Got it. Thanks! I'd rather use a broker though... I'm also from Portugal, and like Gelsemium said, I've seen a lot of people loose all they had.
Better banks and firms here in the US are SIPC insured - client investment funds are insured up to $500k or so if the bank or firm (holding your investment account money and investments) becomes insolvent. SIPC does NOT insure against market or investment losses. http://www.sipc.org/for-investors/what-sipc-protects Better banks and firms here are also insured against things like employee theft.