[Turias]

I'm interesting in signing up with an online broker, but I don't do a lot of trading. Basically, I get stock options at work and buy and sell a little Apple when I get the urge.

Do any of you have any recommendations for a broker I should use? The cheaper, the better, especially since I don't do a ton of trading. I probably only make 3-5 transactions a year.

A coworker recommended Ameritrade, but I'd like some more opinions. Does anyone here have any experience with them or with anyone else?

Thanks!

[wdlove]

If I were going to gamble on stocks, I would prefer to deal with a legitimate broker in person.

[d0ubled0wn]

I also recommend Ameritrade, I think they have the lowest commissions of the major internet brokers. I used to be with E*Trade and while I like their site design, the low frequency of trades that I do isn't worth the 19.99 commissions they charge. E*Trade has more research tools also, but I do all my research on other free sites.

I did hear about one alarming incident, although not first-hand. Someone I know at work apparantly was swindled out of tens of thousands of dollars from his Ameritrade account. From what I gather it was an inside job, not just an account password hack. I really want to talk to the guy in person to find out more about this.