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More broker lists Brokers with no inactivity fees, in order of ascending price of limit orders for equities:Just2Trade,
(877) 206-2274, (202) 386-7261
Products: Stocks, options, mutual funds
Market Orders: $2.50. Additional charges for extended hours trading, paper documentation.
Limit Orders: $2.50. Additional charges for extended hours trading, paper documentation.
Mutual Funds: $2.50
Options: $2.50/trade+$0.50/contract
Minimum to Open: $2500
Inactivity Fee: Seems to be $0.00.
Some Other Fees: Tender Fee:$25.00. ACAT Out:$50.00.
Maximum Margin Rate: Based on proprietary base rate
Extras: Foreign accounts: "Non-US citizens are eligible to apply." Free real-time streaming quotes; otherwise, the site is extremely barebones. Checkwriting and debit card for an annual fee.
Notes: On January 11, 2008, a user reported that the advantageous money market rate posted on their site is not available to retail customers. "A division of Success Trade Securities, Inc." Clears through Legent Clearing; until about May, 2008, they cleared through North American Clearing, whose assets have been frozen in relation to a fraud investigation; see user comment below. "A minimum of 2 years experience with online trading and computers is required."
User Comments: "I have been dealing with Just2Trade since January 2007 and have done numerous stock trades. I have dealt with many brokers in the 50 years I have been trading. I have not had any problems with Just2Trade. Trades go smoothly.... I have found it is easier to get an answer by emailing them [than by calling]. They send answers fairly promptly and have [solved] any problems that have arisen.... They pay a high interest rate on balances, about 4.2x% at this time. [My two money market funds are paying 4.09% and 4.17%. Ed.]... [I]t is difficult to determine which funds they actually handle. They list many more on their site than they accept for trading at this time. I asked about preferred stocks. At the present time you must call them to place a trade, but they indicated that they would add this to their site in the future. They provide a [direct access] trading platform on their site. However, on my 22" LCD monitor the type size is so small it is unusable, and there is no way to enlarge the type. I do not use it but place my trades without it. They did not charge my IRA account when I made a partial outgoing transfer. This is a very good broker for the services they provide. I am happy with them and I highly recommend them for stock trading."(November 25, 2007) "[I]t is now easily determinable which funds they do trade."(January 12, 2007) "North American's monthly statements are by far the worst I have ever seen. They are poorly organized, confusing, and very difficult to reconcile. They need a makeover. I like doing business with Just2Trade, but equally dislike North American Clearing.... In the last few months they omitted a dividend from a new mutual fund purchase which I finally got them to correct. They still have not corrected an incorrect 1099-DIV where they showed distributions that should have been shown on a K-1 since the company in question is a partnership. This has been going on for almost two months. I called the company that made the distribution directly and they sent me the K-1.... I have called Just2Trade on the phone very occasionally. Sometimes I get them right away, other times it takes a few minutes."(April 13, 2008) "The worst broker I've ever dealt with. Their [recent] clearing company (North American Clearing) has had their assets frozen by the SEC pending fraud investigation and this has resulted in inability to liquidate (or trade, for that matter) for the last two weeks. I have now lost over $3500 because of this and all the broker can do is offer half-price commissions for the rest of the month of June (two weeks of trading left!), and tell me on the phone it has 'caught them by surprise' as well, so it's not their fault. Run, don't walk away from these guys."(June 10, 2008) "Just2Trade clears through Legent Clearing (since summer of 2008). Things are going very smoothly now. Trades are executed quickly. Dividends are properly credited. Statements are correct. I have had zero problems in over a year and think this is a great broker. If you email or call, you receive excellent customer service. However, since the advent of Legent as clearing broker I have had little need for customer service. One noteworthy change is the very low interest on free balances. I am now receiving .05% in an FDIC insured bank. [For comparison: My 2 FDIC accounts at Citi yield 1.00% and 1.19% today, but they are very high. ed.] Just2Trade is an excellent broker and is highly recommended if you do not mind the low interest on free balances. (I have accounts with Scottrade, ETrade, TDAmeritrade, Fidelity and Vanguard as well)."(October 24, 2009) "Since Just2Trade changed clearing broker two years ago they have been an exemplary broker. They have excellent customer service which is now rarely needed.... [T]hey do ACH transfer of monies to and from your bank. Low rates on stocks and mutual funds, great service and fast executions are definite pluses. Low interest on balances and limited research are minuses. Highly recommended if you can do your research elsewhere."(May 30, 2010)
Rates Updated: June 29, 2010 OptionsHouse,
877-653-2500, 312-362-2510
Products: Stocks, options, no-load mutual funds, "U.S. treasury bonds and listed corporate bonds"
Market Orders: $2.95
Limit Orders: $2.95
Mutual Funds: $9.95
Options: $8.50/trade+$0.15/contract+$$0.004/contract "Options Regulatory Fee"
Minimum to Open: $1000. $2000 for margin trading.
