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Best Online Stock Trading Brokers for 2018 If you’re looking for a way to build more wealth in 2018, getting started with one of the best online brokerage accounts is a solid first step. Doing so will allow you to invest outside your traditional retirement accounts and on your own terms. The best part is, the best online brokerage firms charge little or no fees and offer excellent resources that can help you learn more about investing along the way. Of course, not all brokerage firms are created equal, and that’s why we took the time to break down each of their details and rank the top options on an array of factors. If you’re looking for a new way to invest this year and are ready to strike out on your own, the following online brokerage accounts should be at the top of your list.What Matters When You Trade Stocks on Your Own? Managing your own money can be a stressful endeavor. To minimize this, and to minimize information overload that tends to come from watching the markets 24/7, there are a few must-haves to look for in an online broker. Clean interface. When I trade, I want to be able to easily find my order entry ticket. I don’t want it buried under a number of drop downs. This interface should have intuitive access to see your balance, available cash, positions with real time P/L and all be easily navigated. Quick access to basic charting. A chart tells me where the stock has been recently. I don’t trade minute to minute anymore, so I don’t need complex tools like stochastics or retracement lines. All that’s important is that I have a basic chart on a yearly, monthly, weekly, daily and intra day time period. I use a chart to see current price relative to those time periods, mainly to avoid purchasing at a bad price. Low fees. One of the biggest roadblocks to building wealth is fees incurred to invest your hard-earned dollars. Because the fees charged by different brokerage firms vary so dramatically, it’s crucial to seek out options that charge low fees (or no fees) for account management and trades. There are over 50 online brokerages where you can open an account. Beyond the my three rules above, best online brokerage accounts aren’t just for trading stocks. Sure, many of them started as online stock trading accounts, but now they’re full-fledged trading, saving, investing, retirement planning, and banking machines. This industry is more complex than the average person thinks. You shouldn’t just pick any online broker and sign up for an account. The best online broker for one person is often completely different for the next person. Use this resource as a guide to your decision process. Figure out what features are best for you, and make your selection. What Makes a Great Online Broker? I analyzed a number of elements to come to my decision on which brokers are the best. Later in this post, I provide full details on how I selected the best online brokerages. When you take all the features, resources, trading platforms, and technology into account (while also considering every type of trader), the full-service brokers, like E*TRADE and TD Ameritrade are the best for the largest number of people. For those simply looking to make cheap trades, I would recommend going with Optionshouse. If you’re a very advanced trader, high-volume trader, or a professional who manages money, I recommend going with Interactive Brokers. However, I didn’t include Interactive Brokers on my list because they’re best for a very small group of traders and the platform is very complex. Top Qualities of Standout Online Trading Platforms Quality trading tools and technology Multiple trading platforms for all levels of traders Excellent mobile trading features Solid navigation that displays the relevant information where you want it Quality educational resources and research for trader development There’s more to selecting an online broker than price. You have to consider the resources you’re getting for the cost you pay per trade. For example, my colleague, who is also an ex-trader, likes to use a combination of stock and options trade in his longer-term trading. He recently switched over to Fidelity because he really liked the cash management features, but was very disappointed by complex order entry, sub-par options execution and frustrating navigation. He’s currently making the switch to one of the brokers I profile here.
Best Online Stock Trading Brokers for 2018 If you’re looking for a way to build more wealth in 2018, getting started with one of the best online brokerage accounts is a solid first step. Doing so will allow you to invest outside your traditional retirement accounts and on your own terms. The best part is, the best online brokerage firms charge little or no fees and offer excellent resources that can help you learn more about investing along the way. Of course, not all brokerage firms are created equal, and that’s why we took the time to break down each of their details and rank the top options on an array of factors. If you’re looking for a new way to invest this year and are ready to strike out on your own, the following online brokerage accounts should be at the top of your list.What Matters When You Trade Stocks on Your Own? Managing your own money can be a stressful endeavor. To minimize this, and to minimize information overload that tends to come from watching the markets 24/7, there are a few must-haves to look for in an online broker. Clean interface. When I trade, I want to be able to easily find my order entry ticket. I don’t want it buried under a number of drop downs. This interface should have intuitive access to see your balance, available cash, positions with real time P/L and all be easily navigated. Quick access to basic charting. A chart tells me where the stock has been recently. I don’t trade minute to minute anymore, so I don’t need complex tools like stochastics or retracement lines. All that’s important is that I have a basic chart on a yearly, monthly, weekly, daily and intra day time period. I use a chart to see current price relative to those time periods, mainly to avoid purchasing at a bad price. Low fees. One of the biggest roadblocks to building wealth is fees incurred to invest your hard-earned dollars. Because the fees charged by different brokerage firms vary so dramatically, it’s crucial to seek out options that charge low fees (or no fees) for account management and trades. There are over 50 online brokerages where you can open an account. Beyond the my three rules above, best online brokerage accounts aren’t just for trading stocks. Sure, many of them started as online stock trading accounts, but now they’re full-fledged trading, saving, investing, retirement planning, and banking machines. This industry is more complex than the average person thinks. You shouldn’t just pick any online broker and sign up for an account. The best online broker for one person is often completely different for the next person. Use this resource as a guide to your decision process. Figure out what features are best for you, and make your selection. What Makes a Great Online Broker? I analyzed a number of elements to come to my decision on which brokers are the best. Later in this post, I provide full details on how I selected the best online brokerages. When you take all the features, resources, trading platforms, and technology into account (while also considering every type of trader), the full-service brokers, like E*TRADE and TD Ameritrade are the best for the largest number of people. For those simply looking to make cheap trades, I would recommend going with Optionshouse. If you’re a very advanced trader, high-volume trader, or a professional who manages money, I recommend going with Interactive Brokers. However, I didn’t include Interactive Brokers on my list because they’re best for a very small group of traders and the platform is very complex. Top Qualities of Standout Online Trading Platforms Quality trading tools and technology Multiple trading platforms for all levels of traders Excellent mobile trading features Solid navigation that displays the relevant information where you want it Quality educational resources and research for trader development There’s more to selecting an online broker than price. You have to consider the resources you’re getting for the cost you pay per trade. For example, my colleague, who is also an ex-trader, likes to use a combination of stock and options trade in his longer-term trading. He recently switched over to Fidelity because he really liked the cash management features, but was very disappointed by complex order entry, sub-par options execution and frustrating navigation. He’s currently making the switch to one of the brokers I profile here.

