How to Activate a Trading Account Online

By Michael Cantrell

Overview

The world of buying, selling and trading stocks has a tendency to come off as being too complicated for the average person to get involved with. Many people who are interested in investing in the stock market simply don't know how or where to get information about getting started in the market. All that has changed now largely because of the World Wide Web. More and more people are beginning to open up stock trading accounts with online stock brokers and are beginning to earn money off their investment in stocks. The process to set up one of these online trading accounts is relatively simple, and for the most part won't cost you anything.

How to Activate a Trading Account Online

Step 1

Research online stockbrokers. There are two types of stockbroker companies out there for you to look into. One type of company is called a discount stockbroker, which offers you stock trades with the company taking a commission of $7 to $12 per trade you make with their company. The other type of company is called a deep discount broker. This type of broker goes even lower in the price of commission; some even go as low as a dollar per trade (see Resources below).
Step 2

Make sure the company you choose trades stocks in real time. In order to trade effectively, you are going to need minute-by-minute updates on how your stocks are doing in the market so you know the right time to make deals that will make you the most money.

Step 3

Fill out the online application for an account with the company you have chosen. These applications are usually pretty simple and should not take much of your time to complete. Most companies do not charge you anything for applying for an account.
Step 4

Print out the completed application and mail the form to the company. Many stock trading companies do this as a means to confirm your account, and will not allow you to trade any stocks until they have received this form.
Step 5

Make a wire transfer from your bank account, or use a credit card to load money into your trade account. The company will tell you exactly which payment methods are acceptable when funding your trade account.

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