What is a broker and how does it work?

What is a broker? A broker is a person or company authorized to buy and sell stocks or other investments. If you want to buy stocks, you will almost always need a broker — essentially, a middleman — to place those orders on your behalf. These days, many people open a brokerage account with online brokers rather than working with a person.

What is the difference between a broker and a full-service broker?

A broker can also refer to the role of a firm when it acts as an agent for a customer and charges the customer a commission for its services. Discount brokers execute trades on behalf of a client, but typically don’t provide investment advice. Full-service brokers provide execution services as well as tailored investment advice and solutions.

What does a stockbroker do?

A stockbroker is an agent or firm that charges a fee or commission for executing buy and sell orders submitted by an investor. A brokerage company's main responsibility is to be an intermediary that puts buyers and sellers together in order to facilitate a transaction.

What is Interactive Brokers?

Interactive Brokers, a great choice for sophisticated traders, participates in more than 150 global markets. The firm’s broker-dealer agency business, IBKR, offers online trade execution and clearing services to institutional and professional investors and executes more than 2 million trades per day.