Scottrade unless they changed without me knowing, has only a $500 initial deposit,and 7 dollar trades. They give you free access to a streaming quotes desktop application, which is a cool feature. They don't offer dividend reinvestment in the specific stocks that Etrade does, but they have some new program out that lets you kind of reinvest dividends commission free. Scottrade doesn't have minimum trade amounts to get that $7 commission nor any fees for having your account open. They also have local offices that could add value to their service if that local touch appeals to you.

Here is what I'm doing.

Primary Trade Site

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I use Charles Schwab for a lot of reasons. I think trades are $8.95 maybe less. However, the interface is well refined, I hate Fidelity's. Charles Schwab has a wide range of products including mutual funds that have a minimum buy in of $100 and up. I also get phone calls from the staff every now and then offering helpful information in using their investor tools. They offer dividend reinvestment. Products include stocks, mutual funds, exchange traded funds, cd's, bonds, treasury bond auctions, and more. They also have an online learning center. There is also a debit card to withdraw from your cash account.

Secondary Site

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A lot of people seem to not know about Direct Stock Purchase Programs. Some companies allow you to buy stock direct through a management company rather than a brokerage. http://www.computershare.com is the one I use. Basically you enroll in a company's stock program. You can do ongoing investments until you meet the criteria. For example i think McDonalds is $500 but you can do recurring investments of $50.00. They still earn dividends and are applied to your account. Some companies have a setup fee while others do not. Most have a $15.00 market order fee. But do not charge for a dividend reinvestment. The primary purpose is for a long term investment. You also get to vote on some decisions. Those are sent in the mail.

Tertiary Sites

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I had some extra cash so I noticed Barclays has a few investment options. Through the company there is an international investment solution. However, https://www.banking.barclaysus.com/index... has three high interest earning accounts.

.90% APY - Money Market

.95% APY - Dream Account - You can only deposit $1000 per month

2.15% APY - CD on 5 year picks.

I have a little extra cash so I'm doing a bit in all three. Draw back is it takes 5 days to transfer cash in.

I'd say with $1,000 look at a high interest FDIC insured money market account as a start.

Binary trading is notoriously risky but if you follow a special method I've learned you can earn good money at almost no risk. This is the site I use: ( http://forexsignal.kyma.info ) I definitely recommend subscribing to this site in particular. I was a bit weary of binary trading from all the bad hype they receive but this site is pretty legit. This course explain everything you need to start a very profitable trading activity. Remember never invest 100% of your capital into any one security and never have 100% of your capital invested and a good understanding of the rules

There are no requisite transactions at any major broker I'm aware of. But it's always good to ask if there are any hidden fees before opening an account.

First, you are underfunded and at a great disadvantage. Second, the market is in correction mode, the trend is down, and almost anything you would want to buy is declining in value. Unless you want to short the market, there is no hurry. Probably the worst thing you could do is rush into this without some sort of plan. You really need to learn more about trading before you start making decisions about a system

The Cardinal Sin Of Beginning Investing -- And How To Avoid It

http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analys...

TRAITS OF SUCCESSFUL TRADERS: a four part guide

http://www.fxcm.com/docs_pdfs/fxcm-trait...

Certainly, investing is different from trading, but trading is just a more active glorified form of investing, depending on your time frame.

Trade a simulator while you learn. Develop a trade plan, discover your time frame and risk level. Learn good investment strategy and method and good money management techniques. Use Investopedia or Wiki to define financial terms while you develop a trade plan. If you gamble and treat the simulator like another mythological and fantasy video game, the one-armed bandit will take your money. Develop a plan a test your plan methodically, precisely as you would trade with real money, not with a million dollars, and not just pushing buttons at random.

Learn about investing first. Adhere to good trading strategy and market maxims and axioms. Focus on risk first, not mythological profits. Develop good money management techniques. Learn the art of limiting loss and using stops and position size to reduce risk. Learn the lessons of probability and liquidity. You are a long way from opening an account by any standard. Learn to become consistent, then you might be ready to branch out into trading in a year or two. Actively doing anything the wrong way without knowledge is futile, pointless, and counterproductive.

Since you are in college, you should already know the best way to learn is from a good book or three on the subject. Read Investing for Dummies and The Millionaire Next Door to get a feel for the markets. They are available for free at your local library. If you're still interested in trading, you'll need to read another dozen books to dig out the specifics, strategies, and psychological deficiencies every human indulges.

You might want to open an account to use their simulator and learn their trading platform, but funding the account is probably the last thing you should do.

Five Minute Investing: How To Evaluate A Trading Strategy

http://www.investopedia.com/university/f...

Getting Started In Stocks

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/bas...

There are many comparison charts for online brokers

http://www.brokerswiki.com/

http://www.brokerage-review.com/

http://online-stock-trading-review.topte...

So, I want to start investing on my own. I have a bachelor’s in finance and soon I’ll have a Master’s in finance and would like to take a little cash I have set aside (let’s say about $1,000) and start a portfolio for myself. I’ve done a little research on the main online trading sites, ETrade, Scottstrade, TDameritrade, and Fedelity. So far I’ve noticed that Fedelity has the lowest transaction costs at $7.95 but also requires a minimum account balance of $2500. ETrade has transaction costs of $9.99 but only requires $500 to open an account.

I was just curious to know if any of these sites required a certain number of transactions per month/year? Also, is there a minimum to open an account with TD or scottstrade? I wasn’t able to find anything on their site….

Basically, just looking for someone who could provide a little insight on the pros/cons of these online trading sights. Keep in mind that I’m starting with about $1000, and want to primarily invest in equities. Also, low transactions costs are preferred (I think that’s a given…) but also, since I know $1000 isn’t a lot to start, I won’t be able to afford to make a ton of transactions or the transactions fees will eat me up. So if a site requites, say 20 transactions a month, even at $7 per trade that doesn’t leave me much.

Any advice/thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!