Please visit the online discount broker review page to see the best brokers compared.

Company
Based out of Illinois, Think or Swim is a broker specializing in option trading. Their pricing structure caters to high volume traders and is intended to weed out smaller investors not willing to purchase large quantities in a single trade. They don’t charge some of the maintenance or inactivity fees you’ll see at other brokers. Their customer service is top notch and actually proactive if you are a big enough client. Overall ThinkorSwim is pushing the envelope on tools, software, and charting but may not be the best choice for newbie investors. If you are new to the game it doesn’t hurt to open an account because they don’t have an inactivity fee.

Pros:
No inactivity or IRA fees.
Three free mutual fund trades per month.
Top rated software and mobile applications.
Barron’s top choice two years in a row (2009 & 2010).
One of the best educational services around (including free paper trading accounts).
Desktop application is rated one of the best tools for option trading.
Charts provided are some of the best for technical analysis.

Cons:
Can be intimidating for newbie investors.
Minimum Required Balance of $3,500.
Bond pricing is not favorable.
FOREX Trading is not optimal here but have improved lately.
Commission structure can be expensive for newbies and penny stock traders.

Notes on ThinkorSwim
Some investors have been able to price match a competitors commissions just by asking for them. These investors have confirmed receiving TradeKing commission on their thinkorswim account. It’s worth a try.

Coupons & Promotions
Refer a friend and get $50 for each successful account created.
$100 Account Transfer Rebate – When you transfer to Think or Swim (TOS) they will reimburse any fees you incurred from your previous broker up to $100.
Active Trader Rebate – If you make more than 40 trades a month they’ll credit you $39 to cover some of your internet bill.

Background
OptionsXpress was one of the first brokers to embrace options as an online discount broker. Their development brought options trading online much faster. As a company they have always pushed the envelope on professional trading tools and have always provided them for free. OptionsXpress was one of the first companies providing entry-level and advanced education for free to their customers. Their pricing strategy has driven down the cost of commissions and per contract fees industry wide. Overall they are an excellent company.

Pros
Has the best tools and resources for the active options trader.
Advanced option trading.
Very good execution on trades.
Considered the best options trading broker.
No minimum account balance required to start trading.
Charts for individual options are available.

Cons
Their commissions are competitive but not the lowest online.

Optionshouse is currently the low cost leader among discount online brokers. In addition to having the lowest cost per trade online they also have one of the best deals for new customers:

100 Free Trades for New Accounts.

But how does Optionshouse stack up against other brokers? This review will explore the pros, cons, and provide a summary and recommendation.

Pros:
Optionshouse has the best commission structure in the industry.
Fast execution and plenty of servers for a fast interface.
Ability to replicate an order very quickly.
One of the best margin rates anywhere.
Very good customer service.
They are backed by Peak6, a professional trading company.

Cons:
Their tools and resources are good but not the best.
They don’t have charts for each individual option.
Strictly web-based.

Summary
If you are a bargain shopper OptionsHouse cannot be beat. If you like trading both stocks and options these guys are a great choice. It would be safe to say these guys are here to stay and they’ll be releasing improved services each year.

The Company
HSBC is a respected international bank with a reputation of credibility. They have good customer service (on the phone and through email) and a wide range of banking products. Because the savings account is provided by an established bank you can rest assured your money is safe.

Requirements
With this bank you don’t have to worry about minimum account balances and there are no inactivity fees. You will need to be over 18 and be a US citizen to set up an account. Make sure you have your social security number and an active checking account (to transfer money to their bank). Over all they don’t ask for anything more than other banks. As a security measure make sure your browser is up to date and that you actively run virus protection software.

Setting Up an Account
Setting up an account is fairy easy but verifying your settings is a little cumbersome. HSBC makes this as easy as possible but like most things online they could improve. But when your financial security is involved it’s worth it to take all necessary precautions. One thing that sets HSBC apart from other sign up processes is that they run a credit check as part of the account setup process. They’ll ask you three questions pertaining to your credit history just to make sure you are who you say you are. They also send you a letter containing a verification password (or temporary password). They actually mail this to your physical mailing address. It usually takes less then a few days. You will get a number of emails that are used in the new account creation. When you have everything you will need to enter it in the verification screen.

