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ShareBuilder.com is a famous online stock brokerage firm founded in 1996 and now it’s an ING company (purchased by ING in November 2007). ShareBuilder built its name by having low commissions and easy-to-use online interface. ShareBuilder also provides service for recurring, and automatic purchases of shares of stock and ETFs.

I received a postcard from ShareBuilder which offers $50 sign up bonus plus cheap commission opportunities. I’d like to share the promotion with you. I personally think it’s a time to buy in some potential stocks and wait for growth. The $50 bonus is very easy to get—Open your account using the promotion code INVEST50, make a trade before 12/31/08, and $50 will be deposited in your account in 4 to 6 weeks. Details can be found at www.sharebuilder.com/invest50.

The account at sharebuilder.com features no account minimum balance requirement and no inactivity fees. You can choose from more than 7,000 stocks and ETFs. You can even schedule your investments on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis.

Another feature of ShareBuilder that is worth mentioning is the ability to buy fractional shares. I believe this is the only one brokerage company that allows you to buy fractional shares. No other brokerage allows you to buy fractional shares of stock. This feature helps you to invest your money on a regular basis. For example, you can invest $100 weekly to buy Citi stocks regardless of the real prices of Citi stocks.

However, I’d like to mention that the $4 per trade is only available on every Tuesday. You can schedule to buy a stock on Tuesday for $4 per trade. But on other days, the price is pretty high compared to other brokerages. So the ability to schedule a trade is really great.

Another feature is periodic promotion from ShareBuilder.com. ShareBuilder always offer sign up bonuses or other kinds of promotions to its new or current customers which makes your experience of ShareBuilder.com much better.

Of course, there are other great brokerages you can consider before you open up an account online like E*Trade, Zecco, TradeKing, and TD Ameritrade etc.

Following are two articles for your reference: SmartMoney’s Annual Broker Survey and Best of the Online Brokers-Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.