Personal Finance & Money Stack Exchange
Personal Finance & Money Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [broker]

An individual/entity who helps buy or sell a tradable asset. Often used with stocks, bonds, options, foreign-exchange. Related tag is brokerage, the fees charged by the broker.

An individual/entity who helps buy or sell a tradable asset. Often used with stocks, bonds, options, foreign-exchange. Related tag is brokerage, the fees charged by the broker.

213 questions
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Is this broker a scam?

I was contacted by a 'broker' in January, they said they're based in Switzerland (I'm based in the UK), and they asked to invest some money (as minimum as $1000). They told me that my platform would be connected to the main one, so I will…
kenorb
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How does Fidelity make money off me?

I have an IRA account with Fidelity which I use to buy a handful of Fidelity mutual funds. Since they are Fidelity mutual funds, Fidelity does not charge commission on them. So how then does Fidelity make money off a customer like me?
David says Reinstate Monica
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The security team has noticed suspicious trading activity. Insurance fee is 25%

On my trading platform(TCI-Investment), I've received a message from security, that I must pay an insurance fee of 25% cause they thinking I'm trading with insider information. "Starting from the October 30 of the current financial year,…
Liver Makentoshe
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34
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6 answers

Why do real estate agents always ask me whether I am buying property to live-in or as an investment?

Trying to buy a house. Along with -- what is the maximum you are willing to pay -- this is the most frequent question. Why do they care whether I will live in it or rent it out? The two are not mutually exclusive. Update: this is for UK
A.L. Verminburger
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28
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4 answers

How do I invest and buy/sell stocks? What does "use a broker" mean?

This is an embarrassingly basic question. I'm a college student and know very, very little about the world of investing and purchasing stocks. I realize that some Googling could find me the answer to this question, but I feel like this is an…
Casey Patton
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Is it normal for brokers to ask whether I am a beginner?

I know that a broker would try to do their best to help a customer learn if they are beginners so that they stick with them. Apart from that, do you think there might be other reasons behind doing it? I have noticed how many beginners are attracted…
Zen-Ventzi-Marinov
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24
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6 answers

What does Benjamin Graham mean by "Those who speculate make money for their brokers"?

In The Intelligent Investor, page 36, Zwieg, who is writing the commentary, states "those who invest make money for themselves. Those who speculate make money for their brokers." Why is it the case that brokers profit off speculators?
Franklin V
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What's the differences between a discount broker and a regular broker?

What are the differences between a discount broker and a regular broker? "Discount" implies a price difference... but why can they be cheaper than regular brokers??
newstockdude
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5 answers

Is my investment safe if the broker/bank I'm using goes into insolvency?

I'm using Scalable Capital as my broker. Once I buy ETFs through them, if Scalable Capital (or the bank they are partnered with) goes into insolvency, is my investment safe? I'm wondering if I should be using different brokers to split my…
MarkJeglic
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15
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8 answers

No transaction fee ETF trades - what's the catch?

I just noticed TD Ameritrade has program where you can trade from a list of ETFs with zero fees. Sounds like it could save me a bit of money, but my cynical side wonders how they make money off such a program... Is it a loss leader? (They entice me…
bstpierre
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Why companies appear in several stock exchanges?

Let's say I want to buy stocks of Sinopec which is a Chinese company. I would expect to buy it from HKS and in local currency. With the Degiro broker which is Dutch, I see "Sinopec Shangai Petrochem-H in the search in HKS but I cannot buy it; there…
The Strong Programmer
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12
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3 answers

What happens to my stocks when broker goes bankrupt?

Let's say I have bought many stocks, ETFs and other products through Degiro. If degiro closes, do I have "access" to my financial products? How? Can I sell them aftewards through another broker?
The Strong Programmer
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How can stockbrokers be so cheap in the U.S.?

How do stockbrokers in the U.S. manage to be so cheap? In Germany, I know a few brokers but at most of them, the cost of an order is over 5€ (approx. 6$) every time. In the states, you have brokers like M1 Finance where they invest your money from…
snenson
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11
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How to incentivize a real-estate broker to find me a cheap house

I am looking for a house to buy. Most real-estate brokers that I know of represent the sellers. This means that they get a certain percentage of the selling price. This means that they have an incentive to offer more expensive houses, and for a…
Erel Segal-Halevi
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Is the stereotype of a businessman shouting "SELL!" and "BUY!" into a telephone in any way attached to reality?

In numerous cartoons and whatnot, you see a rich businessman shouting "BUY!" or "SELL!" into a telephone. Sometimes, it's just that, and sometimes, they may shout the slightly more specific: "SELL MOVIES!" or "BUY BEANS!" I assume that the person on…
Jordaan
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