The good news for investors on a budget is that they can still engage in frequent day trading and not have to pay excessive fees as they have gotten much cheaper over the years thanks to major discount brokerage firms. online. The core fees that brokers typically charge, such as commissions or trading fees, are something every stock investor should carefully consider, and those fees are now lower than ever.

It is important to understand the difference between discount brokers and full service brokers. The discount variety obviously isn’t going to do all your research for you. However, a good discount brokerage firm will provide you with the resources and educational tools you’ll need to do your own research. They might even offer “robo-advisors”, although they are not human, they are still IT robots that are programmed to help traders with decision making by removing the human elements of trading. With a robo-advisor, you will be less likely to fall prey to your own emotions.

There are still some online discount brokers that charge unreasonable fees such as dormancy fees. Even if you are an active day trader, you never know when something might happen that could cause you to suddenly stop trading or decrease trading. This is something to think about when searching for the best discount brokerage firms. Please read the fees and commissions carefully to see if any of them seem unreasonable or useless.

In today’s global economy, it’s also good to go through a brokerage firm that offers international opportunities. If there are dozens of international exchanges in many countries around the world, with very little fees and commissions to worry about, that’s a good thing, especially if you have 24/7 access to global markets.

Major discount brokerage firms with minimum requirements

There may be a minimum requirement on the money you use to open an account with a particular company. It depends on company policies and the type of account you want to start, such as a cash account or a margin account.

Ideally, sign up with a company that offers various investment opportunities, and not just penny stocks and OTC. It is always worth considering investing in bonds, options, mutual funds, EFTs and even Forex for the purpose of trading currencies.

Some accounts may even be insured, being protected by SIPC (Securities Investor Corporation), so this is something you’ll want to look into.

Among the top online discount brokerage firms, the one you’ll probably want to start with is Zacks Trade. It’s a great option for day traders who want research, no unnecessary fees to worry about, and a variety of investment opportunities. There is great customer service too.