Proinnsias Ó Cillín: a brief bio

Disclaimer: I am a relative newcomer to Stocks and Shares. I offer these pages, not as an expert, but as a way of sharing my experience. I believe that I can help other newcomers to understand this world, so often expressed either in impenetrable jargon or in endless verbiage. I can also guide them to sites that I found most useful. If you want investment advice, however, I suggest you approach those who hold themselves out to be experts, e.g., brokers, online or traditional.

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Which online broker?

Firstly: check with your Financial Regulator that the online broker is authorised to handle share trading accounts in your country. (In Ireland it's http://www.ifsra.ie/. An e-mail to the contact address at this site will evince a quick response).
Secondly: any such broker will be better than a traditional trading account.
Thirdly: there is a wide variation in services offered and fees charged (percentage on the value of the trade, fixed charge per trade, margin between Bid and Offer price, account maintenance fee, charge for share data supplied).
Fourthly: "Free" trading accounts are not free. There is a difference (or "margin") betweeen the Bid price (at which you sell) and the Offer price at which you buy. "Free" trading sites stick their own percentage in between the Bid and Offer price, which is equivalent to a percentage charge every time you trade.
Whether the price charged per trade is significant depends on how frequently you wish to trade. If you want to trade on the swings (buy when the price falls and sell when the price rises within relatively small price changes), then you will have to find a broker (such as Interactive Brokers) who charge a small, fixed, fee per trade.

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Killeens Financial

Which online broker?