Commission House

  

When you want to buy and sell stocks, you might go to an online brokerage like TD Ameritrade and pay low trading fees. Or you can get on the phone and call people who will make trades on stocks, mutual funds, and bonds for you. And you’ll pay much higher fees (sometimes hidden ones) in the process.

Unless, of course, the person you’re trying to call is out on the golf course.

These higher cost traders operate in commission houses. They don’t just buy and sell stocks. They also can take care of settlement, or deal with a client’s margin accounts. The fees associated with commission houses are a major reason investors should learn to trade for themselves.

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Finance a la shmoop.. what is a broker-dealer? It's one of [Homeless guys holding help signs]

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these guys who's making less than minimum wage right no that'd be a broke

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dealer and you won't find too many of them in Lake Tahoe but yeah a broker is [Man talking about broker-dealers in Lake Tahoe]

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just someone who takes a commission for selling stuff they live wherever there

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are transactions in cars, boats, planes, homes and securities like stocks and

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bonds so yeah it's a broker - dealer sort of like a writer-director

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sexual deviant in Hollywood... Key takeaway here the broker dealer brokers

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securities ie they take a commission and they deal in securities like they carry [People playing blackjack]

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their own inventory of ten million shares of Amazon this week's selling

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them for twelve hundred ninety dollars and 32 cents a share and buying them for

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twelve hundred eighty eight dollars seventy nine cents a share making a

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spread of...

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equals a dollar fifty-three a share the dealer makes a spread of a buck fifty [Dealer and market transferring cash and stock]

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three every time she trades a share of the Walmart killing behemoth yeah it's

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watching it so think about broker-dealer making money on both sides of the trades

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that's the way to go if you're going to Wall Street make money no matter what [Man walking on Wall Street]

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