Hey Brother Dracho,
Sorry I have not answered in a while. You would not believe how things in life have been lately. Partly my fault, partly Vicky's. I just wish Dr. Azteca could call me as I'm still in Mexico. 011-614-415-8314 is my number, and I will pm him as well.
I highly recommend Scottrade. They are online, VERY EASY TO USE, and I like their format as I'm not so good at numbers. You get live quotes, Dow News (Even International stuff), and they have offices all over the nation! You can also get a VISA debit card from them!
7 dollars for buy, 7 to sell, unless you invest in penny stocks, which I did once and could have made some good money but it went to crap. When you buy pinksheet stocks, they use a different buying and selling formula as you have to call them and they have to place the order, other stocks listed on the Nasdaq or NYSE can be done by P/C at home, hence only 7 a buy or sell (No limit on stocks). For example, when I invested in 200 shares of FRO, it was 7 to buy, and when (I'd be insane to sell as they pay great divvies and oil is high) it would be 7 dollars for that.
Best of all, the minimum to open an account is only 500 dollars. Yes, at the end of the year they send a statement with your gains or losses so you can square away your taxes.
Hope that helps and take care my friend.