Inactivity Fee: $0.00
Some Other Fees: ACAT Out:$50.00.
Maximum Margin Rate: Broker Call+2.45%.
Extras: Check writing available. Debit cards are available at a fee for certain accounts.
Notes: OptionsHouse seems to be a division of PEAK6 Investments, LP. "At this time we are unable to accept foreign accounts." They seem to have some unusual fees, such as a worthless security fee and a "FINRA Trading Activity Fee".
User Comments: "[N]o 1040 support with Gainskeeper or another tool. This makes it very difficult to track trades when it comes to tax time.... [T]heir website doesn't show margin equity used per position. (I was at TD Ameritrade and their site shows this much clearly and is more helpful)."(September 9, 2008) "Options House is OK for margin accounts, but is horrible for cash accounts (e.g. IRAs). I had a margin account with them and it was very satisfactory. Accordingly, I opened an IRA account with the firm. One attractive feature of Options House IRAs is that you can buy calls and puts and write covered calls. However, they have a perverse implementation of free ride for cash accounts. With every other broker, if you sell stock A on Monday in a cash account, you can buy stock B the same day with the proceeds. The only restriction is that you can't sell stock B until Thur. With Options House, if you sell stock A on Monday, you cannot buy stock B with these proceeds until Thur. [A user has reported that Just2Trade has the same policy; it appears that Muriel Siebert also does. ed.] Options House staff admits that this is not consistent with the free ride rule, but that is their policy."(November 14, 2009)
Rates Updated: December 24, 2009 SogoTrade,
888-818-SOGO (1 888-818-7646), 212-668-8686
Products: Stocks
Market Orders: $3.00
Limit Orders: $3.00
Minimum to Open: $500. Margin accounts can also be opened with $500, but whenever the balance is below $2000, only cash purchases will be allowed.
Inactivity Fee: $0.00
Some Other Fees: Tender Fee:$25.00. ACAT Out:$50.00.
Maximum Margin Rate: Based on proprietary base rate
Extras: Incoming and outgoing ACH transfers. Chat support. Seems also to have sites in Simplified and Traditional Chinese.
Notes: Formerly SogoInvest. "SogoTrade is a subsidiary of Genesis Securities LLC."
User Comments: "Sogoinvest does not include dividend activity on their "Activity" page. They don't actually tell you that a dividend has hit until you see it on your monthly statement. It will show up in your cash balance and you can trade with it, but there will be no indication on their website as to why the extra money showed up. While I didn't like the answer I got, I did like that they always responded within the hour to queries submitted on their website."(March 16, 2007) "The web page can get real slow from time to time. Tech support says that is because Con Ed administers their servers.... but why on Earth would someone use Con Ed for this?"(October 15, 2007) "I have been with Sogo trading a few weeks now. Their system does not allow me to sell against the box. Not sure why as Sogo can't figure out why either. All I get is if you are long you can't go short."(September 13, 2008) "They no longer support scheduled investments, DRIPs or partial share purchases."(December 13, 2008) "I opened an account with ST in November. From the beginning I had trouble with errors in my account balance which included me once pulling up the balance of another account holder when I logged-in, and repeated mistakes in my BP. I was constantly getting 4x my cash value instead of 1X. Their response was to "not use the extra buying power" and "just ignore it". Biggest problem I have had was on 12/23 when I placed an order, cancelled the order within seconds, received a cancellation notice, and then found out that the order never cancelled in their system. I had logged off not knowing this had happened, and found out approximately 2 hours later what had happened and with the stock at a minus $700.00. A complaint was filed with the SEC. Until today, 1/5/2009, I have received no positive feedback from Sogotrade...."(January 6, 2009) "I've used Sogo now for about 3 months, and their trading platform is the worst I've seen, when compared to Interactive Brokers or the old Datek. I find myself going to Yahoo or Google for market data on my portfolio because Sogo doesn't give me enough information. Very difficult to watch your portfolio and trade on action on multiple securities. ACH transfers seem to close on time, and other features seem to work as advertised, but for even a moderately active trader, it just doesn't meet my expectations, and getting the account setup and running seemed to take forever, required lots of emails and calls to finally get trading."