Comments on: Online Brokerage Comparison: I Gave Up on Scottrade!

By: Kevin kangal

Kevin kangal — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:24:01 +0000

Did you start this website after reading “How to do home business in you spare time” writing blogs.
I could not learn much from your blog, after reading your personal experience. I do not see any strategy no nothing.

But any way good luck I believe you are receiving lot of hits to your blog looking at the advertisement that I see on this page. Good luck with your blog.

By: Just Aname

Just Aname — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:09:36 +0000

I don’t know about you but I love making a statement…In these crazy economic times did ya ever want to send a message to the world about what’s really going on and what is wrong… I made a wish this morning and here is what it is… I am going to send this email to everybody I know cause it would really be funny to see this happen.

By now everyone knows that GM’s stock is worthless. It is trading as MTLQQ.. Liquidation is in process and this stock is linked to the air. I would love to see it make the news and go up to $6.00 a share.. We the little people who believe in American can really make a statement. If one person out of every 1000 who read this buy 1000 shares OH MY GOODNESS we will make the news… Wanna have laugh and make some money….try it and we can all say we did it. The lil people…

Signed a Rebel without a cause.

By: David

David — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 19:02:17 +0000

For cancelling orders only. I have found that the first time you cancel, sometimes there is no feedback. Since, to my knowledge,
it does not hurt to cancel an order more than once, I do it again. When you get a response that it is unable to find order to cancel,
you will usually find the cancel acknowledgement on the Home page. My experience for 3 times so far.

By: David

David — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 19:02:01 +0000

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 00:30:04 +0000

John,

The reason why Scottrade removed my permission for receiving free trades is because I posted my referral code on a blog. I got a call from a rep after they saw some free trades from different parts of the country in my account. I posted it on here thinking I could get some free trades for each person that enters the code and they would each get 3 as well, but apparently it is not good for Scottrade. My guess is that it brings in accounts that open with $500 and they place 3 trades and they don’t earn any revenue from it. It seems logical, but they wouldn’t give me a good reason why. If you want to receive some free trades and continue to, I would take the code off any blogs. I had about 36 and they took away all of them.

By: John sloan

John sloan — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:03:22 +0000

If you are looking to sign up with scottrade.com or take it for a test drive Why not do it for FREE…………..
here is a Promo code (YWEU0574)to get 3 free trades…
You will get 3 free trades with this promo code: YWEU0574

By: M D Crisp

M D Crisp — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 14:51:49 +0000

Seems we all loved Datek. Couldn’t agree more with all the bad comments about Scottrade. Am trying to decide where to move. Does anyone have any experience with Schwabb?

By: five whys

five whys — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 05:30:04 +0000

I came across OptionsHouse here (and of course saw their millions of ads on the internet!) Finally, I did add OptionsHouse review on YenKenZen.com

Overall, it seems great (at-least for low to moderate volume trader) – except if you are going to trade

By: Ben

Ben — Sun, 11 May 2008 20:01:50 +0000

btw, this site might help, list of user reviews and thoughts on brokers as well as links to blog reviews that come out

http://www.whichonlinebroker.org/

By: five whys

five whys — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 05:33:58 +0000

Rich, I agree.. IBB is almost unbeatable if you have many (>15) stocks trades in a month – though, for almost anything else, you can find a better choice.

OptionsHouse and its flat fee sounds interesting, i will check it out for review and comparison listing on http://www.yenkenzen.com

five whys

By: Rich

Rich — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:32:19 +0000

Opened accounts at TradeKing and OptionsHouse a couple of months ago after I began to worry that E-Trade might go belly-up. At $4.95, both shops have very nice rates on stock trades. If you routinely trade option lots in excess of 10 to 15 contracts, it is next to impossible to beat OptionsHouse flat fee of $9.95 for options. Example: 15 contracts at TradeKing is $14.70, 25 contracts is $21.20; Interactive Brokers has a very competitive price of .75 per contract…so 13 contracts is 9.75, but 25 contracts is $18.75; but IBB has quite a reputation for poor customer service, and their platform has a bit of steep learning curve as well. Of course for sheer versatility, it is hard to beat IBB.

One very big drawback for both TradeKing and OptionsHouse is that neither support AH trades from their platform…you must call in an order which is an impossible impediment for an active trader trying to capitalize on a fast moving market. They also only allow AH trades for a one hour window before and after regular trading hours!! Supposedly TradeKing is planning on introducing full AH trading from their platform…I will believe it when I see it. I have found TradeKing’s platform is slow and quirky at times as well. I am currently closing my TradeKing account and considering Ameritrade’s Izone…will keep my OptionsHouse account for the flat rate fee. I left Scottrade a couple of years ago due to the same frustration factor re. their servors and buggy streaming quotes always going down…though they may have those problems worked out by now. If Izone isn’t satisfactory I will most likely try IBB in spite of their poor reputation for customer service. There is simply no reason to pay $7, $8, or $9 for a stock trade. If you really like the tools at OptionsExpress, ThinkorSwim, or Fidelity…open an account with the minimum amount and then simply use their tools but place your trades where prices are reasonable.

