With the invention and growth of internet in the past decade, revolutionary changes occurred in the way we live and conduct our business. People pay bills online, communicate online, conduct transactions online and even find their partners online - through various dating and social networking sites.

Similarly in the stock investment arena, people can buy and sell stocks online. Traders can look at their accounts whenever they want to - do forecasting / budgeting using various tools / sites available.

Brokers enjoy taking orders through internet as they can save time and are able offer a better service at much competitive rates.

Most Brokers and Brokerage houses offer online services now. Brokerage houses have secure websites to which the client can login using their credentials and are able to carry out various activities - like generating reports - Dashboard view etc.

After seeing all these advantages, you still should not get carried away and use internet based brokerage services , especially if you are new to investing. Speaking to an actual individual can prove beneficial sometimes. Individual services might be a costlier option but the consumer should make that decision of availing the right service for them.

If you are not a stock market savvy, online trading can be dangerous at times. Make sure you do enough research before you start trading online.

If you are completely into online trading , make sure you have some alternate way to trade if your computer / network goes down for obvious reasons. You cannot afford to lose a great lot of money in case your hardware or network fails which is often beyond our control and not usually covered by various insurance services. Keep hold of the telephone number of your broker always and make sure your broker is willing to provide telephonic support if you are note able to conduct the trading online for some specific reason.

As with all other services it will be a good idea to hook up to an online broker who has a reputation and some history in their experience. There will not be a company who has online trading experience for fifty years but there might be companies who are in the industry for long and have recently started online trading. They will know the business.

Personal references are always the best. You may be able to find reviews about various brokers in this site soon !

Again, Online trading or anything online is just wonderful but not the right thing for everyone. Think carefully , get enough references and get into online trading with a reputable stock broker.

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You may need to hire a broker depending on the type of investment you plan to do. A broker usually work for a brokerage house and will have the ability to buy and sell stock on your behalf in the stock exchange. If you plan to buy or sell stocks in a stock exchange, a broker is indispensable . You must have a a broker.

Stock brokers need to pass the General Securities Representative Exam in the US to become a qualified Stock Broker. Most stock brokers come with a background in business or finance with a bachelor’s degree ans sometimes Post Graduate degree.

Definition of a Stock Broker is as follows

- An agent that charges a fixed fee or commission for buying and selling orders submitted by an investor.

- The firm / person who acts as an agent for a customer, charging with a commission for their services.

Investment Market used to be a wealthy man’s business in the past. But that is no more. With the revolution of internet and technologies, every is bound to compete. Stock Brokers charges have reduced considerably since they can provide services over the internet and could deal with more clients. Nowadays stock broker charges except the personalized services are affordable for common investors.

This lead more people to invest money into Stocks.

Brokerage fees and systems are different in various countries.

In th US - The stock broker charges a flat fee / or a percentage based commission from the client for executing the the trade. The trade price for the stocks should be the best price in the market. When acting as a principal, the trade can be with another market participant or even with one of the stockbroker’s clients.

In the UK - Stock brokers act similarly as in US. But by law , the broker is obliged to inform the client when trading in a principal capacity and no commission can be charged.

Many are mistaken with the roles of a Broker to a Stock Market analyst. An analyst studies the market and provides tips - acts a s a tipster giving guidance about the performance of various stocks. There are specialist stock market analysts for various businesses. A stock broker buys or sells stock on your behalf according to your guidance. They don’t analyse stocks.

In the industry you may find two types of stock brokers

Full service brokers - Who may provide with investment advice , provides more types of investments - They charge usually in commissions

Discount brokers - They don’t do any research or won’t provide any advise for investments. These are the most common stock brokers found on internet. They do as you command, buy or sell as you wish. These brokers will be enough for most of the cases where you are confident of what you are doing.

If you are new to investing in stocks , you may as well go for a Full Service Broker to make sure you are getting your basement done well. You may seek the service of a Stock Market Analyst and Discount Broker if you are an experienced investor in Stocks.

Stocks / Investments is a vast topic. Hope I managed to shed some light to some of the grey areas of Stock Broker - Stock Market Analyst.

Good Luck with your investments !!

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