OT: Online Share Purchasing

Well, if you go to any of the financial web sites you likely be bombarded with ads for online brokers. However you have a different problem. Two shares of Apple isn't going to be enough cash to make the minimum opening balance requirement. Now, some of the brick and morter brokers can open accounts for minors without much in the way of a minimum balance.

I haven't checked to see if Apple allows their transfer agent to sell directly or not. If so that is an option to explore. I do know that General Electric does, but it depends on the company. Normally I think you only find it in companies that have a DRIP.

Why not just try the major on-line brokers and see if they will let you?

-- Vic Roberts Replace xxx with vdr in e-mail address.

The major ones, those which I know from hearing their names or seeing ads for them (which admittedly aren't many), require large opening balances and, for an ignoramous of investments & trading, their websites are confusing. That's why I tried to get a recommendation since the circumstances are unique in that I'm only looking to buy about $100 worth of shares for my daughter to own & track as an educational exercise.

Thanks. I did find one, from reading a consumer report, that has no min. balance and a nicely informational website. Unfortunately Apple doesn't offer direct purchase and that's the company she thinks she should support. If its of any interest, the online broker I'm speaking of is

Sorry, I didn't realize that there were minimums for basic non-option accounts. I just called the on-line broker I use and they have a $2500 minimum. I guess they figure it isn't worth setting up the account if the customer isn't going to invest at least that much.

Your daughter may get just as much education by "purchasing" the shares only "on paper" and then following them to see how well she has done. This is often used by school classes to teach stock market fundamentals.

-- Vic Roberts Replace xxx with vdr in e-mail address.

Try Sharebuilder.com, an on-line company that offers the type of service you are looking for.

Their idea is to enable people to start small, and continue to build a portfolio a little at a time. I don't know whether you can buy *any* stock through Sharebuilder, or only shares of companies that participate in their program.

If you are serious about learning more about investing, you should know about the National Association of Investors Corporation (NAIC), an educational organization that charters thousands of local investing clubs. NAIC has a ton of information as well as a common-sense methodolgy for evaluating companies and their future prospects. They encourage people to "own a share of America", and publish a list of companies that participate in the NAIC direct share purchase program. NAIC also publishes a magazine, Better Investing, which I believe is now available at newsstands. The NAIC web site is

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Good luck. Orrie

Here is the answer I received from Ameritrade. It seems they have no minimum amount to open an account if you mail in a check.

Quoting from their e-mail to me:

You can open an account with any amount. The minimum electronic funding required through the online application is $500.00. You can open a cash account with $1,000 and receive 30 commission free Internet equity trades good for the first month.

End of Quote

-- Vic Roberts Replace xxx with vdr in e-mail address.