Online trading can provide easy access to the stock market

Many students are taking advantage of online brokerage accounts. Most online brokerages offer low commission trades and the ability to conduct research directly through the site. \nExperts say it's easier than ever to open an account with an online brokerage. At three popular brokerages -- E-trade, Charles Schwab and Ameritrade -- signing up for an account requires filling out a few short pages of information. At most sites, customers can transfer money online.\nSenior Todd Jerles, president of the Stock Market Club said, "the new market offers an exciting high-paced opportunity for young investors to make money."\nJunior David Dermenjian agreed. \n"Investing a few thousand dollars today will give students the opportunity to learn about the markets while not putting their entire financial stability at risk," he said.\nE-TRADE\nAccording to their Web site, opening an account on E-Trade requires an initial deposit of $1,000. Commission for trades with E-Trade is $19.95. Currently, the company is offering new customers 15 trades free of commission. \nCHARLES SCHWAB\nAccording to their Web site, Schwab has recently increased the minimum investment into an account to $5,000. The company is offering a hundred dollar promotion through Webcertificate.com for new customers signing up over the Web. A $29.95 commission for an Internet trade with Schwab is higher than the other three brokerages.\nAMERITRADE\nAccording to Ameritrade's Web site, accounts opened by Nov. 7 receive a month of commission free trades. That means students can buy and sell stocks for free. For $500, clients can get off the beach and trade stocks. Commission with Ameritrade is the cheapest of the three at $13. \nCompanies try to make online trading as simple as possible. Despite that, trading stocks involves risk. Before making any investment, it is important to determine exactly how much risk is involved, financial advisers say. \nMUTUAL FUNDS\nFinancial advisers say mutual funds may be one of the best ways to start investing for someone with little market knowledge. It's possible to purchase funds that specialize in certain areas such as technology or\ntelecommunications. Typically, mutual funds own a number of stocks and involve less risk than owning shares of an individual company. If one stock in the fund was to drop dramatically in price, then the fund would be affected, but the loss would be potentially limited. Many funds are also no-load, meaning that no commission is paid to enter and exit the fund. \nDIVIDEND RE-INVESTMENT PROGRAMS\nAnother option is dealing with Dividend Re-investment Programs or 'Drips'. These programs aim to invest in stocks which pay out a high dividend. The dividend is then used to purchase more shares of the stock. \nBuyandhold.com offers long-term investors many different dividend purchase programs. An account can be opened with $20 and trades cost $2.99, according to their Web site. Buyandhold.com is able to offer such low commissions because it only buys and sells stocks twice a day. \nAdditionally, Buyandhold.com gives customers the option of designating an amount of money to withdraw from their bank account and invest automatically each month. The feature allows people to make regular investments and build the amount of shares they own.\nStill, investors should realize stock prices fluctuate, and it is possible to loose money. Students must also understand investing requires research and an understanding of financial markets, but some have begun to play the market.