posted
Hi Guys. Just a newbie with a question. Do you recommend putting stop/loss orders on stocks. What is the best way to set them up, I don't know much about them. Do you set them to sell at market price when it reaches a certain level, or do you set a limit order for a certain amount? If you set limit and it reaches that point, what if it goes below that before it has a chance to sell. You could miss the sell right?
ALSO, What brokers do you guys use. I like ameritrade but 10.99 a trade is rediculous. That means it costs me 21.98 for each buy/sell combo. I am afraid to switch because I usually have no problem filling and am use to using ameritrade. I also want to be able to buy any stock, from pink to nasdaq. I use ameritrade's LevelII are there any free LII services out there?
I would love to know how you operate day to day.
Thanks - You guys rock!
Jay
Phoenix
posted
Choicetrade is 5 bucks a trade I believe, and allows stop-loss orders, even on pennies.
Never use a market order on a penny stock, always limit orders -- you will get screwed.
(Some brokerages, like Scottrade, wont allow you to put market orders on pinks, pennies, or any other stock under $1 anyway.)
The only other options for Level 2 outside of Ameritrade (that I have personal knowledge of) is Scottrade's "elite" program, which requires you to have 25,000 bucks in your account but you get L2 for free I think.
Microcaptrade does real-time on: stock filtering, news, and also Level 2 if you want it...but not cheap, something like over 100 bucks/month for the premiun package....they are also probably the best solution for a daytrader, period.
Think Alphatrade will give ya Naadaq Total View, Pinks and Pennies (all with L2) for around $63 a month.
I have used MCT and Alphatrade and liked 'em both. Just wish they were cheaper.
metal1
posted
you should try to avoid market orders but like you said, if you put in a stop with a limit, you could miss the sale completely