hey AC / DC, I use scottrade.com for my stocks tranaction. They charge you $7 fee for buying or selling stocks regardless of volume. The site is very user friendly and I haven't had any problem with it. For tax purpose, you can claim up to $3,000 per year in lose and on your return, if you have kept the stock for over a year you pay 15% tax on your return but if you sell it in less than a year then you will pay 30% tax on your return. That is why it is a good idea to be in for the long run...well unless your stock price goes up 500% overnight than you should sell it even if you have had the stock for 1 minute. Now on recommending on what stocks to buy....sure I can give you a few that I hold myself or been thinking about buying but you have to do your homework too. See who runs the company, because the leadership is very important and who are their customer as well as who are their supplier (if they have any). Say if you are a 2AA battery company, your business is totally dependent on products other companies make that uses your battery and I would like to be out of that kind of business. So, most of my stocks are metals, pharmaceuticals, and a few technology stocks. When you have time, try to go through this thread as bunch of folks have recommended their stocks and why....I have made a few picks myself. Also, download this expert's recommendation I subscribe from Motley Fool for 2006 stock picks: http://www.savefile.com/files.php?fid=7629400 And then may be we can start talking about some stocks. good luck