Stock Trading Overview

Updated Sunday, July 31, 2011

The ideal stock trading platform has all of the following:

• Easy to use trading interface
• Large selection of order types, including market, limit stop loss and stop limit orders
  
• Easy closing of existing positions from the portfolio view
• Limit orders can be set at any price
• Instant cancellation or modification of entered trades that have yet to execute
• Confirmations report the date and time, preferably down to the second

A surprising number of online brokers fall far short of the ideal. Click on the names of any broker below to go to their respective reviews:

Broker	Stock Trading Grade
Interactive Brokers	A
Schwab StreetSmart Edge	A
thinkorswim	A
E*TRADE	B
E*TRADE Power Pro	B
eOption	B
Firstrade	B
Just2Trade	B
OptionsHouse	B
optionsXpress	B
optionsXpress Xtend	B
Schwab StreetSmart	B
Scottrade	B
Scottrader	B
SogoTrade	B
TradeKing	B
Zecco	B
Fidelity Active Trader Pro	C
Schwab	C
TD Ameritrade Trade Architect	C
WellsTrade	C
Fidelity	D
Merrill Edge	D
ShareBuilder	D
TD Ameritrade	D
Vanguard	D

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Related articles: Registration Overview, Options Trading Overview, Charts Overview, Research Tools Overview