According to governmental sources, we are beginning to crawl out of the abyss known for the past two-and-three-quarter years as a deep economic recession.   A few job sectors continue to grow while others remain stagnant or continue to experience layoffs.   Proactive individuals know that they need to take a firm stand in order to safeguard their economic futures.  Those who are employed put “feelers” out into the market to connect with companies experiencing growth; some individuals also cultivate new skill sets to make them more marketable.   And, people still invest in the stock market, and wisely so.

But now, instead of paying commissions to brokers in this economy, they’ve become more actively involved in the investment process.  Now, they turn to Online Trading services such as Firstrade.com.  Just as you would expect from a live broker/trader, this Mobile Trading site provides you with a broad range of investment options that enable you to diversify your portfolio.  This, in layman’s terms, will allow you to “cover all your bets” (indulge your safety considerations as well as the need to increase your net worth).

Firstrade’s vast suite of products include and is not limited to mutual funds, stocks, bonds, and dividend reinvestment plans (DRIP).  If you click their link for mutual funds, for instance, this Online Broker site will provide you with more than 11,000 options selected by way of your own personal criteria.  The site’s Stock Trading options include Exchange-traded funds (ETFs), listed and OTC (Over-the-Counter) stocks, penny stocks, and large capital investment stocks.

In this economy, I don’t know of anyone who is not concerned about their retirement years.  Firstrade offers IRA Accounts and rollover 401K accounts as well as retirement planning tools.  Those tools make the entire process of investing for your family “golden years” more understandable and a lot less stressful.

You will want to know that this comprehensive online trading resource is a member of FINRA and SPIC.  Firstrade is fast, simple, and safe as the market itself.  For savvy investors, it’s the perfect choice to enhance their net worth without having to incur the cost of a live broker. 

Every time I hear the term “day trader,” I can’t help but recall the chorus of the famous Beatles song.  Obviously, I am not the typical day trader. But perhaps I number among the newest breed of day trader: a more mature client whose interest in the stock market, until lately, was minimal.

Unable to work myself into a lather over financial resources that were here today and gone tomorrow, I left the management of my family’s portfolio to my husband, who followed the stock market closely and invested appropriately … until October of 2008, that is.

When the latest crash on Wall Street occurred, taking with it most of our investments and coinciding not so coincidentally with Washington’s $710 billion bailout for corporate scum, I got mad.  I wanted revenge; I still do. Short of doing something that will surely land me behind bars, however tempting that may be, I decided to take matters into my own hands.  I was sick of feeling impotent over the state of my investments.  I decided to take half of what was left in our portfolio and determine how it would best perform.

While I can’t control the stock market to any degree, and I can’t control the legislators and corporate barons I’d love to see dangling by nooses, I can control what happens to my disposable income.  I can research various markets, assess risks, and place my money in funds that reflect my sociopolitical leanings as well as my desire to safeguard and increase my existing resources.

I could do all of that, of course, if I had the time to devote to these pursuits.  Since I don’t, I went in search of the professionals via Online Trading and Online Broker firms.  The Internet is festering with them, and quite frankly, I didn’t know where to begin. I turned to a friend, who’d recently come into a small inheritance upon the death of her mother.  She led me to firsttrade.com, which she herself has been using with great success over the past few months.

I very much appreciated the site’s “Research & Tools” data warehouse, which made the process of investing online — and investing, period — a lot more understandable to me.  This feature provides tools to those of us born into the Information Technology age, many who favor Mobile Trading, and those of us born earlier, who rely on charts and graphs to gather our information.  I’m in the latter category.

Via firsttrade.com’s “Research & Tools” feature, I was guided to explore IRA’s.  Okay, so I’m old fashioned, and you know the adage about twice burned.  But I learned a few things, including the relative safety of IRAs and the fact that not all IRA Accounts are alike.   Because of the nature of my work, I opted to establish, through firsttrade.com, a SEP (Self-Employed) IRA.  This is a very viable option that the government has sanctioned for people like me, whose employers do not pay into an investment fund.  I have total control of my SEP.  I decide what to pay into it.  And I can, if I so choose, liberate funds if I’m willing to pay an early withdrawal penalty fee of no more than 10% of the amount of the withdrawal (the safest percentage to ensure that I do not pay the penalty come April 15th, when Uncle Sam comes knocking).

With the guidance of firsttrade.com’s team of financial advisors, the SEP has proven to be a good investment for me.  If I have questions, I can always reach out to the experienced investment team at firsttrade, by telephone, live chat (via the computer), or email.

If you’re like me, a relative newcomer to the world of online Stock Trading, you’ll want to work through a trusted site that offers diversity and safety, educates clients, and demonstrates the value of those by way of a focused and dedicated customer service team.  You’ll want firsttrade.com. 

At one time, securities trading activities were the bailiwick of the privileged few, those with the wealth, knowledge, and real-time or near real-time information necessary to make informed investment decisions.  The brokerage firms of the late nineteenth and early to mid twentieth centuries housed ticker tape machines which they used to receive stock price information via telegraphic transmissions.  Investors, devoid of such technology, required the assistance of brokers to provide them this critical information and assist them with decision-making and execution of trades in various markets.  Information, as they say, is power!

Today, more investors than ever before make their own investment decisions and many require the advice and assistance of a broker only on rare occasions.  Given those circumstances, it makes good financial sense to utilize the services of an online discount stock brokerage to place orders and execute trades.

With a $6.95 flat rate for online orders, no share or dollar amount limits, and no handling fees, Firstrade is a very competitively priced Online Broker for all of your Stock Trading needs.  But, as with a book and its cover, low commissions alone do not tell the entire story of Firstrade and its value to the investor.  In today’s uncertain economic times, safety is a high priority with investors, and Firstrade is a leader in the industry with account protection up to $150 million.  Efficiency also being a significant concern, investors should be pleased with Firstrade’s “3 Second Execution Guarantee” for qualified orders.

Additionally, Firstrade account holders can avail themselves of premier informational resources including real-time news from MarketWatch, mutual fund analysis from Value Line, and Standard & Poor’s Stock Reports and 5 Star Recommendations.  With the quality and depth of information offered by Firstrade, investors will feel the confidence of yesterday’s stockbrokers – knowing that they have the best available information with which to make an informed investment decision.

Those looking to transfer IRA Accounts will be please that at Firstrade, there are no setup, maintenance, or termination fees.  Likewise, account holders will never be charged an inactivity or account maintenance fee, as is commonplace most online discount brokers.

Online trading of stocks, options, mutual funds, EFTs, and fixed incomes with Firstrade is a breeze with the user-friendly, intuitive interface to its order and trading platform.  For more complex transactions, broker services are available at a modest cost.  For those on the go, Firstrade offers and supports Mobile Trading.

So, grow your portfolio instead of your broker’s commissions and fees:  check out Firstrade’s website and take advantage of its exclusive “Triple Sign-up Bonus!”  For the last online brokerage you will ever need, setup an account with Firstrade today!