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fearlesss
02-10-2007, 11:48 AM
Who do you buy your stocks and bonds through?
PeakDream
02-10-2007, 02:46 PM
Most of my portfolio is ETF, only small part is stocks. I use Ameritrade for my stocks and ETFs. I don't buy bonds because I think it's a lose-lose situation so I don't know if Ameritrade is good for bonds or not.

I don't remember correctly, if you buy government bond, I think you can purchase/bid directly from the treasury, is that true?
analogman
02-10-2007, 02:56 PM
I use TDAmeriTrade and used to have E-Trade. Since I very rarely trade and didn’t have much money in my E-Trade account, they kept charging me a maintenance fee. I like TDAmeriTrade's fee structure better but I think E-Trade has a better website and better research available.
fearlesss
02-10-2007, 03:28 PM
Most of my portfolio is ETF, only small part is stocks. I use Ameritrade for my stocks and ETFs. I don't buy bonds because I think it's a lose-lose situation so I don't know if Ameritrade is good for bonds or not.




Most of your portfolio is electronic transfer funds? I'm not sure how you figure how bonds are a lose lose considering that they are more stable than STOCKS.
PeakDream
02-10-2007, 06:10 PM
Sorry for the confusion, ETF is Exchange Traded Funds. The concept is somewhat similar to mutual funds or index funds, with no fee attached.

I'm not an investment guru, and my last research on bonds was four or five years ago, so my opinion is pretty useless or out of date. This is how I feel about bonds. There are many different bonds out there, from junk bonds like Ford/GM, to very secure US government bonds, the shortest term of these bonds are sometimes called "the risk-free rate of return" if I remember correctly. I just look at the yield of the bonds, they aren't that impressive, they are on par with the normal saving interest rate. Unless someone is seeking a fixed income portfolio or tax saving purposes (state/city tax exempt, but not with federal tax delayed(???)). With bank, you can withdraw at anytime. With bonds, you might not in fact get the face value back unless you hold it to maturity. I say it's a lose-lose situation is a bit of exaggeration.

If you are going for government bonds, I would use the treasury department's services, I don't believe it charges any fee unless your account is over $100,000. Also, if you want secure or low risk, but somewhat liquid bonds, you might want to take a look at "I Savings Bonds".