fairly new to trading, bought first stocks, what now...

[shinkansen]

so, i've been browsing a few stocks on the NYSE for a year or so... played around a little before and lost a little cash. decided to cash out. now a year later, i'm back in... Picked up 90 shares of HOKU at 5.66 (wish I got it on tue for 5! ..) Now it's up at about 6.40 +/-. I've seen hints that people reckon it'll go to $20+ when they open their plant, and it's been up to about 14.5 before.

So... with my minimal $500 worth of stock, and sitting at about $40-50 gain right now... I'm using sharebuilder (ing) to trade and looks like whenever I buy/sell, it's costing me $15 in commission... So, at my $500, cashing out with a 40-50 gain turns into a 35 gain... Is this the problem when dealing with such a low $ amount of stock to begin with, or is there a better option to buy/sell without a $15 commission?

[Niedar]

There are brokers that charge by the share which could lower your costs in commission if it is a higher priced stock.

[aiki14]

There are low cost brokers and there are some stocks you can buy directly from the company, but if you want the ability to enter and exit positions quickly you are going to pay for the privilege.

I would think someone called shinkansen would do things fast. I ride the Nozomi super express when I am in the neighborhood. Kon bon wa.