The Best Brokers for Traders

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  1. Interactive Brokers
    • Cheap fees/commissions--$.005 per share--but requires $10k to open an account. 
    • Great for live trading practice using tiny position size (10 to 100 shares etc.) without risking a lot of capital. 
    • This is vital because the trader learning curve is steep and littered with drawdowns. Therefore, if you refuse to paper trade to learn, IB is a great choice for live trading to increase the amount of trading practice while keeping risk minimal/small.
    • Great borrows for shorting stocks.
  2. Think or Swim by TD Ameritrade
    • Pricey at $9.99 a trade.
    • Paper trade feature great for practicing. 
    • Excellent charting program used by many pros. Easy to customize platform with plenty of YouTube how-to videos.
    • OnDemand feature lets you simulate a trading day for any stock going back about 5 years. This feature is invaluable for developing traders.
  3. SpeedTrader Pro
    • Excellent commissions--$.0025 per share--but requires $25k to open an account.
    • Great for live trading practice using tiny position size (10 to 100 shares etc.) without risking a lot of capital. 
    • Incredible borrows for shorting stocks.
    • Software costs can get expensive, start at $49/month.

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