Comparisons between stock brokers can be completed by planning out the requirements of your trading style. If you are looking to trade frequently and use an online stock broker you can list your requirements in a spreadsheet and methodically check each requirement.
Comparisons in fees can be made on a basis of per trade or account trading frequency. These comparisons may differ based on the unit of comparison. If you trade 200 times per month then your fees may be lower than if you trade and fees are charged on a percentage of each trade.
Another comparison that can be made is the speed to market. Some online stock brokers are slower to get trades finalised and settled. This is partly due to their platform and whether they are using third party dealers to settle trades. Comparisons are hard to make, but usually those brokers that deal directly as dealers are faster to market than those that don’t.
You can compare the customer service response times by ringing the service desk. If you do this several times during a normal trading week, you can get a good idea of which service desk respond the quickest.
One method of checking the viability and trading expertise of your online broker is to talk to them about your options when trades are disputed because of failure within there platforms. What this does is allow you to know your options and the likely response of your broker before the event happens. Most online stock brokers will compromise or refund trade costs when thing go wrong. Some will only refund or reverse trades to their loss when you prove it was their platform that failed. It may seem like a small issue, but it can indicate their willingness to comprise in a fair and professional manner.
The last of the comparisons you can make is by researching the companies offering the online brokerage. Information is available through various sites on the internet. Comparisons between asset valuations, employee size and financial results for the year can indicate which brokers are performing well and which may have problems in the future.
It can be quite frustrating when your broker is bought out by another and you end up having to setup new account numbers, new cash accounts and new trading platforms. So compare your brokers and spend time researching each.
For more information on comparing brokers visit http://www.online-stock-broker.net
