis, real-time charts and screening tools. If you want these goodies, make sure your brokerage has them and find out if there are extra costs involved.
- Get good tracking. You’ll want to gauge your performance and, if you’re trading a taxable account, your cost basis for each trade. If the brokerage doesn’t offer that service, make sure your account is compatible with whatever software you use.
What’s not so important? Account maintenance fees, because they’ll almost certainly be waived as long as you keep up your heavy-trading ways.
Editor's note: Follow the links in the blue box to the left to read about other investing types and to return to the main article.
Liz Pulliam Weston's column appears every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. She also answers reader questions in the Your Money message board.
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