By: sam

sam — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 01:22:38 +0000

I have a 2 tdameritrade accounts, but i will be transferring all of my assets into my new zecco acount withing the next 2 months.

Heres the things i dont like about TDameritrade:
1. I cant get approved for margin on either accounts

–This is completely screwed up, i have plenty of cash behind me. In fact one account is co owned by my mother (managed by me), so the only reason for rejection i see is that i am young. Maybe you have input on this?

2. I cant get approved for lower commisions

–I have been constantly adding cash to my account and increasing its net value since i opened it, but that is not enough to get even a minutely lower rate. Considering im a fairly active trader, this is also a no go.

3. I cant make an account at Izone

–I talked to a manager who told me to open an account at Izone if i wanted cheaper rates. Well that sounded great, but nope, no dice. I figure again it has something to do with my age? I meet everysingle requirement, but they wont let me in the vip.

Other than that, they have been decent. Id probably say they are a slightly above par brokerage with the capability to meet the needs of average investors. However, dont expect any special treatment. And if you already have an account with TDameritrade, do you think they are going to let you create an account at Izone? To quote a manager at TD, “im trying to run a business here”.

So yeh, screw TD….

By: five whys

five whys — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 02:36:01 +0000

Agree with Taylor.. wells Fargo seems to be good for upto 100 free trades / year. My recent experience of Interactive Brokers says that seemingly low cost is not always "low". I think if you are a frequent trader, features of the platform, speed and execution quality matters. If you are buy-and-hold investors, ease of executing, research reports, asset management etc, matter a lot as well. I have set up a most comprehensive and easy to use brokers comparison site. Feel free to take advantage of it while doing your research!

By: Anoymous

Anoymous — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 07:23:18 +0000

As always I find your site very informative... Another such site for any inquisitive and/or new traders is: Online-Broker-Review.com

By: Taylor

Taylor — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 18:16:47 +0000

I use WellsFargo due to $0 trades (100/yr per account?) with a low requirement. Great for trading ETFs and Stocks.

By: 1stmillionat33

1stmillionat33 — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 01:41:03 +0000

Nothing is free anymore. Scottrade did away with $0 trading fees for mutual funds. Firstrade followed suit. Now Zecco no longer have zero commission fees unless you have $2500 in your account and they reduced them from 10 free trades a day (up to 40 trades a month) to 10 free trades a month! Also they raised their IRA custodial fee from $10 to $30 a year. SUCKS!

Firstrade seems to be the best deal for mutual fund investing at $9.95 per trade for TF funds but i’m not sure how many NTF funds they have. I read before that Scottrade has about 1000 NTF funds while Firstrade only has 600+. Not sure how many they are now. I sure wish I can get CGMFX at no cost!

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 19:25:04 +0000

Firstrade lured tons of people in with no transaction fee no-load fund trades. Rated “Hands down winner for mutual fund investors.” Then they dropped that feature and now charge people $50 per account to transfer out. Classic bait and switch. Poor ethics.

By: John

John — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 02:31:58 +0000

My opinion is to have 2 programs running. Esignal for unbeatable data for the price. The charts are only limited by your imagination – they have tick replay, scripting, back testing, and the whole chart moves around like a piece of paper – very sharp. For about $100 per month + $2 per exchange for real time data you can have quotes, linked to charts and streaming news.
Some have a problem paying $100 per month, but ask yourself, would you go to a dentist if you were having chest pains? Go to the company for their expertise in 1 area.
Use Scottrade for what they do – trading. (personally I think its garbage). Alternativly, trade through Fidelity and always get there 25 free trade offer. They also have the best margin rates on the street for large balances – for some reason beyond my understanding. If they refuse, tell them goodbye, and they’ll make an exception for you. I’ve done this 6 times through a series of (honest business partners) friends which provided me with 150 free trades. They are desperate to get their ATP off the ground because it is the most profitable part of Fidelity’s business – even greater than 401k management, portfolio advisory (asset allocation of your money in mutual funds of their choosing – good if you like that prison rape feeling)
****Esignal also has a NEW site called market Q. It is a java based applet for $25 per month that has a ridiculous amount of professional trading decision making tools for every financial market on the globe. CHECK IT OUT, it is wise.

By: jason

jason — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 19:23:53 +0000

You may want to update the article. It appears that First Trade is now charging $9.95 for no-load mutual funds.

By: retrobeast

retrobeast — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:46:45 +0000

Have you seen http://www.zecco.com ??

By: Frugal

Frugal — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 15:47:41 +0000

Thanks, J.

I don’t have any experiences with TradeKing, but that doesn’t sound too good.

