NEW YORK — How do you make money in a sluggish, sideways market? With stocks expected to struggle for positive returns in the coming year, Wall Street will have plenty of alternatives for investors.

Many investors will likely be reluctant to commit to major stock buys or even major sales in a go-nowhere market. To counter that inertia, brokerages in need of commission revenue will offer options trading, banking and advisory services to get investors spending. Wall Street firms also hope an expected spate of fresh merger and acquisition deals will generate some interest in stocks.

The competition for investors' business will remain intense.

"If you look at volume on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq over the last five years, there's been no real increase in the number of shares traded," said Richard Bove, securities industry analyst with Punk, Ziegel & Co. "In addition, proprietary trading has gone from 19 percent to 52 percent of that total. So you're seeing more competition for fewer individual trades."

Retail brokers who regularly interact with individual investors are expected to try to promote more options contracts. These contracts can let investors make a little bit of money on a stock that may not move, or cover their holdings in case of a sudden downturn.

"Options can be a very good vehicle for a variety of investors, but certainly brokers will try to sell you on things that might not be good for your risk profile," said Randy Frederick, director of derivatives at Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. "Some options actually act as a hedge against falling prices, but investors have to be careful of more speculative trades."

Options can indeed be a good way for investors to make a modest return in a sideways market, based on the stocks they hold. However, they're more of a gamble, because the investor not only must determine whether a stock is good or not, but also take a risk on price fluctuations.

Options trading rose 23 percent in 2005, according to Schwab, and could jump another 30 percent in the coming year. It's becoming an increasingly lucrative part of the market, and for small regional brokers, getting investors involved in options is critical to their own survival, given that the number of actual stock trades could decline.

The scramble for investors' business will also affect online brokerages such as E-Trade Financial Corp. and Ameritrade Holding Corp., both of which will still be sorting out major acquisitions made in 2005.

Even the big brokerages will be hard-pressed to get investors into the market should stocks stay sluggish.

However, major firms such as Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch & Co Inc., Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will have an expected impetus in merger and acquisition activity to generate revenues if their brokerage arms lag.