Broker

A broker is an individual or company that charges a commission for executing the buy and sell orders of its customers. Although prevalent and essential to investing and trading brokers exist in many industries include real estate.

A broker will sometimes act as an agent if they specialize in stocks, bonds, options, or commodities.

Traditionally instructions would be given to brokers over the phone but with the age of the internet most instructions are now transmitted electronically by the trader and will rarely be seen or noted by the broker's staff.

Compare this to a Broker-Dealer and a Dealer.