With all the brokers out there, it's hard to choose who to go with. I'm an investor as opposed to a trader-- I buy stocks to hold them for the long term after careful study of a company's products, balance sheet, and executives. I also try to find companies that will allow me to invest consistently every few weeks without charging me fees which will immediately eat into my return on investment. Here are some brokers I've worked with:

ShareBuilder - $4 trades, great site, now owned by ING, one of my favorite banks.

Fidelity - No-fee IRAs allow me to buy into mutual funds with no costs except a small yearly fee for low account balances.

Vanguard - Invest directly in the first mutual fund ever created, the Vanguard S&P 500 Index Fund for free after accepting electronic delivery of statements and mail. Small fee for low account balances.

Firstrade - I have a few investments with them, but would avoid opening an account with them today. They got me in on free mutual fund trades, but changed it without telling me soon after. Their site doesn't always work right when I type in stocks like BRK.B which have a period or dash in their name. I've contacted Firstrade about these issues 3 or 4 times without resolution.

Anyone else have input?