Some great questions. I didn't start trading until I was an adult, so I can't say anything about limits on custodial accounts.
First of all, the fine print on E-Trade Canada's pricing is that you get $10 trading if you make over 30 trades per month. I don't see how you could possibly make that number of trades, so it will be $20 per trade for you. My company uses TradeFreedom (
http://www.tradefreedom.com/en/home/index.asp), which only charges $17.95 per trade (saving every little bit helps when you're starting off small) with no other fees.
Next, you need to ask yourself what your goals are. Are you trying to day/short term trade? With $1000 it would be hard to make money this way since you would need pretty large movements in price to make even small amounts (basically the first 4% gain on any stock you buy will be eaten up in trading costs on $1000). You could look into the futures, options and forex markets, since they typically have 20-1 leverage (ie. your $1000 would be like $50000). You can make and lose a high percentage of your initial capital that way though, and these markets have different dynamics than the regular stock market.
I started out with about $4000 and focused on local companies with relatively small market caps (under $200 million Cdn) that had the potential to increase substantially in value within 12-18 months. These types of companies typically had little if any analyst coverage (at the time), but had good market potential that if they executed on their business plans would make Bay Street take notice and thus create big gains as more people saw them as a good buy. Some examples of this were Isotechnika (TSX:ISA), Compton Petroleum (TSX:CMT) and CV Technologies (TSX:CVQ).
Since you are starting with less capital, I would focus on one or at most two companies that have this type of potential. Calgary is full of interesting opportunities right now, from standard Oil & Gas to software to biotech.
One good resource for you to hunt for some tips would be Christopher Gulka's Prairie Trader monthly article in Alberta Venture magazine (latest issue:
http://www.albertaventure.com/abventure_4641.html). He is always covering Alberta stocks that have limited exposure right now but have potential to increase in price and sometimes move from the Venture Exchange up to the big board.
Here's one company to look at: WellPoint Systems (TSXV:WPS). They're supplying oilfield management software to the booming Oil & Gas industry. I've met their CEO a couple of times and they have a solid business plan. They've had a substantial run-up in the past few months as a result of several good news stories and increased exposure. I would wait for the trading to subside awhile before entering at a lower price, but they look to have a lot more in them longer term.
You'll notice that with these types of companies that they will jump substantially on good news, then slowly decline over several months before jumping again on more good news. This presents some good short-term trading opportunities (sell when news hits, buy later on after the price drops again) while giving you a change to watch as the stock increases over the long term).
Good luck to you in your foray into the markets!
