re: What brokerage would would you recommend for a young first time investor?

I have no experience with Vanguard or Fidelity but I have had accounts with Schwab going back into the early 1990's.

I can honestly say I've never had a problem with them which is really something, IMO, considering the sloppiness many financial firms have with how they treat their customers.

Their website has all the information I need to trade stocks and is sophisticated enough for experienced day traders and simple enough for just storing stocks and cash.