If you are thinking about trading stocks and need to find a stock broker or are looking for a new stock broker there are a number of questions you should be asking yourself as well as your target stock broker, before you sign on the dotted line. While many stock traders just sign up with a stock broker because they offer low commissions or have a familiar name, choosing a stock broker that matches your trading style and account size can be the difference between making and loosing money in the stock market.

Before you start to look for a stock broker you should ask yourself a number of questions and try to identify your trading game plan. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help you find the best online stockbroker.

1. How much of a commission charge can I live with?

The price for a single transaction through an online discount broker can vary from as low as $1.00 per 100 shares to approximately $30 per 1,000 shares. Full service brokers may charge from 1 to 2% of your trade or they may offer you a yearly rate. Not only do you need to factor in these charges as a cost of doing business but you have to be able to accept them such that they do not interfere with your trading.

2. How many trades per month do I expect to place?

Some brokerage firms charge an extra fee if you do not place a minimum number of trades per month. If these types of fees bother you, you should likely look for another broker.

3. Am I more likely to buy over the counter, penny or blue chip stocks?

First, not all brokers will allow you to trade over the counter stocks so if this is what you want to do your brokerage choices may be limited. Also, if you are thinking a full service broker is what you need, make sure their trading experience matches what you want to do.

4. What type of orders will I use to purchase my shares: market, limit or on stop?

Make sure the broker you choose allows you to buy and sell the way you want to buy and sell. Most brokers should offer all three methods of placing an order.

5. Will I need to enter good until closed orders?

Some brokers allow you to place an indefinite good until closed order and others limit the time that you can keep such an order open. For instance, you may choose to place a sell stop to limit your losses in case the market goes against you. If the broker removes your stop after a specific date and you forget to put it back in you could face an unexpected loss.

6. Do I want the option of phoning an order in?

If you want the option of phoning in an order check this out before you choose your broker. Some online stock brokers only do business through the internet unless there is an emergency and you need to sell your open orders.

7. What type of accounts (registered, cash, margin) will I be opening?

The type of account you want to open is important as some brokers will not handle registered plans.

8. Will I be selling options against my stocks?

If you want to do simple options strategies like covered calls make sure your account is set up for this.

9. What is the minimum return I need to break even?

If you complete one trade a week and pay $10 to buy and $10 to sell then after one year you will spend $1,040 on commissions or 10.4% of a $10,000 account. By viewing commissions in this fashion you can get a better idea of either how large a trading account you need, the number of trades you should do in a year or how important it is to ensure you are paying the least amount of commissions possible.

10. Will I be using bracket orders?

A bracket order allows you to place both a limit order and a sell stop at the same time. This is done to always have a profit target active in the market at the same time you have a sell stop in to either lock in profits or limit losses. Once one is hit, the other is immediately canceled. Some brokerage houses will not do these types of orders.

11. Do I want to do everything myself or do I want to talk to someone prior to placing an order?

If you want to do it all yourself then a discount broker is likely where you want to look. However, if you want to talk to someone about every trade then you should be looking at a full service broker.

12. What time frame will I be trading?

If you are thinking about day trading then do not consider a full service broker. On the other hand if you think you will be investing in stocks (long term strategy) instead of trading (short term strategy) then, a full service broker may be what you need.

13. Which markets will I be trading?

Make sure the broker you sign up with trades the markets you want to trade.

14. What is my trading style?

If you are using a discount broker, trading style likely does not matter but if you choose a full service broker it will matter. Make sure your trading style and your brokers align to save you a lot of frustration.

15. How many shares will I generally be buying?

Some brokers charge per 100 shares while others charge the same amount whether you buy 100 or 1000. Therefore, try to match your buying style to the commission schedule.

16. Do you want to receive a statement in the mail or will an email do?

While many full service brokers send you a monthly account statement in the mail and may also mail you copies of each transaction, online discount stock brokers may not do this. If this is important to you, ask before you sign up.

17. How much money will I be depositing?

If you are opening an account with a small amount of money make sure your broker allows it. Most brokers have a minimum requirement to open an account. If you are starting with less than $10,000 be extremely cautious. While there are likely people who have grown a $10,000 account there are likely many more that have lost it.

18. How fast do you want to get filled?

Although most brokers today get filled quite quickly some are still faster at completing a trade than others. If you generally place market orders, your order will likely be filled quite quickly. However, if you buy on stop, some firms have a number of processes in place that slow the order down potentially resulting in missed opportunities or higher fill prices.

19. What extras are you looking for?

There are a number of extra services that stock brokers offer. These may include: real time stock charts, stock market screeners, research reports, option calculators, newsletters and the like. These extra services may make the difference between your final selections.

By asking yourself these questions before you approach a stock broker you will have a much better understanding of what you need from them and be better able to identify if the broker you are looking at will help or hinder your trading.