When dealing in stocks/bonds, most of the transactions in which I take part of brokered through e*Trade. With fairly low commissions, extensive research, and good support, e*Trade tends to do a good job.
With the settlement between the tobacco companies and the states came a great opportunity. While some states used the funds for bridges and other public works, Pennsylvania devoted a large percentage of the settlement to the Life Sciences Greenhouses across the Commonwealth. These Greenhouses in turn use these settlement dollars to make capital investments in biotech-oriented startup companies.
I'm a subscriber to the Motley Fool "Hidden Gems" newsletter, and I find the information they provide to be very interesting. The analyses, discussion and so on are exactly what I look for when trying to decide my next investment.