OT: Wade -- Scottrade
I have Schwab, Scottrade, and Ameritrade. My favorite is Schwab. It's a flat fee of $9.95 and I love the CyberTrader software. Scottrade is cheaper but does not allow me to trade stocks on the pink sheets. I have to call it in. BobWins is right about sub $1 stocks. For example, I paid $25 when I bought NWAU at 40 cents (which I had to call in). Ameritrade is $11 but I don't have real-time quotes (my account is in a trust name). I don't have check writing privileges with Ameritrade and I don't know why????
I also have a higher-level of confort with Schwab and Scottrade because there's an office (and a human-being) within a reasonable distance.
TAM