Cheapest online broker?
I've been using CharlesSchwab for some time now and I'm feeling like it might be worthwhile to reevaluate. What are some of the lowest cost online brokers where you can still get access to a good trading platform?
For instance, I know Zecco.com does zero-comission trades up to a certain point but I can't imagine they're any good.
Any ideas?
Answers
3680 points
MNSL answered one year ago …
Pl See following link:
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/internet/online-brokers/index.html
Online Brokers Reviews
You are here: Internet >> Online Brokers
Updated December 2007
Best Online Brokers Reviews: (out of 14)
SmartMoney.com, Barron's, J.D. Power & Associates
Best Online Brokers: (out of 9)
Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, Scottrade
okers
Top Rated What the Research Says
• Fidelity
(http://www.fidelity.com)
>> Where to buy
Best online broker overall.
Fidelity gets the highest scores for its excellent research tools, even though its commissions are higher than some other online brokers. Its website is easy to use, with a wide range of investment tools and calculators. Its customer service scores are also among the best in the business. Fidelity's base commission rates are $19.95 per market order, but there are no handling or maintenance fees. Although that's higher than a lot of online brokers, rates drop for those with high account balances or for very active traders. Fidelity has a minimum opening balance of $2,500. It also offers numerous branch offices throughout the country where clients can speak with a trained professional.
• TD Ameritrade
(http://www.tdameritrade.com)
>> Where to buy
Best discount broker.
When TD Ameritrade was formed from the merger of TD Waterhouse and Ameritrade in 2005, reviewers said that the new company was off to a rocky start. With time, ratings have improved, and now Barron's rates TD Ameritrade the number one web-based broker, saying that the firm has adopted the best parts of its two companies, combining the great research tools of TD Waterhouse with improved trading from Ameritrade. In customer satisfaction surveys, TD Ameritrade ranks as one of several firms that performs above the industry average. Commissions are a flat-rate $9.99 for any amount of shares, and there is no minimum investment to open an account.
• Scottrade
(http://www.scottrade.com)
>> Where to buy
No-frills online broker.
Reviews say that Scottrade offers excellent value for the money for those who don't need a lot of handholding. Trades are fast, customer service is good and costs are low. The minimum opening investment is $500, and market orders are only $7, with no inactivity or maintenance fees. However, Scottrade offers less in the way of research or additional services, so it's best for those who don't need much extra help. Scottrade has opened nearly 300 branch offices, which allow clients to talk to an advisor.
• ShareBuilder
(http://www.sharebuilder.com)
>> Where to buy
Best online broker for novices.
With ShareBuilder, reviews say new users can expect plentiful investment strategy primers, ranging from dollar cost averaging to diversification, and the company has no minimum balance requirements. This is one of the few sites that allows customers to set up automatic investments for stock trades, which only cost $4 each. Regular market orders will cost you $15.95, however. Although ShareBuilder doesn't get the best scores in any one area, it fills a niche for those who want low-cost automatic investments. Note that ShareBuilder is now part of ING Direct.
>> Comparison Chart
3970 points
EthanR answered one year ago …
Rob, MNSL is spot on with his answer, but just wanted to add something about Fidelity. If you trade a lot, you can qualify for their frequent trader status and the commissions drop to $8 each way. Also, you can get their Active Trader Pro for free, which I use, and like very much. Good luck!
Read more from EthanR flag as abuse great answer
142 points
RobertW answered one year ago …
Fidelity is the best that I have found. I have been with them since the mid-80's. Besides wht has been mentioned above, their people are friendly, cordial, available, knowledgeable (and if the one who answers the phone doesn't know the answer, he/she will get someone who does and will stay on the phone til you are connected with that person. In short, they are very, very good. I use technical analysis all the time. Their charting programs are very good, as well. I am an options person and use Fidelity for my longer term option deals. But for shorter term options, I use Think or Swim, TOS. If you are really, really into options, my suggestions is to go with TOS. You will not go wrong with either.
Read more from RobertW flag as abuse great answer110 points
nprfreak answered one year ago …
Since I have a Sharebuilder account, I'll "correct" one point in MNSL's answer: With the ING acquisition of Sharebuilder, market, limit, and stop-loss orders have been reduced to $9.95. That's quite competitive, for example the fee at TD Ameritrade is $9.99.
As desirable as it might be to have all your accounts at one brokerage, it is by no means essential. At least one account should provide free access to more detailed research and quotes than can be obtained free elsewhere. Sharebuilder is a great option for a taxable account primarily in stocks and ETFs. Their money market currently has a higher 7-day yeild than The Reserve the granddaddy of money market funds. If you have an amount to invest and are willing to forgo the luxury of setting a limit price, you can step up from the basic plan ($4 per security to buy) to either 6 buys for $12 or 20 for $20 for a single month. That is a nice cost-saving option if you are looking to spread out a couple thousand bucks over several securities.
Note: ING Direct and Sharebuilder each charge an annual maintanence fee for IRAs. That fee is waived at Sharebuilder if you are enrolled in one of the investment plans in any account during the renewal month.
102 points
x17 answered one year ago …
Interactive Brokers is by far the cheapest and their site is fairly complete and easy to navigate, but not if you need support ar help.
They do answer questions promptly and accurately however.
