What is demat account? - this question as been answered many times at yahoo. However, i have some more ques to ask: 1) I understand that Demat account is controlled by ndsl / cdsl through their agents (DPs) and holds shares in electronic form. But what is Trading accoun, its structure and function? Who opens and control this account? Is it the broker? 2) Other than the opening charges of demat a/c, are their more charges such as maintenance of demat a/c or other hidden costs. NDSL site gives the details of many DPs with their fees etc in table format (which is difficult to understand). What i thought actually was that i had to pay only broker charges+service tax, when i deal with share market. What may be other hidden costs? 3) What are brokrage charges for intra-day and dilevery that can be considered good enough? 4) How vulnerable is share market (specially intra-day) to the market games/manipulations by some experts or parties having big amounts or many computer terminal Guys, If you cant answer all the parts of my question, you are free to answer portion of it as well.!