San Francisco Chronicle
by Kathleen Pender
Excerpted from complete article

Retailers aren't the only ones weighing in with early holiday promotions.

Financial service companies are trying to convince parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles that what little Max or Madison really needs this year are some nice, warm, fuzzy stocks.

ShareBuilder.com
At ShareBuilder.com, there are no minimum investment requirements or account maintenance fees.

For a $4 commission, you can invest any sum of money in almost any U.S. stock. Your order will be combined with other customers' orders and the purchase will be made the following Tuesday. Because you specify a dollar amount, rather than a number of shares, you may end up with some fractional shares.

If you want to buy a specific number of shares, at a particular time, you can place a real-time market order for $15.95 per transaction.

For minors, you must set up a custodial account with a parent or other adult as custodian.

The shares will be held electronically. Like most brokerage firms, Sharebuilder charges a fee ($30) to issue stock certificates. You can print out a customized gift certificate for free from its Web site.

ShareBuilder is really designed to encourage small investors to become regular, long-term, diversified investors.

For $12 per month, customers can make unlimited trades in any number of stocks. Most customers set up automatic investment programs, with money coming directly from their paychecks or checking accounts into several stocks every week or month.

For kids and adult investors just starting out, ShareBuilder Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Seely recommends exchange-traded funds, which are mutual funds that trade on a stock exchange. Each fund tries to replicate a certain index.