(August 4, 2009) "I've been with [SogoTrade] for about 6 months and have made a large number of trades. For a discount broker they are pretty good. On the upside they are part of Genesis securities, so it's pretty well run. Trades execute fairly quickly, but not lightning fast. The web site has always been very available, and responsive. On a rare occasion you will see a hiccup on a graph which doesn't refresh or something minor. Overall I give the website an A-. The phone and email support is fair I would give them a B. You won't always get the right answer on the first call, but I've never had to call in more than twice. Usually the second time is a charm. I was pleasantly suprised last week when they actually called me on a short that was expiring and asked me to close it out by the end of the day. The short was was for less than 3k, and being a discount broker I expected they would simply sell it market for a minor gain. But instead they left a message on my voicemail, and even called my mobile number. There are no hidden fees that I've run across. On the downside, they charge about 7 to 8% on margin. Also on the downside, don't expect to do meaningful research on the site. The news feeds are pretty useless, and I question some of the research results such as dividend yield, etc. Overall I'd rate them a C+ which is somewhat higher than I would expect for a company charging $3 per trade. I'd recommend them to a friend, and would never consider going back to someone charging over $5 bucks a trade. Good value overall."(September 27, 2009) "[On September 28, 2009], Sogotrade had a web outage which lasted for about 3 hours. They lost their feed to NASDAQ, and the trading screen... showed the price as of 12:16 when they lost their connection. All my trading graphs simply flat lined. Had I not already been logged in, and realized there was an outage, I might have have executed some bad trades, on bad info..... I tried calling support to confirm it this was a system outages, but was unable to get through and was lost on hold. A notification of "technical difficulties" on the phone system would have been helpful. I then sent support an email with a high priority through their secure message email system, and it took over two hours to get a reply. About 2 hours after the outage occured, they posted something on their web site explaining their was a system outage.... So I give Sogotrade two strikes. One stike for the outage, and a second strike for not having a good set of actions to respond to an outage. If a third strike should occur in the next 12 months, I'll be looking for another broker. I often short stocks, and when the screen went down, it's was like trying to fly a jet blindfolded. This didn't cost me any money, but I realize it could have easily cost me literally thousands of dollars. A loss of thousands of dollars could pay for a lot of trades at another broker."(September 30, 2009) I signed up with SogoTrade a few weeks ago and received authorization to trade options. On Sunday, I went in to place a bear put spread. The trading platform allows you to do this. You can choose predefined chains ($5 increments, etc.) or you can build your own legs. When I clicked the Trade button, I was informed that my account was not authorized for this transaction. On Monday, May 3rd, I called SogoTrade to try to resolve the issue with my account. The lady said, "We don't provide that service." I said: What are you talking about? It's right there on your trading platform. I put a "B" in the little square to buy the spread and clicked the big "Trade" button with the lightning bolt on it. She said: "We're new to options trading, and even though your account has been approved for options trading, we do not currently support option spreads. It should be available by the end of the year." I repeated the entire conversation just to make sure that I understood what I was being told: Even though the online trading platform lets you review and select/build spreads, and even though there's a big "Trade" button, and even though they approved my account, they do not actually support trading option spreads.... [W]hat SogoTrade advertises and what they offer are not in sync.(May 5, 2010)
Rates Updated: December 14, 2008 eOption,
1-888-793-5333, 1-847-375-6080
Products: Stocks, foreign stocks, bonds, mutual funds, options
Market Orders: $3.00
Limit Orders: $3.00
Mutual Funds: $14.95; applies to "All Mutual Fund Trades" except for periodic investments and withdrawals, which are $5.00.
Options: $3.00/trade+$0.10/contract
Minimum to Open: $0
Inactivity Fee: $0.00
Some Other Fees: Tender Fee:$25.00; $50.00 "Less Than 48 Hours".. DTC Out:$25.00 per security. ACAT Out:$50.00.
Maximum Margin Rate: Based on on-site table
Extras: Foreign accounts accepted. Both free and paid cash management services, including checking. Incoming and outgoing ACH. Dividend reinvestment. No setup fees or maintenance fees for IRAs, although it does have a termination fee. Also has direct access platforms.
Notes: "[A] division of Regal Securities, Inc." Clears through Penson Financial Services. Minimal research products. Seems to have a few unusual fees, as for worthless securities or conversion of convertibles.
User Comments:
Rates Updated: October 7, 2009 Marsco,
800.962-7726, 973.228-2886
Products: Stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds
Market Orders: $3.95
Limit Orders: $3.95
Mutual Funds: $15.00 for no-load funds.