2709 points
Oldman answered one year ago …
I generally agree with ETHANR's comment for Fidelity with some major cautions:
If you're going to trade ARCA securities or options, Fidelity is pretty good, but they have limited info on ADRs, PinkSheet listings of foreign securities and their info on ETF's and CEFs is absolutely the worst. Their coverage of mutual funds is dependent on the limits of the competing companies:You can't purchase funds from T.Rowe-Price or Vanguard (you cand purchase Vanguard's Vipers), as examples. Their NTF funds can be changed within a few months, so that after an initial purchase without a fee of $75.00, maybe 6 mos. later you might be charged for another purchase (fees don't apply to the reinvesmnt of divs. & C,G.). Their listing of "available" ETFs is about 150-200, while there are over 700 on the market.
Their 1099's, if you hold foreign stocks, are data driven by Morningstar, which has been inaccurate in the past 3 years (There's nothing like getting a "corrected 1099" in April, AFTER you filed, saying the dividends were qualified ... and I don't even want to comment on the 10K's.)
As far as research, , some of the biggest problems is their comparison of your selected stock with "competitors" that seem to be chosen from a random search through BIR and without a bit of reality in the comparison.
Their watch lists and "Alerts" are very awkward to revise, and sometimes arrive a day late.
They do publish for customers of their retail services (IRA's , taxable, etc accounts) research reports and summaries from a variety of firms: Channel Trend, Ativo, Argus, T White, and even Zacks. They also provide a summary of S&P reports and their own collation of analysts' findings. The graphing capability is a Java-based system, which has the ability to show a lot of technical and data-based (e.g. dividend value/date declared) but the history of some of the securities is truncated ...so I often have to go to StockCharts.com, to track back.
Their screening of stocks for example, based on valuations, etc, is not as good as the free site at MSN.
Their order-processing times are in milliseconds and they have excellent confirmations, but their account valuations don't update until 3:30 A.M...so you can get quite a shock when you've traded, and your balances haven't been updated on the summary page.
If you have dividends from other companies' mutual funds directed to a cash account (rather than being reinvested), that may not update for 10 days vs. the mutual fund position value.
They have helpful personnel at their understaffed foreign trading desk, but if you are overseas, or looking to invest in securities that aren't traded on the NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ,(ARCA group clearing) you might want to look at some other sites for those trades.
107 points
AssetStrategists answered one year ago …
If you want to trade stocks, ETFs, Options, Futures, and/or FX (Currency) then thinkorswim (also known as "TOS," thinkorswim.com) is my first choice. I have tried several brokers and am convinced that TOS is the best of them. Let me give you a few reasons why I like TOS:
1) TOS has a great commission structure and will probably match your current broker, if you happen to have a better commission schedule. If you are an INVESTools student, the options rate is $1.50 per contract.
2) In my opinion, the best way to learn to trade is to trade. At TOS, you can trade single option contracts for the cost of a single options contract. With most brokers there is a minimum ticket charge. AND if you are in a spread trade and can buy your short side back for $0.05 or less, there is NO commission!
3) If you are a novice trader, TOS has excellent educational resources. For example, every Wednesday just after the close they host a live online trading seminar that they call the Wednesday Afternoon Chat in the Traders Lounge (with real time audio and video). All of the chats are recorded and available in an online archive.
4) If you like to attend live classes, TOS offers www.OptionPlanet.com which offers a number of live seminars across the country. Most of the classes are even FREE. Many of the other broker's free classes are mainly advertisements for the firm with a lot of fluff and very little real content, OptionPlanet classes are hard-core, meaty classes that actually teach you advanced options strategies. The classes that they charge for are extremely low cost. In December, I attended a two-day Advanced Options workshop that only cost $99 (including lunch both days) and included some of the best instruction I've ever received.
5) TOS is the only brokerage I am aware of that provides a FREE online audio and video broadcast each trading day from 9:15-11:30 a.m. ET and from 1:30 p.m. to the close. The "Shadow Trader" gives a premarket commentary on his expectations for the coming trading day. Then he gives running commentary on what he sees happening in the market and with individual stocks about which listeners e-mail in questions.
6) If you would like to see how professionals trade various strategies then TOS offers www.RedOption.com. RedOption.com offers several FREE commentaries (that are not advertising) that include great market and trading analysis. There are also a number of subscription advisories that are as little as $20/month. If you are timid about trading the strategies yourself, RedOption will trade the strategy with your money for you. All you do is subscribe and pay the commissions.
7) IF that isn't enough, the staff at TOS are friendly and knowledgeable. Most of the staff on the Trade Desk are former traders from the floors of the various exchanges in Chicago (where TOS is headquartered).
8) If you are located outside the US, you can probably even open a TOS trading account. TOS has customers in many foreign countries and recently opened their Canadian division.
9) They have the best trading platforms I've seen. They frequently upgrade their software and have been rated #1 for several years by Barons.
I could keep going with more things that I appreciate about TOS but 9 should be enough to convince you to check it out for yourself.
If you think this sounds like an advertisement, here's full disclosure. I am not an employee or contractor of TOS, their parent company, or any of their sister companies. I am a retail customer that started trading for a living using TOS on June 1, 2007. I think enough of the company that I invested in a couple hundred shares of their stock that I intend to hold long-term.
If you want to contact someone at TOS about opening an account or to get more information, please call or e-mail Andrew Hartnett in Account Services, AHartnett@thinkorswim.com or 866-839-1100. Please let him know that AssetStrategists sent you. If you decide to subscribe to a RedOption strategy, please let me know what you think at AssetStrategists {at} Yahoo.com.
Prosperous Trading!
AssetStrategists
102 points
nicksandiego answered 2 months ago …
I have had Zecco for a few years now and am happy with them... at $4.50 a trade after the freebies it's pretty tough to beat.
Check out this site for some good info on pricing of brokers and user opinions:
http://www.nakedhedgefund.com/about/online-brokers/
