I think while there seems to be a lot of these companies springing up, I'd always advise to go with one that's been around for a long time and as a good reputation. The fees might be a little higher than some of the new ones but at the end of the day I think it will be worth it.
It depends on what you want to do in regards to trading or investing. If you are investing and building wealth for retirement, then I would suggest Vanguard. They were founded by John Bogel, and his main idea was to provide a forum to invest in low cost mutual funds. At that time ETF's were not yet invented, so they have been added to the options available as well and have some of the lowest expense ratios at Vanguard. This is a major consideration when investing for the long term, because expenses can eat away at your returns if you do not pay attention to what you are charged to own the fund. If you are looking for somewhere to trade (as opposed to invest), then I would recommend starting out with TradeKing. Again it is a question of fees and they have some of the lowest around. When you are starting out, you will make some mistakes, so why not make them as cheaply as possible. By the way, I am not recommending trading stocks as a strategy, but if that is what you are into, TradeKing offers a good place to start. Also, if you want a trading platform that is a little more advanced, OptionsHouse is pretty easy to use. It is a little more expensive, but you do get some added features that are not available at TradeKing.
When away from the house, locally or traveling, I have no qualms about using either my tablet or smartphone on 4G LTE to do business with my broker (Fidelity). While i mostly use their Android app, I can easily use the full https:// site with the tablet's browser. What I will NOT do is use any public WiFi in a hotel, airport or anywhere else to access my brokerage account. (That also goes for email and apps that pass credit card data.) Sometimes the tablet or smartphone thinks it knows more than me and wants to latch onto a nearby WiFi signal. When dealing with the broker I pointedly and deliberately turn off the WiFi via the device's settings menu beforehand, then launch the app or browser. No worries, good to go. Giddyup. HTH. PS. My comments are limited to traveling in the USA and Canada. I have no knowledge or experience with travel overseas.
That is a reall good question and one that I want to know the answer to as well. It can bogle the mind with all of the topins there are online for investing and trading. Trying to find the right one sometimes seems like it is trying to find a needle in a haystack. I am going to be looking forward to hearing the other answers on the forum. I think some of it depends on the fees you pay for trades.
Tradeking has reasonanly low trade fees and they offer automatic dividend reinvestment which is a great feature. Setting dividends to autonomously reinvest can save time which is always good for business.
I am a big fan of Robin Hood. They don't have any fees and the front end is newbie-friendly. With a little bit of research, anyone can invest and even make a living from the stock market. The only downside is that it only works for US citizens. This is a problem for the non-Americans, as not everybody has trustworthy relatives or friends in the US.
Both TradeKing and Robin Hood sound good, I don't have a lot to invest and want to make it all count. That said, I like the reputation of places like ETrade and Fidelity. Are the first two well used and trustworthy?
A couple more that I got acquainted recently and offer low fees and simulation accounts - tradier.com (All residents) and questrade.com (Non-US residents)
The best brokers for newbies should have an easy to use site or platform. They should also have a robust offerring of educational content and access to virtual trading practice in order to hone the art of trading. All these qualities are embodied in TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab. The latter often waiver its account minimum of ($1,000) for investors who agree to auto deposits of $100 a month.