Options: $3.95/trade+$1.25/contract
Minimum to Open: $2500
Inactivity Fee: $0.00
Some Other Fees: Tender Fee:$25.00 (also for mandatory reorganizations). DTC Out:$20.00/security. ACAT Out:$50.00.
Maximum Margin Rate: Based on proprietary base rate
Extras: Dividend reinvestment, checkwriting
User Comments: "I've been with Marsco about 8 months and, considering their low commission rates, I'd give them a passing grade. If you do regular-hours trading, stick to trading mostly stocks and options, and have other (better) sites for research, Marsco executes orders well. I had one minor problem. I sent in an order to buy restaurant chain "DineEquity Inc." (DIN) but my account showed that I had purchased "Concorcsio Grupo DINA" a Mexican truck maker. This was straightened out with a phone call the next day. E-mail response is somewhat dodgy, and a Marsco representative said, in effect, not to bother with e-mails, use the (toll free) phone. Check deposits to my account have been credited in an efficient, timely, manner. In summary, if you want an inexpensive, no-frills, order- execution broker, Marsco will work."(October 23, 2008)
Rates Updated: February 3, 2010 Zecco,
877-700-7862
Products: Stocks, options, no-load mutual funds
Market Orders: $4.50 (+ a well-hidden $1.50 for those who don't opt out of paper confirmations)
Limit Orders: $4.50 (+ a well-hidden $1.50 for those who don't opt out of paper confirmations)
Mutual Funds: $10.00
Options: $4.50/trade+$0.50/contract
Minimum to Open: $0. $2000 minimum for margin accounts.
Inactivity Fee: $0.00
Some Other Fees: Tender Fee:"$15.00 per request plus interest from settlement date until paid". DTC Out:$25.00 "per request". ACAT Out:$50.00.
Maximum Margin Rate: Based on proprietary base rate
Extras: ACH transfers in both directions. Includes a forum and some user blogs. Foreign accounts accepted. Dividend investment for whole shares; the remainder is deposited in the cash account. In many cases, this will be a major limitation on dividend reinvestment.
Notes: Clears through Penson Financial Services. Seems to have very high margin rates - 7.20% on March 13, 2009, when the comparable rates listed on my margin rates page ranged from 2.25% to 5.75%; Zecco's site says that the margin rate is negotiable for debt above $50,000. Very low credit interest on default cash account, but see customer update below. They seem to have some unusual charges, such as an interest charge on the cost of securities purchased with uncleared funds, and a $7.50 per month per security charge for holding "Non-Transferable [or] Worthless Securities".
User Comments: "I've been with Zecco for about two months now, overall a very good experience.... I used their customer service three times. They did not follow up with one issue so I had to make the third call.... Out of two e-mails I sent I got one reply... Limit orders sometimes execute at better than the limit price... They send you a paper statement (free) every day that you had any transactions, so you might end up with a large paper trail. Their system did screw up once so far by replacing my purchase price for a position in my portfolio, but (as of today) they appear to be on top of it. Their user interface took a long time to get used to, and their double-log-in... and very short session log-out time are a hassle. 1% annual interest paid on cash balance in the account."[Editor's note: My default sweep accounts at two other brokers are bearing 4.46% and 4.39% right now.](August 10, 2007) "Opened a couple of weeks ago and customer service is terrible to fair if you can wait 24 hours on an email. But, no secure email from the web site and a very, very difficult web site to use. They do offer 4.39% on a money market sweep but you have to send in a form for it."[Editor's note: My default sweep accounts at two other brokers are bearing 4.51% and 4.55% right now.](August 31, 2007) "You get what you pay for, sometimes. Zecco trades do save a few bucks but their all free trades theme is rapidly going south. All things considered, I have lost more fooling around with this substandard brokerage than had I [would have if I had] paid more at a higher end discounter. Their customer service is virtually unreachable by phone and when you do get them through e-mail you get one excuse after another. No one seems to know what is going on. Mutual fund trades can go days or weeks without being filled. Stock trades are frequently rejected due to "insufficient buying power".... Zecco is not worth your time or money...."(November 16, 2007) "You have to tell them more than once that dividends are supposed to be reinvested. They charged me a $30 [IRA maintenance] fee at the end of November for 2007 when I opened the account and want to charge me another in February."(January 10, 2008) "I have used Zecco for two weeks. I use margin and sometimes trade options. Overall it has been ok. My only complaint is that when I sell shares, the sale does not get settled [?] until the next day. For non-margin accounts, the settlement period is three days. This makes daytrading impossible because you have to wait overnight before the buying power is refreshed."