Why you shouldn't be a Day Trader using a discount broker
Written: Sep 23 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Great service and comprehensive research
Cons: More expensive than most
|
|
|
| ahwilliams's Full Review: Fidelity Investments |
Fidelity is an excellent company to choose for financial services. While they don’t fall into the “discount” category they do justify their higher prices with quality service. If you have read my other reviews you know that I am very cheap, but one place I do not try to cut corners on is financial advice and services. When you look for ways to save money you want to get the biggest return for you dollar. Groceries and other consumable items fall into this category, finances do not.
I used to have an account with Datek but was required to change because I work for a financial firm that had an arrangement with fidelity. I was hesitant at first not wanting to give up the lower priced service they provided. It turns out that was all they provided that was better than fidelity. After asking around I found that the people I knew who preferred fidelity were also the people with the most money.
Why you shouldn’t be a ‘Day Trader’
It is important to note that all data suggests that the buy and hold strategy works best for the majority of amateur investors. Let me qualify what an amateur investor is: If you don’t trade stocks for 10 hours a day, go for drinks with other people who trade those same stocks after work, and play golf with those same people on the weekend, then you are an amateur. The ‘Professional’ traders deal with a few stocks and know as much about those companies as the CEO’s do and sometimes more. You will not be able to compete with these people, the only way to ensure you will do well is to buy good stocks and hold them for a minimum of 3-5 years, preferably longer.
Having said all that, you can give yourself an edge by utilizing the research of the above-mentioned professionals, that is where paying an additional $14 a trade comes in. First, do not trade based on limited information, get the facts and know the figures. Second, don’t trade often, buy stocks that you would expect to be around when you retire. If you want to invest in high risk stocks then find an appropriate mutual fund that targets this objective let the ‘professionals’ do the research (do your research on the different funds first). Fidelity’s in house funds are quite good but you don’t have to limit yourself strictly to the over 150 fidelity funds, they offer a total of 4100 funds from many sources.
Fidelity’s Online trading
This is one of those sites that just work. There are few sites in existence that provides content and functionality as seamlessly as fidelity does. Their site provides easy to view account summaries, useful tax information, a variety trading options, in depth research, and a full range of financial vehicles.
Quotes & Research
There are many sources for stock quotes on the Internet but fidelity has one of the better ones I have worked with. They also provide a very compressive portfolio-tracking feature that allows you to follow groups of stocks outside of your fidelity portfolio. In addition to a vast collection of available research, their stock and mutual fund evaluator tool is extremely useful. This allows you to find investments based on a variety of variables.
Planning & Retirement
In addition to retirement planning, fidelity provides a full range of planning tools including general planning, estate planning, college planning, and tax planning.
Fidelity is a first class organization. As we move forward in the technological age companies will have to provide clients with more seamlessly integrated services. Fidelity is ahead of the game and I expect them to not only remain leaders but to excel in their industry.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
ahwilliams
|
|
Member: Alex Williams
Reviews written: 25
Trusted by: 54 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.