For years I was a customer of Brown&Co. They offered great service at great prices. All good things come to an end and they were sold to eTrade, which offers great prices and lousy service. Now they may be offering bankruptcy so I am shopping for a broker.
I have a pretty large account (1 personal, 2 IRAs) and do all the research etc myself.
Anyone have ideas?
Thanks.

I've been very happy with TD Ameritrade which was formed when TD Waterhouse merged with Ameritrade last year. I found the service excellent and they have tons of online research and tools available for someone who wants to manage their own portfolio. I too have brokerage and IRA accounts, so they can easily handle both. Check out their website: www.tdameritrade.com

Go with Fidelity or Vanguard.

You could go with me, but I charge a full commission. You wont be complaining about the service though.

load of cr@p. How are you any better than an index fund?
If he wants to do all the research himself he should go with a low fee brokerage.

Who said I was any better than an index fund? Wasnt me.

Thats a big if. Most working people dont have the time nor the patience to do the research themselves.

People who have large accounts and arent day trading dont mind paying the extra money to be kept abreast of whats going on in the market and with their stocks.

That load of cr@p is from your @ss not mine.

the load of crud is that someone should pay you outrageous exorbitant commissions just so you can deliver substandard results. In other fields that's called fraud.

I am thinking of Fidelity.

Not in Real estate.

If you end up going with them, don't forget about:

THIS and THIS

Define outrageous and exorbitant and it sounds like you need to look up the definition of fraud as well. And why is everyone assuming substandard results? Did someone post my 5 yr avg?

If you really have been kicking the market's butt for the last 5 years you wouldn't need to be peddling your services on hashkafah.com

1. I havent been investing for 5 years, at least not actively.

2. I just started this job.

(and for the record I posted my services as a joke, your insulting response got me offended so I replied)

Dude, FYI among many others is kicking your @ss in the hashkafah.com stock picking competition

Thank you for the update. People generally dont use marketocracy as a gauge for performance. My turnover there is like 100%, call that my playground if you will. Hardly mirrors my investing philosophy. I'll bet youd say TRA doesnt know what hes doing either.

Was just joking around, unclench.

That makes the two of us then.

Outrageous is charging $100 when the same transaction can be done for $12. Substandard because you yourself seemed to admit you arent any better than an index fund.

Consider these variables :

1. Do you trade on margin ?
2. Do you employ options ?
3. Do you trade only US equity markets ?
4. What is the average transaction size (in shares, not dollars) and frequency ?
5. Do you need someone to hold your hand ?
6. Do you need coverage exceeding SIPC's ?
7. How sensitive you are to best execution (if at all) ?

Obviously, since so many broker/dealers are in business, all of them have _something_ to offer.

_{Disclaimer - nothing I post should not be construed as anything other then a general advice and is not a solicitation or recommendation of services of any broker/dealer.}

The only way a charge totals $100 or more is when options are involved when it turns into a per option fee. Otherwise it is substantially less than that.

I can tell you that based on a 3 year avg (thats as far back as I go), I am substantially better than an index fund even with paying full fees. Dont know where I intimated that I was inferior to an index fund.

I do agree with you that if you dont need someone to hold your hand the cheaper alternatives are the way to go. I tell that to people all the time.