Easy Way to Buy and Sell Stocks

The StockBrokers.com best online brokers 2022 review, our 12th annual, took three months to complete and produced over 40,000 words of research. Here's how we tested. Our editorial content is independent and unbiased; here's how we make money.

The best trading platforms for beginners all offer three essential benefits. First, the platform itself should be easy to use and beginner-friendly. Second is the provision of a variety of educational materials to get new investors off to a strong start. And third, the best platforms deliver access to quality stock market research.

For our 2022 Review, we tested and scored 15 trading platforms, focusing on features that are essential for beginning investors. In addition to in-depth testing of each learning center, we looked at which brokers offer unique features like webinars, live seminars, videos, progress tracking, paper (or virtual) trading and interactive educational elements such as quizzes.

Best Trading Platforms for Beginners 2022

Here are the best online stock trading sites for beginners:

Fidelity - Best overall for beginners
TD Ameritrade - Excellent education
E*TRADE - Best for ease of use
Merrill Edge - Best client experience
Webull - Best investor community

Other Trading Platforms

In addition to our top five trading platforms for beginners in 2022, we reviewed 10 others: Ally Invest, Charles Schwab, Firstrade, Interactive Brokers, J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing, SoFi Invest, TradeStation, Tradier, Robinhood and Vanguard. To dive deeper, read our reviews.

Best Platforms for Beginners: Pricing Comparison

Here's a comparison of pricing across Fidelity, TD Ameritrade and E*TRADE. For more comparisons, use our online broker comparison tool.

Feature	Fidelity	TD Ameritrade	*ETRADE**
Minimum Deposit	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Stock Trades	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
ETF Trade Fee	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Mutual Fund Trade Fee	$49.95	$74.95	$19.99
Options (Base Fee)	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Options (Per Contract)	$0.65	$0.65	$0.65
Futures (Per Contract)	N/A	$2.25	$1.50
Broker Assisted Trade Fee	$32.95	$25.00	$25.00

Best Platforms for Beginners: Education Comparison

Here's a comparison of the most popular educational features offered by beginner trading platforms. To compare 150+ features and fees side by side, check out our online broker comparison tool.

Feature	Fidelity	TD Ameritrade	*ETRADE**
Education (Stocks)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Education (ETFs)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Education (Options)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Education (Mutual Funds)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Education (Bonds)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Education (Retirement)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Retirement Calculator	Yes	Yes	Yes
Investor Dictionary	Yes	Yes	Yes
Paper Trading	No	Yes	Yes
Videos	Yes	Yes	Yes
Webinars (Monthly Avg)	115	500	30
Webinars (Archived)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Progress Tracking	Yes	Yes	No
Interactive Learning - Quizzes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Which online broker is best for beginners?

Based on our extensive testing, Fidelity takes the top spot this year as the best all-around choice for beginners, due to its fantastic ease of use and top rankings in education and research. Add in the option to trade fractional shares and its unique youth account offering (which captured our innovation award), and we have a winner.

Which trading platform is best for beginners?

The best trading platform for beginners is Power E*TRADE. E*TRADE offers Power E*TRADE as both a browser platform and mobile app. The availability of paper trading, as well as HTML5 charts with automated technical analysis and screening tools for both stocks and options, make Power E*TRADE an excellent option for beginners.

What is the best stock trading app for beginners?

For beginners, our favorite trading apps are Fidelity and TD Ameritrade. Fidelity provides the best market research and stock analysis, alongside an in-depth learning center.

TD Ameritrade offers the most comprehensive selection of trading tools, and provides access to its entire educational video library for beginners, which is easily navigable by topic.

How do I start trading for beginners?

To start trading as a beginner you must have a brokerage account, an investment strategy and an expected time horizon that you plan to hold. Scan the market for trading ideas while taking baby steps to size your trades appropriately.

Trading platform: A demo or virtual account from a broker is a great way to learn the trading software you are using and understand how order types can help you manage risk while entering and exiting positions.

Trading strategy: After opening a brokerage account, there are several decisions you will need to prepare for when trading as a beginner, such as what to trade and when to trade it, and how much money to budget.

Time frame: Whether investing for the long term as a passive investor or trading more actively, you must focus on present market conditions and recent price activity when deciding how long you want to hold.

Baby steps: Fractional shares are another way to ease your way into the world of stock trading while taking less risk, allowing you to focus on percentage returns before taking steps to increase your trading budget.

Interested in more stock trading education? Dive deeper with StockTrader.com's 10 Great Ways to Learn Stock Trading .

How do beginners trade stocks?

Here are common steps for beginners when learning how to buy stocks online:

1. Account setup: Open a self-directed brokerage account.

2. Navigate platform: Learn how the trading software works (website, mobile app or desktop).

3. Budget: Decide on a monthly amount you can afford to risk.

4. Strategize: Develop an investing style, such as buy and hold or short-term trading.

5. Manage risk and reward: Incorporate rules using order types (stop and limit orders).

6. Set goals: Focus on percentage returns and decide on your time horizon.

7. Find stocks to trade: Analyze news and research to find investment opportunities.

8. Avoid concentrated positions: Don't put too much into a single position.

9. Index funds: Consider incorporating low-cost index funds such to gain broad market exposure.

How do you buy stocks online?

To buy stocks, first, you need to open and fund an online brokerage account. Next, research which stock you want to buy. Last, go to the order ticket, enter the stock symbol — along with the number of shares — you want to buy, then place your trade.

What is paper trading?

Paper trading, or virtual trading, is a trading platform feature that enables the trading of stocks, ETFs, and options with virtual currency (fake money). This helpful learning tool is popular with beginners and is a great way to practice stock trading without risking real money. The two top-rated brokers that offer paper trading are TD Ameritrade and E*TRADE.

What are fractional shares?

A fractional share is a portion of a full share of a publicly-traded company. Fractional shares enable investors with smaller budgets buy a stake in companies with high stock prices. For example, instead of spending over $3,000 to buy one Amazon (AMZN) share, a trader could purchase a $100 fractional share – and then own a proportional fraction of that share (in this example, roughly 1/30th of a share). Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Interactive Brokers, Webull, SoFi Invest and Robinhood offer fractional shares.

What is a market order?

A market order is an order to buy or sell a security (such as a stock) at the current best-available market price. Market orders are the most common type of order, as they are the fastest and easiest way to buy and sell shares.

What is a limit order?

A limit order is an order to buy or sell a security at a pre-specified price or better. Since limit orders are fixed to a pre-specified price, they will only fill when the limit price is reached. Limit orders are best when you know the exact price at which you want to buy or sell a stock.

Is online trading safe?

Online trading is safe if you use a regulated online stock broker and never invest more than you are willing to lose. Trading stocks online is inherently risky. Start with a small amount of money, read investing books, and keep it simple by buying and holding for the long term rather than trying to time the market.

StockBrokers.com 2022 Overall Ranking

Here are the Overall rankings for the 15 online brokers who participated in our 2022 Review, sorted by Overall ranking.

Methodology

For the StockBrokers.com 12th Annual Review published in January 2022, a total of 3,075 data points were collected over three months and used to score 15 top brokers. This makes StockBrokers.com home to the largest independent database on the web covering the online broker industry.

As part of our annual review process, all brokers had the opportunity to provide updates and key milestones and complete an in-depth data profile, which we hand-checked for accuracy. Brokers also were offered the opportunity to provide executive time for an annual update meeting.

Our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .001% each year, providing site visitors quality data they can trust. Learn more about how we test.

smithlinim1992.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.stockbrokers.com/guides/beginner-investors