Time to Setup Account: 8 minutes
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Signing In
After you setup an account HSBC has some extra security measures. For example, they require you to enter your password through the keyboard and by typing it in using an online keyboard. Having more security is always a good thing so I don’t fault them in this area. I’ve noticed other banks following HSBC in many of their security measures.

Transfering Money
Like other online banks when you make a transfer in or out of your account there is a 3-4 day processing time. In my experience this in normal (even though it can be a pain sometimes). If you have a HSBC bank account the transfer time is next to nothing.

Summary
HSBC is a solid bank with a very secure account creation process. They will take care of you if you need help. They have a competitive savings rate tied to your own ATM card. Overall they have been one of my favorite banks to work with.
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I always get a kick out of these ‘for Dummies’ book titles. If they used another derogatory term instead of ‘dummies ‘do you think they’d sell any books? Some alternative titles might read ‘Investing for complete idiots’ or ‘Investing for the mildly retarded…please stop drooling on the book and pay for it’. Like or hate the title of this book Investing for Dummies it is actually pretty good.

Main Themes & Topics
Mutual Funds
Stock & Bond Investing
Money Market accounts V.S. FDIC insured savings accounts
Real Estate
Entrepreneurial Start-up businesses
T-Bills and Municipal Bonds
Tax Considerations

Surprises
One thing Eric spends a good deal of time on is starting your own business. Most investment books don’t include this as an option. As an entrepreneur at heart I really enjoyed this part of the book. He provides a checklist of 10 characteristic an entrepreneur must have to be successful. While starting your own business is an exciting investment opportunity I think Micheal Gerber’s points on entrepreneurial start-ups should be considered. Investing for Dummies treats all businesses as the same and they just aren’t. You’ll need to read Micheal Gerber’s eMyth Manager book to understand what I’m saying.

Summary
This book is very good at giving a birds-eye-view on the world of investing and doesn’t go into too much depth. This is the book’s strength as well as the book’s weakness. It doesn’t teach you all the terms you’ll need to know in each of the subject. Instead it defines the key concepts and strategic considerations. It gives a rookie investor an idea of what to expect with different investment vehicles. If you’ve saved up some money to invest but don’t know where to start, this is the book for you!

Buy Investing for Dummies on Amazon

Cameras with lower pixel counts have pixelation problems. When a camera has too many pixels without increasing the sensor size there are problems with noise. The happy medium for compact cameras is around 6 MP.

You can only make the pixels so small
To increase pixel count camera manufacturers have to fit more pixels on the same sensor. The sensor goes from looking like this:

To this:

At some point the pixels are so small that they can’t perform like they used to. When this happen more noise and errors occur. There is not enough area for a pixel to read the light correctly.

Image data is bigger too
Not only does it take longer for a camera to store large pictures you’ll spend more time uploading and editing them. Large pictures take up more space on your hard drive.

On a personal note, it bothers me when I want to take a follow-up picture and my camera isn’t ready. The extra time it takes to process the large pictures is the cause of this delay. To test this out for yourself try making the image size smaller. Notice how much quicker your camera is ready to take those follow-up shots?

How to fix the problem
There is a balanced ratio of pixels, to sensor size, to lens size. As you increase your pixel count the sensor size and lens needs to increase as well. Most people won’t appreciate their compact camera getting bigger and bigger as the sensor and lenses get larger. So the real solution is to get lower mega pixels with as large a sensors possible.

What if you buy a 12 MP camera and only use the 6 MP setting? Will this fix the problem?
No. Your sensor would read the new setting like this:

You could not get around the problem by lowering your image size setting. The sensor has already been manufactured to fit all the pixels on it. The only way to fix the problem is to buy a camera that already has 5 to 6 MP as its maximum.

What the market has to offer

I did hours of research on dpreview.com to find the camera with a balanced ratio of sensor to mega pixels. More than 80% of the cameras made since 2005 have the smallest sensor available (1/ 2.5”). Those cameras with a tiny 1/ 2.5” sensor have been deleted from my list. Here’s an image showing the actual sensor sizes so you have an idea of what these numbers mean.

Click on Image to See the Actual Size of the Sensors

According to this article from 6mpixel.org to get 6mp you need a sensor of at least 2/ 3”. As far as I could see there isn’t a point and shoot made with those specifications. The only two options available are 1) Buy an SLR or 2) Get the biggest sensor available within the point and shoot category.