Fokus Gerakan Penguatan Pendidikan Karakter

Gerakan PPK berfokus pada struktur yang sudah ada dalam sistem pendidikan nasional. Terdapat tiga struktur yang sanggup digunakan sebagai wahana, jalur, dan medium untuk memperkuat pendidikan karakter bangsa, yaitu: 



Struktur Program: jenjang dan kelas, ekosistem sekolah, penguatan kapasitas guru; Struktur Kurikulum: kegiatan pembelajaran terintegrasi dalam kurikulum (intra-kurikuler) dan ko-kurikuler, ekstrakurikuler, dan non-kurikuler; Struktur Kegiatan: banyak sekali macam kegiatan dan kegiatan yang mampu menyinergikan 4 dimensi pengolahan abjad Ki Hajar Dewantara (olah raga, olah pikir, olah rasa, dan olah hati).

1.5.1. Struktur Program
Struktur kegiatan mencakup jenjang dan kelas yaitu difokuskan pada Sekolah Dasar dan SMP yang lebih dikenal sebagai pendidikan dasar. Di samping itu fokus dilakukan pada sistem formal yaitu persekolahan alasannya Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan (Kemendikbud) mempunyai kewenangan dan tanggungjawab yang lebih mempunyai susukan terhadap sistem persekolahan ini. 

Pelaksanaan Gerakan PPK pada tiap jenjang melibatkan dan memanfaatkan ekosistem pendidikan yang ada di lingkungan sekolah. Pemanfaatan dan pelibatan ekosistem pendidikan memperkuat dimensi lokal kontekstual pendidikan di kawasan sehingga Gerakan PPK tidak lepas atau tercerabut dari nilai-nilai abjad yang tumbuh kembang pada ekosistem pendidikan yang sudah ada. Berbagai pemangku kepentingan yang ada pada ekosistem pendidikan tersebut ikut serta dan bantu-membantu bertanggungjawab dan bersinergi untuk memperkuat pembentukan abjad sebagai modal dasar untuk mewujudkan warga masyarakat yang lebih berbudaya dan mempunyai jati diri bangsa di masa mendatang.

Pelaku kunci dalam Gerakan PPK ialah Kepala Sekolah, Guru, tenaga kependidikan, tenaga non-kependidikan, orang tua, Komite sekolah dan pemangku kepentingan lain yang relevan dalam pengembangan PPK. Masing-masing perlu memahami kembali kiprah dan fungsinya dalam rangka keberhasilan PPK. Lebih dari itu, kehadiran orang cukup umur di lingkungan pendidikan ialah sebagai guru, yaitu mereka yang digugu (diikuti) dan ditiru (diteladani) oleh para siswa. Ini berlaku bagi siapapun yang terlibat dalam kegiatan pendidikan. 

1.5.2. Struktur Kurikulum
Gerakan Penguatan Pendidikan Karakter (PPK) tidak mengubah kurikulum yang sudah ada, melainkan meningkatkan secara optimal kurikulum pada satuan pendidikan. Gerakan PPK perlu dilaksanakan di satuan pendidikan  melalui banyak sekali cara sesuai dengan kerangka kurikulum yaitu alokasi waktu minimal yang ditetapkan dalam Kerangka Dasar dan Struktur Kurikulum dan kegiatan ekstrakurikuler yang dikelola oleh satuan pendidikan sesui dengan kearifan dan akal satuan pendidikan masing-masing. Kurikulum yang menerapkan PPK diadaptasi dengan keberagaman kondisi kawasan dan karakteristik satuan pendidikan.