(November 25, 2008) "I read various comments on the Internet about ZECCO's poor customer service. Based on the email I sent to them and the response I got, I don't think customer service has improved." [His email to them: "How many mutual funds do you offer?" Their answer: "Please submit to us specific securities you would like to purchase and we will be able to assist you in finding out if you can hold them here."](January 23, 2009) "Zecco for a while has been using dirty tactics to make money.... Like taking forever to clear trades, etc.... The proceeds from the sale take forever to be available for another trade.... ACH deposit[s] take forever to be available.... [Their] customer service is the worst I've ever encountered.... And... they tried to charge me for taking money out of my account via ACH.... [M]any times I go to sell a position and they give me a message that my trade was couldn't be executed because I don't own the position, when in fact I do. This particular time i had my order rejected twice, before trying it a third time and finally being executed.... [I] have had many brokerage accounts... Zecco is the worst by far."(February 2, 2009) "Zecco... is the absolute worst online trading experience I have ever had. To start, their customer service reps and managers are woefully misinformed about SEC regulations and their responsibilities to their clients' money. They take the longest time on ACH transfers (20-30 days). A few of mine were cancelled for no reason and I had to call the office to follow up numerous times. Be prepared to call the office every day if you're taking money out. Many times the reps say that they will call back to resolve an issue, and they simply don't. Their online platform is mediocre to bad. Their trailing stops feature was down for a week during volatile market times, when my other brokerages were doing fine. Their charts lag relative to their competitors, and their executions are slow. Also, uninvited total screen refreshes put you behind the 8-ball when you have to wait, wait, wait, then make a quick move. Don't even think about trading on 5 minute intervals.... [T]hey have hidden fees on every transaction.... Their accounting system is broken. I'm having my accountant look over their records because my buying power doesn't even coincide with what their own account records say. As it is, I'm out about $500 because of a mistake they made, which I have yet to see fixed. I have complained to FINRA and the SEC. Yes, I believe it's that bad."(February 26. 2009)
Rates Updated: March 13, 2009 TradeKing,
877.495.5464 (877-495-KING)
Products: Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, options
Market Orders: $4.95, for stocks over $2.00
Limit Orders: $4.95, for stocks over $2.00
Mutual Funds: $14.95 for no-load funds.
Options: $4.95/trade+$0.65/contract
Minimum to Open: $0. $2000 minimum for margin accounts.
Inactivity Fee: $0.00
Some Other Fees: Tender Fee:$50.00. ACAT Out:$50.00.
Maximum Margin Rate: According to table. On January 11, 2009, their rate for comparison was 6.50%, which was very high.
Extras: Dividend reinvestment. No setup fees or maintenance fees for IRAs, although it does have a termination fee.
Notes: Emphasizes interactive and digital tools. Little research, although it does have stock sheets from Thomson Financial. Seems to have no checking or other cash management services. "We cannot open accounts for foreign citizens living abroad. Citizens of some foreign countries residing in the U.S. may open a TradeKing account. US Citizens may not open an account if they reside in some foreign countries." Clears through Legent Clearing.
User Comments: "Tradeking has been the perfect broker for me. The only thing I don't like is their fee for buying non-load mutual funds, seems high to me."(July 31, 2009)
Rates Updated: January 11, 2009 MB Trading,
(866) 628-3001, (310) 647-4281
Products: Stocks, Canadian stocks, futures, options, bonds, mutual funds
Market Orders: $4.95
Limit Orders: $4.95
Mutual Funds: $50.00 for no-load funds
Options: $1.00/contract
Minimum to Open: $1000; $2000 for margin account
Inactivity Fee: $0.00
Some Other Fees: DTC Out:$25.00. ACAT Out:$50.00.
Maximum Margin Rate: Proprietary rate posted on their site. Was 8.95% on October 27, 2007.
Extras: A large assortment of Scudder money market funds available as sweep funds. Foreign accounts accepted from many countries, based on list.
Notes: A direct access broker, but I have listed it because it has no additional ECN or exchange fees.
User Comments: "I have an account with them and have had no problems."(October 27, 2007) "I've been trading with MB Trading and can't say enough good things about them; ranging from their trading platform to their customer support and university. I'm so happy I finally made the move from the "TV" brokers of the world. Although I still love the e-trade baby commercials. You owe it to yourself to give MB Trading a try."(February 24, 2010)
Rates Updated: October 27, 2007 Firstrade,
1.800.869-8800, 718.961-6600
Products: Stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds, CDs
Market Orders: $6.95
Limit Orders: $6.95
Mutual Funds: $9.95 for no-load funds. NTF funds also available.