By: J

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 02:38:41 +0000

TradeKing has low commissions, but charge $20.00 for wire transfers back to your bank.

By: Frugal

Frugal — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 15:26:49 +0000

Most of the online brokers are good for option trading as well.

By: Jay

Jay — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 04:07:23 +0000

Do you have any advice/info on options trading. Also, are these online brokers good for this type of trading?

By: Frugal

Frugal — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 07:33:02 +0000

Rosemie, thanks for your tip. Really appreciate it.

By: Rosemie

Rosemie — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 06:36:06 +0000

Hi there I find this website worthwhile a contribution as I too hope to have a million in my 30s For Brokers I recommend thinkorswim It seems complicated at 1st and it does not try to advertise to the average investor because they want their customers to be educated. However they have classes through out the country and I think they are great. I’ve been with tradeking for a whole year now and they are ok not great. I really like ameritrade for many reasons but mostly because I’m faithful I’ve been with them since they were datek. Any way if you join thinkorswim, when you fill out your application and it asks where did you hear about them one of the options is “investools” chose that and You will get better rates. Lately I pretty much don’t trade for more than 5 dollars any more and with thinkorswim I like the fact that you can pay a flat fee of $1.50 per option contract and execution is fast hope this helps.

By: Adventures In Money Making

Adventures In Money Making — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 01:00:30 +0000

I use interactive brokers for my option trading. they’re super duper cheap – $0.75 per contract
and for stocks its something like $0.001/share.

By: wing

wing — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 16:36:05 +0000

I do not like sccotrade and ameritrade because they do have a DRIP program at all!!

My contribution of the day is Check out https://www.tradeking.com

$4.95 commission rate applies to equity and option trades. See more details on trade commissions for low priced stock, bonds, mutual funds and other securities.

2 “Best Discount Broker” by SmartMoney 8/1/06, based: on Commissions/Fees; Customer Service; Mutual Funds; Trading Tools; Research; Banking Amenities.

By: Frugal

Frugal — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 07:35:37 +0000

Please contact FirsTrade for any questions. I don’t use it, so I’m not sure.

By: terchin

terchin — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 12:52:08 +0000

Does Firstrade have a stop loss order option when one purchase the stock?

By: Frugal

Frugal — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 22:20:14 +0000

Eric,
Thanks for your tip. Saw that the other day, but never tried it personally.

By: Eric

Eric — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 17:49:22 +0000

Also check out thinkorswim. Excellent options oriented broker — but also trades equities and futures. Platform is outstanding and free.

By: Frugal

Frugal — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:54:54 +0000

Many websites offer Level 2 quotes, but maybe not as much info as you would like. I don’t think there is any big disadvantage of having being routed through a single market maker. They are ALWAYS forced to give you the best buy/sell price in the market no matter what.

By: Bill Carson

Bill Carson — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 02:30:38 +0000

I am also looking for a website that gives level 2 quote on all markets, streaming news, time sales and sizes, and current order sizes and market makers on a stock. Any sugguestions?

By: Bill Carson

Bill Carson — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 02:27:40 +0000

I use Ameritrade. I play with pink sheet stocks and find that Ameritrade restricts buys on some of these stocks. I feel it’s because they have a short position in them and want to keep the price down whole they cover. I have called them before to get my order represented only to be told that it is a risky security. Why? It is my money to lose. I play with these stocks with only a small percentage of my portfolio. I understand the risk. Ameritrade claims they are trying to protect me from bad trades. They only route your orders through 1 market maker. I am currently looking for a firm that doesn;t restrict trades and routes your orders through more than one market maker. Any suggestions?

By: Frugal

Frugal — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 07:34:56 +0000

Thanks David. ML has just test-driven Zecco.com. Check out his post. I don't have personal experience with Zecco. Looks very good to me though. And thanks for the link on hedgestreet.

By: David

David — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 20:05:02 +0000

Hi,

Zecco has $0 no commission trading and $3.50 for options.

I haven’t tried them. Also, I got an e-mail from Hedgestreet that
says if you open an acct with $100, then you get the new ipod shuffle
for free after the first trade. No commissions the first 30 days:
http://trade.hedgestreet.com/shuffle?osadcampaign=shuffle

David

By: Frugal

Frugal — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 05:14:02 +0000

Vacman,
That sounds good too. Actually Bank of America is providing free stock trades for anyone who has $25K deposit. See my post on Oct 14, 2006 on Random good and bad deals.

By: Vacman

Vacman — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 22:59:30 +0000

Why not go use the new broker!! Sogoinvest.com they have been around for 90 days and they seem to be very good. All trades are $3.00 cost!!!! And they do listen and are changing to the peoples desires.

By: Frugal

Frugal — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 18:23:47 +0000

Matt,
Thanks for your mention of TradeKing. I didn’t mention it, simply because of my ignorance. You know, I only have 24 hours a day, and my brain is only so big to fit some many things. I am not a know-all person.