Pelaksanaan Gerakan PPK diadaptasi dengan kurikulum pada satuan pendidikan masing-masing dan sanggup dilakukan melalui 3 cara, yaitu:
  • 1. Mengintegrasikan/mengkontekstualisasikan mata pelajaran yang ada di struktur kurikulum dan Mata Pelajaran Muatan Lokal melalui kegiatan intrakurikuler dan ko-kurikuler. Sebagai kegiatan intrakurikuler dan ko-kurikuler maka setiap guru menyusun dokumen perencanaan pembelajaan berupa silabus dan RPP sesuai mata pelajarannya masing-masing. Nilai-nilai Utama PPK diintegrasikan ke dalam Mata Pelajaran sesuai topik Utama Nilai PPK pada hari itu dan sesuai dengan karakteristik Mata Pelajaran. Misalnya Mata Pelajaran IPA untuk SMP mengintegrasikan Nilai Nasionalisme dengan mendukung konservasi energi pada materi wacana Energi.
  • 2. Mengimplementasikan PPK melalui kegiatan ekstrakurikuler, baik ekstrakurikuler wajib dan pilihan yang ditetapkan oleh satuan pendidikan. Pada kegiatan Esktrakurikuler maka Satuan Pendidikan melakukan penguatan kembali kegiatan-kegiatan ekskul dan menambah kegiatan-kegiatan lain yang menunjukkan ruang kepada siswa untuk produktif. Kegiatan ekskul sanggup dilakukan dengan menggerakkan sumber daya sekolah yang ada, dengan kolaborasi dengan masyarakat dan juga pihak-pihak atau forum lain seperti PMI, Dinas Kelautan dan Perikana, Dinas Perdagangan, Museum, Rumah Budaya, dan lain-lain, sesuai dengan kebutuhan dan kreatiftas Satuan Pendidikan.
  • 3. Melalui kegiatan pembiasaan yang dilakukan melalui budaya sekolah, baik melalui kegiatan rutin, spontan, pengkondisian, serta melalui keteladanan orang cukup umur di lingkungan sekolah. Kegiatan-kegiatan selepas jam sekolah diadakan untuk memperkuat pembentukan karakter diadaptasi dengan situasi, kondisi, ketersediaan sarana dan prasarana pendidikan di unit sekolah dan potensi lingkungan sekitar sebagai sumber pembelajaran. 


Dalam pelaksanaannya, satuan pendidikan perlu menyesuaikan Kurikulum Sekolah mereka dengan mengacu pada nilai-nilai utama PPK dengan menyusun kembali dokumen I KTSP, silabus, dan RPP, serta program-program sekolah yang dimasukkan dalam kalender pendidikan.

Selain struktur dalam kurikulum, Gerakan PPK juga mempunyai struktur pendukung lain yang terdiri atas sebagai berikut:
  • 1. Kokurikuler dan Ekstrakurikuler, merupakan kegiatan yang bersifat penambahan, pengayaan, dan ekspansi dari kegiatan pembelajaran intrakurikuler, yang juga bersifat menyenangkan dan dapat mengaktualisasikan nilai-nilai karakter. Contoh: kepramukaan, PMR, OSIS, olahraga, kesenian, dan lain sebagainya.
  • 2. Ekosistem dan budaya sekolah, mewujudkantata kelola yang sehat, korelasi antar warga sekolah yang serasi dan saling menghargai, lingkungan sekolah yang bersih, ramah, sehat dan bersahabat.
  • 3. Pendidikan di keluarga dan masyarakat, menjalin keselarasan antara pendidikan di sekolah dan di lingkungan keluarga dan masyarakat.



1.5.3. Struktur Kegiatan
Kegiatan PPK bisa sangat bervariasi tergantung dari apa yang menjadi prioritas pembentukan abjad dalam forum pendidikan. Kegiatan PPK mengajak masing-masing sekolah untuk menemukan “branding khas mereka sehingga sekolah di Indonesia menjadi sangat kaya sekaligus unik. Selain mendorong tiap sekolah untuk mempunyai “branding” sendiri, struktur kegiatan dalam PPK diperlukan merupakan perwujudan dari 4 dimensi pengolahan abjad sebagaimana yang dikatakan Ki Hadjar Dewantara yaitu olah olah raga, olah pikir, olah rasa dan olah hati.

Kegiatan-kegiatan yang mendukung terbentuknya “branding” sekolah itu antara lain: pilihan kegiatan olahraga, kegiatan berkelompok, dan kegiatan ekstrakurikuler (pramuka, baris berbaris, drumband, kegiatan UKS, dokter kecil, dll), kegiatan memanfaatkan perpustakaan (mengatur jadwal berkunjung, mengikuti lomba perpustakaan, dan pemberian penghargaan kepada siswa dan guru yang secara rutin hadir di perpustakaan), kegiatan memanfaatkan potensi lingkungan, seperti sanggar seni dan museum. 
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