Bloggeron

When you buy or sell stocks the only way you can do is through a stock broker. If you wish to directly do so on an exchange it is simply not possible. For operating on the exchange you need to be a specialist or a broker. It involves a huge amount of money to become one.

The other option is that you can find a buyer who is known to you and sell him the shares. That is an option but it will involve then going to the exchanges to let them know that you had a trade done.

Your best bet is to register yourself with a broker to handle the transactions on your behalf. The best part is that you get relieved of the hassles of working on your own and you get good services. Though everything does not come cheap for sure and brokerages are no exception.

There are two types of brokerages in the investing world. Those two types are full service broker and the discount brokers.

Full service brokers as the name goes provide a huge amount of services including handling the buying and selling of your stocks. Apart form buying and selling they also offer advice on what to buy and sell. These full service brokerage firms have dedicated brokers for you and you can call them on a personalized basis. These brokers help you in making and managing your portfolio. They also have in depth knowledge of the market and help you selection of stocks.

Discount brokerage firms on the other hand work very different than the full service brokerage firms. Most of these discount brokerages work directly on the internet and guide you through the account opening process. Once the account is opened you are on your own as to what you need to buy. There are no advisers or brokers to help in the quest for a good stock. You need to intelligent enough to select a good stock and then you can actually log on to your account with the brokerage firm to process a trade.
If you need help in making a portfolio or with buying and selling of stocks then discount brokerage firms do not offer that as on option.

So before opening an account make sure that you understand what it entails to open an account with either type of brokerage firm.