I would like to do some stock market trading on-line without having it
cost me a bundle to maintain (other than my stupid choices on stock
picks).  The software cost can vary from free to many thousands of
dollars, the company that I use to effect the trades is also a
variable cost, and finally there is the live feed to the exchange
which is usually a monthly subscription.  All these costs can exceed
the profits of trading stock EVEN if I have some success with my stock
picks.

 Question:  What combination of software, broker and feed source is
most cost effective for a novice to learn and dabble with just a
couple thousand dollars to invest. Low cost high performance software
with lots of features, Low cost per trade on-line broker and low cost
access to real time stock market activity.

I don't expect to do better than the Pro's, but.......  Hey I lost my
shirt with them too.  I have gone to a few seminars that want to sell
(Wizetrade etc.) and I have done some looking around on the internet. 
What I seek is the findings of someone who is involved and experienced
without something to sell.

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Clarification of Question by dektol-ga on 30 Apr 2003 11:22 PDT

There are quite a number of "systems" out there and I am quite sure
that many are scams, or wildly over-priced for the service rendered. 
I do not expect a difinitive answer here since so much is based on
personal choice and how the product is put to use.  I do not expect
any researcher to protect me from myself nor do I have any expectation
of making money based on the findings of the research.  I realize that
with the best combination I can easily loose all my investment through
inexperience or poor choices.  It is simply that I have lost money
with past "professionals" that turned out to be NOT acting in my best
interests (Blind'em & Rob'em) for example.  I expect to educate myself
in this area and would like a low cost method of doing so, excluding,
of course my own choices of what stocks I choose.

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Clarification of Question by dektol-ga on 01 May 2003 14:51 PDT

Thanks for the great comments!  Now, should I appreciate these
comments enouth to throw down a few bucks for them without ending the
original question, is there a way to do that ?

JK

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 01 May 2003 14:58 PDT

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helpful readers.

Hi! Thanks for the question.

First we take a look at reviews of different reputable online
brokerages for day traders.

Smartmoney provides a good article guide and rankings of online
trading firms for people like you... the online day traders. I think
you would find great value in our first three links.

"The Do-It-Yourselfer"
http://www.smartmoney.com/brokers/index.cfm?story=august02-doityourselfer

"The Do-It-Yourselfer Rankings"
http://www.smartmoney.com/brokers/index.cfm?story=august02-doityourselfer-rankings

Commissions and Fees Tables
http://www.smartmoney.com/mag/index.cfm?story=brokers02-commissions

The About.com website provides practical advice on different fields
through human guides who are experts in the field. Their section on
Day Trading is an extensive resource of different tips to get you
going and also to alert you in possible pitfalls in day trading.

In terms of software here is their advice on setting up your system
and their recommended software.

Part V: Day Trading Home Office 
http://daytrading.about.com/library/weekly/aa083099a.htm?once=true&

Portfolio Tracking
http://daytrading.about.com/cs/portfoliotracking/

Software for Day Traders
http://daytrading.about.com/cs/software/

Stock Screening
http://daytrading.about.com/cs/stockscreening/

The Tucows website has ratings on some free and low cost stock trading
software. You might want to try them out.

Tucows - Windows - Finance - Stock quotes
http://www.tucows.com/business/stock95_default.html

The Becoming a Day Trader section provides some very good advice. Some
of the articles you could use are the following.

Basic Infrastructure for Day Traders
"This feature describes the basic equipment and services required by
serious day traders to enable them to put together an adequate
platform for online day trading."
http://daytrading.about.com/library/weekly/aa112200a.htm

"Suitable Stocks for Day Trading - Basic Criteria"
"This article outlines the basic characteristics a stock should have
in order to make it a suitable candidate for potential day trading."
http://daytrading.about.com/library/weekly/bl_becomeatrader.htm?PM=ss12_daytrading

"Choosing A Trading Firm"
http://daytrading.about.com/library/weekly/aa090699a.htm?once=true&

Other trading tools that might be valuable to you are the follwoing:

Chat Rooms & Forums
http://daytrading.about.com/cs/chatroomsforum/

Free real-time stock quotes
http://www.allstocks.com/quotes/html/free_real-time.html

Stock New Pages
http://www.allstocks.com/html/news_pages.html

Search terms used:     
stock market "online trading" software reviews guides

I hope these links would help you in your research. Before rating this
answer, please ask for a clarification if you have a question or if  
you would need further information.  
                
Thanks for visiting us.                 
                
Regards,                 
Easterangel-ga                 
Google Answers Researcher

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Request for Answer Clarification by dektol-ga on 03 May 2003 18:05 PDT

easterangel-ga, thank you for taking on my question.  I am sure my
answer is in your response somewhere.

If you set out to lose money as slowly as possible by day trading (or
just trading), what set-up would you use?  1.  Which online broker? 
What software?  and what real time ticker access ?  In other words,
from all the available ways to go, what combination seems most useful
for the least cost?

Thanks, 

JK

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Clarification of Answer by easterangel-ga on 03 May 2003 22:10 PDT

Hi again! It seems that for the best bang for your buck, the following
products ar good.

Online Brokers:
1, Vanguard - "A fee-free wunderkind-you won't even get charged for a
bounced check."

2. Brown & Co. - "Unlike a year ago, $5 trades now get you J.P. Morgan
research; low margin rates."

http://www.smartmoney.com/brokers/index.cfm?story=august02-doityourselfer-rankings


Software:

1. Wall Street Analyser - Because it is fre and charts stocks as well.
http://www.tucows.com/business/preview/247453.html

2. Personal Stock Monitor Gold -It is for $50 but the prices are
updated.
http://www.tucows.com/business/preview/195319.html

3. Prophet.net also provides a comprehensive service for only $19.95.
http://www.prophet.net/

I hope my clarification was helpful to you.

Thanks!

I'm not sure I'd recognize a truly great answer if I got one!  My
ignorance in these matters is significant but I think I got enough
information to get me started.  Thanks easterangel!

Most day traders lose their ass. Buddies who tell you about their
great stock picks are probably not as enthusiastic telling you about
the losers.

If you want to learn about the market by buying and selling a few
stocks, then I recommend the broker FOLIOfn at http://www.foliofn.com

Here's why: two very cheap plans Pay as you go at $4/trade, or "almost
unlimited" trading for $300/year. The catch: there are only two
trading windows per day, and all trades are executed at the windows. 
Real time
trades are available as well, but cost $15 each.  On the plus side,
foliofn
provides tools that make tracking tax gains and losses much simpler
than most brokers -- where you are usually left on your on.

This is more a buy-and-hold approach.  You still have to work at being
a good stock picker, but the idea is to pick something you think will
go up in a few months or years rather than in 2 hours.

For stock picking, you don't really need to buy software... check out
the MULTEX investor web site where you can do stock screens, etc...
for free.

Good luck!

For education, I suggest "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin
Graham.

Billionaire Warren Buffett likes this book, and I did too. The book
was written in 1972, but it is not out of date.  Many of the stock
market excesses Graham mentions were repeated in the recent 90s
internet bubble.  Basically, Graham advocates buying 'cheap' stocks,
using P/E or tangible asset values as a guide.

Thanks for the tip!