When I'm not working as a software developer, I enjoy tennis, motor racing, listening to Manic Stree...
When I'm not working as a software developer, I enjoy tennis, motor racing, listening to Manic Street Preachers, drinking beer, nice food.
Member since:11.08.2000
Reviews:80
Members who trust:19
ComDirect has to be the best online stockbroker that I have come across. I found their site by accident and registered for their online "Fantasy Sharedealing" game which was great fun although I didn't win. This is ideal for the novice trader and you are given a fixed amount of virtual money to buy and sell shares. You can view your position in a league table and I believe there are prizes for the top 10 dealers.
Now the fun bit is over, here is the serious stuff. I do a lot of sharedealing and was tempted to open a real sharedealing account with ComDirect as they offered me £150 cash after my first trade. I had nothing to lose so I registered and gave it a go. Was I impressed or what? Let's go through all the features available in ComDirect sharedealing.
(1) Low rates of commission - only £12.50 per trade which is the lowest I have come across. (2) Portfolio service giving you an indication of the current prices of your shares and how much you are in profit/loss (3) Payment into your account is easy by Direct Debit or Switch (4) A dealing history enabling you to view shares bought/sold and at what price. This also tells you the type of deal - "At Best" or "Limit Order". (5) You can set up limit orders
The last feature is one that I have not seen from any other online stockbroker. A limit order allows you to buy or sell shares providing they reach a certain price so you could set a limit order to buy shares in Company X as long as they fall below a certain price within a certain time span. Similarly you can set a limit order to sell shares in Company X as long as long as its price falls below a specified value within a certain time span.
Setting a limit order to sell shares is not quite the same as applying a stop-loss system. The stop-loss system enables you to sell if the shares falls within a price band rather than falling below a certain level. This prevents your shares being sold too cheaply if there is a big drop in their value.
The portfolio service is also excellent although it is a shame that unlike Sharepeople you cannot create a "Virtual Portfolio" which allows you to pretend to buy shares just so you can monitor its performance. However, you can go to the online game to do this. Whilst viewing the portfolio you can access a lot of information on your holdings by clicking on icons which allows you to view information such as charts, news and company profiles.
The website is nicely laid out and it is pretty quick. So far I have not experienced any problems with reliability. The staff are very friendly and do their best to answer your questions although I only had to phone them once because the website was so easy to use.
This has got to be one of the best online stockbrokers ever. I cannot really fault it (except for the lackof a virtual portfolio). The online fantasy sharedealing game is a bonus.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Just about all the data/tools you'll ever need and childsplay to navigate Disadvantages: Lack of debit/credit card funding facility and therefore very slow to set up first trade. Interest payable is a paltry 2.5%
soko 09.03.2001 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Comdirect
Advantages: free £50 incentive, competitive charges, easy to use website with ability to set limit orders and stop loss orders, plenty of data in an easy to interpret form Disadvantages: not that many!
mhurren 23.04.2005 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Comdirect
Advantages: Financially secure, Opportunity to learn and practice before actually committing, Also you to monitor your interested stocks and shares in one place Disadvantages: None that I can think of
vinodgm 16.10.2001 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Comdirect
Advantages: Free £50 offer, No extra charge for telephone trades, Competitive charges, limit orders and stop losses, Instant funding of account Disadvantages: Need to set-up new passwords to enter research area
d_guppy 09.12.2001 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Comdirect
Advantages: self select gives you maximum flexibility, free government money Disadvantages: shares prices may go down as well as up, child gets money at 18
Advantages: Childsplay to navigate and a mine of essential info Disadvantages: Don't accept debit or credit card funding and low interest on dealing cash a/c
soko 09.03.2001 (09.03.2001)
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Review of Selftrade
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Oct 13th, 2001
very helpful by (89%):
helpful by (9%):
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