Your question is spot on. Before you choose a broker, you should choose which trading platform will be downloaded to your computer. Many people never get that far, and use web-based trading through a web browser; far inferior. You will not find implied volatility or fibonacci extensions or retracements or Wykoff analysis on any single website, for example. The research tools and technical analysis tools for trading are only available on a trading "platform." Only a "platform" downloaded to your computer will give a trader all of the tools he needs to succeed (w/o the problems of a web browser). @Caren doesn't have a clue, is obviously not a trader, and should not answer questions about trading.

You can download a free trial of any platform available and try it out. It should make sense to you and only you can decide. It should match your needs, not mine. Do you need options ability, for example? Do you need screeners and research capability. Or are you primarily after technical analysis tools and charting? One dumb mistake trading because the platform isn't logical will cost you all the pennies saved trying to cut corners.

There are many comparison charts for online brokers, plus look in Barron's or other papers. Also, type "best broker" into the Search Answers box above and you'll get lots of answers.

http://www.brokerswiki.com/

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

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

Five Minute Investing: How To Evaluate A Trading Strategy

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

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

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

Before you decide to become a day trader, check out these articles, first by the SEC (Securities & Exchange Comm), second by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission, and third by the Motley Fool:

http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/daytips...

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2000/05/daytradin...

http://www.fool.com/investing/small-cap/...

You really need to learn more about trading and read several good trading books written by traders before you start making decisions about a system.

I'm making good profit with penny stock

Check here http://trade-pennystock.checkhere.info

Many new investors are lured to the appeal of a penny stock due to the low price and potential for rapid growth which may be as high as several hundred percent in a few days. Similarly, severe loss can occur and many penny stocks lose all of their value in the long term. Accordingly, the SEC warns that penny stocks are high risk investments and new investors should be aware of the risks involved but you can even make very big money. These risks include limited liquidity, lack of financial reporting, and fraud. A penny stock is a common stock that trades for less than $5 a share. While penny stocks generally are quoted over-the-counter, such as on the OTC Bulletin Board or in the Pink Sheets, they may also trade on securities exchanges, including foreign securities exchanges. In addition, penny stocks include the securities of certain private companies with no active trading market. Although a penny stock is said to be "thinly traded," share volumes traded daily can be in the hundreds of millions for a sub-penny stock. Legitimate information on penny stock companies can be difficult to find and a stock can be easily manipulated.

How does Trading Work? I can say you that take a look at this site ( http://forexsignal.kyma.info ) may be it can help you. It 's one of the best course about trading. It seems like Trading is almost totally based on Macro-economics. It also strikes me that since there are not nearly as many currencies as there are stocks/bonds/derivatives etc etc, there must be a large number of market players in each currency bracket. So logically, currencies must be very liquid true? Also, what is the risk of Currency trading, high or low? When I read the business section every day I notice that the Canadian loonie moves hardly a tenth of a cent on a regular basis (in comparison to the US dollar). So it seems like theres very little room for growth in currencies unless you leverage. On that note, whats the maximum leverage permitted for forex trading. I know in stocks its x2, and in derivatives its x10. Anyway the only way to know how to start a profitable buisness is by following some methods like the one that I suggested.

A great place to start to learn about investing or hone your skills is the blog InvestLikeMe.blogspot.com. The author provides market news and articles regarding the technicals of stocks. He also shows you his current active portfolio and updates his trade real time on twitter so you can make the same trades as him.

this platform will do : http://bit.ly/1lscQ54

but I suggest you trade with real money in small amount like $100, the platform i suggest is awesome just because you can get $20 stock when connect to your facebook and $50 free bonus when you deposit $100.

This is a social investment network as you can learn the way how other pro trader invest their money and you can COPY them also. I make some money on it

and I highly suggest you to sign up this form to get more tips : http://bit.ly/1oZtmd5

it is the same platform

TD Ameritrade is what I use but I'm not an active trader. Just a few stocks here & there.

fidelity, td ameritrade, schwab, and many others are all good

google: stock brokerage companies comparisons

note - no one uses the word platform anymore (was this from india?)