icymonsters,
If you read where I began as a trader, I used to use Scottrade. Their commission was $7 but I was able to talk them down to $6 per trade. I now use Lightspeed where I can trade for example 300 shares at 0.0045 cents per share so that would be basically around $3 or less to get in and out of the trade whereas Scottrade would cost me $12. However, the drawback is when it comes down to tax time, Lightspeed with APEX clearing blows since the 1099's are screwed up. A lot of people here like to use Interactive Brokers.
I really stay away from penny stocks. You may get a larger spread between bid and ask with $100 stocks but if you use limit orders, it's ok. I try not to use market orders too often because of the slippage. The large spread is ok if you let price action do its thing and prices end up where you think it will go.
I recall that long long ago when I did some trading using Scottrade where my trading was in its infancy, I traded some penny stock in the $2 range. Sure, the spread was tight with only a $0.01 difference between bid and ask but in reality it took forever for me to get rid of the shares where I basically got out on a $0.02 spread between when I bought and sold. It took hours for me to get out with partial filled orders still there. This is when I only had a few thousand in the account and was only allowed to make 3 day trades a week. Trading penny stocks doesn't have the volume needed for me to get in and out quickly.
If you read where I began as a trader, I used to use Scottrade. Their commission was $7 but I was able to talk them down to $6 per trade. I now use Lightspeed where I can trade for example 300 shares at 0.0045 cents per share so that would be basically around $3 or less to get in and out of the trade whereas Scottrade would cost me $12. However, the drawback is when it comes down to tax time, Lightspeed with APEX clearing blows since the 1099's are screwed up. A lot of people here like to use Interactive Brokers.
I really stay away from penny stocks. You may get a larger spread between bid and ask with $100 stocks but if you use limit orders, it's ok. I try not to use market orders too often because of the slippage. The large spread is ok if you let price action do its thing and prices end up where you think it will go.
I recall that long long ago when I did some trading using Scottrade where my trading was in its infancy, I traded some penny stock in the $2 range. Sure, the spread was tight with only a $0.01 difference between bid and ask but in reality it took forever for me to get rid of the shares where I basically got out on a $0.02 spread between when I bought and sold. It took hours for me to get out with partial filled orders still there. This is when I only had a few thousand in the account and was only allowed to make 3 day trades a week. Trading penny stocks doesn't have the volume needed for me to get in and out quickly.