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A low cost brokerage can be considered to be a special case ofa discount brokerage which functions in a similar way to a dividend reinvestment program. ShareBuilder, BUYandHOLD, and FolioFN are the better known examples of such low cost brokers. Low cost brokers are generally less expensive for an investor who invests in small amounts (say, fixed dollar amounts) and who is not particular that the stock trade must happen in real time. Low cost brokers execute orders only a few times a day by aggregating orders from a large number of small investors into one or more block trades which are made at certain specific times during the day. Such block trades are also sometimes referred to as window trades. Window trades help lower costs in two ways: Since investor money is pooled before stocks are bought or sold, it enables investors to contribute small amounts of cash using which fractional shares of specific stocks can be purchased. This is usually not possible with a regular stock broker. Low cost brokers also provide real-time trades but these are usually (but not necessarily) charged a higher commission.
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