Anyone else use ShareBuilder?

[Circus]

For about a year I have had a Roth IRA and a regular Individual Account through ShareBuilder.

 

Does anyone else use them?

 

I am thinking about changing because I feel extremely limited in my investment options.

 

I like to have some mutual funds and bond funds in my IRA but don't through them (I do have some good funds in my company 401k, but since I don't have every fund available to me there I'd like more room to maneuver) and I'd like to be able to play some super speculative stocks off of the pink sheets in my regular account.

 

However, ShareBuilder does not offer mutual funds or bond funds (with the exception of the ING funds since ING just acquired ShareBuilder) nor do they offer access to the pink sheets.

 

So I'm wondering if anyone else feels the same, and what you chose to do.

 

Also, any recommendations for online brokerage accounts would be great.

 

Thanks!!!

[CactusWill]

Well, you don't really want access to the pink sheets anyways.

 

I highly recommend Zecco. I have several different brokerage accounts and you can't beat free. I have a sharebuilder account but never used it simply because of the fees. The $4 trades are nothing, but they stack other fees on top of that.

[54regcab]

No load mutual funds through a company such as Trowe, Vanguard, or Fidelity is the way to go IMHO. I'll pass on high fee individual stock trading.

[shearn78]

I use T Rowe Price Automatic Asset Builder. You can get started with only 50.00 per month and they have a wide variety of low cost mutual funds to choose from.

[Quit Screwing Me]

I have a regular stock account with Sharebuilder. I've heard a lot of people put them down because of their fees and such, but I like them. I think they serve their purpose well. I use this account strictly for accumulating blue chip stocks that pay dividends.......I use my Ameritrade account for active trading. And if I can buy partial shares of 20 different stocks each month for $20, I think that's a pretty good deal.

 

Anywho............Sharebuilder is going through some changes right now. They were just bought out by ING Direct (a company a lot of people love). The first thing they did after the change (besides changing their colors from green to orange, lol) is to lower the price of real-time investing.........now all real time purchase and sales are $9.99 I believe, whether it's market or limit. This is the same as Ameritrade, so it shows they aim to be competetive. I would not doubt that there would be more consumer friendly changes in the works.

 

Yes, there's cheaper companies out there, where you can buy for $5 or so, but I plan on keeping my accounts where they're at.

Edited December 24, 2007 by Quit Screwing Me

[hegemony]

sharebuilder is an expensive way to build wealth IMHO.

[Circus]

Well, you don't really want access to the pink sheets anyways.

>>>>>

 

Sure I do. I like to be speculative with a small portion of my portfolio.

 

I've found some OK speculative picks trough ShareBuilder. I picked up ALTI at $2.74 and sold at $4.10 a few months later. I picked up NBG at $11.17 and sold at $12.75 a couple of months later.

 

But I'd like to play the occasional stock off the pink sheets. Small buys of maybe $500-$1000, nothing major.

 

Does Zecco offer access to the pink sheets?

[CactusWill]

Does Zecco offer access to the pink sheets?

 

Don't know, I don't fool with OTC stocks. You're better off in a casino.