Options: $6.95/trade+$0.75/contract
Minimum to Open: $0
Inactivity Fee: $0.00
Some Other Fees: Tender Fee:$25.00. DTC Out:$10.00/security. ACAT Out:$50.00.
Maximum Margin Rate: Based on proprietary base rate
Extras: Dividend reinvestment. Valet accounts (with annual fee). Several kinds of Standard and Poor's research. No setup fees or maintenance fees for IRAs. Foreign accounts accepted, including non-resident aliens. Also has site in Chinese.
User Comments: "Bad service. Called from Thailand and was told to send a fax application first, to get an account number, then send the original by post. Did that. One week after sending the fax, no communication. Documents sent by EMS should have arrived two days ago."(August 11, 2005) "Firstrade has been an excellent broker in every way, they are quick to respond to queries, their Valet service is excellent, good all around. I would recommend them to anyone."(November 12, 2006) "I am an American living in Thailand and working in the UAE. I have traded with Firstrade for almost 2 years. I trade three accounts, 2 IRAs with mutual funds and 1 account with stocks. I have never had trouble with their online access and services. Trades are executed and confirmations received in a few seconds. I have deposited and withdrawn funds a few times - never any problem. Customer services responds to general questions via email in 24-48 hours. I have never called them. I recommend them for good basic service with low fees."(October 14, 2007) "Good customer service every time I have had to contact them, mostly by e-mail, once by phone. The best experience is when I had already sent in my application to rollover my IRA, they posted a new promotion on their web site (free trades for 1 year). I asked if they would extend the offer to me, even though the promotion did not start when I sent my application to them, and they agreed to do it."(April 23, 2008) "I own some preferred stock which was to be exchanged for common shares (Citi). E*Trade advised me of the offer by post as soon as they had the information. I own the same preferreds in a Firstrade IRA but did not hear from them even though all information comes to me in email. I inquired and have yet to receive anything but a runaround. They even suggested that the information went to the spam folder, but if they had looked, it would have been evident from my voting record that I get everything they send. They are 'investigating'; that message arriving August 19, 2009. They are not responding to my further inquiries, leading me to believe that they have discovered that they screwed up badly. I will be filing a NASD complaint for this error."(September 8, 2009)
Rates Updated: February 3, 2010 Scottrade,
1.800.619-SAVE (7283)
Products: Stocks, options, mutual funds, CDs, munis, Canadian stocks
Market Orders: $7.00
Limit Orders: $7.00
Mutual Funds: $17.00. Load funds also incur a $17.00 redemption fee. Also has NTF funds.
Options: $7.00/trade+$1.25/contract
Minimum to Open: $500
Inactivity Fee: $0.00
Some Other Fees: Tender Fee:$25.00.
Maximum Margin Rate: Based on proprietary base rate
Extras: Checkwriting. Also has site in Chinese. Personal broker. Provides a variety of Standard and Poor's research. No setup fees or maintenance fees for IRAs. This is what they said about foreign accounts on April 1, 2004: "At the current time we can establish accounts for U.S., Chinese, Taiwan and Hong Kong residents only. This includes the 50 U.S. States, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands."
Notes: Low credit interest on cash balances. On February 13, 2008, Paul M. reported that "Scottrade now pays 0.42% on the cash in your account with no sweep options." On the same date, the money market funds which are the default sweep vehicles in my own two brokerage accounts were paying roughly 2.97% and 3.31%.
User Comments: "Scottrade is a great broker if you rarely have excess cash sitting in your account. However, the interest that they pay on excess cash is very poor, at the time of this writing [September 11, 2006] it is 3% (on $10,000) while other brokers are typically paying 4.5%. [My two money market funds are paying 4.36% and 4.45%. Ed.] This difference comes out to $150 per year in lost interest on $10,000 that one could have earned if they used a different broker. It takes a lot of $30 yearly maintenance fees or $15 trades to add up to the $150 per year in lost interest."(September 8, 2006) "Scottrade's old trading platform used to be fast, functional and accurate. However, their new platform is extremely slow over a dial-up line and has many technical bugs and math errors which never seem to get addressed. They also lack the ability to write put options."(February 1, 2007) "Compared to my benchmark rate at Vanguard, they're sitting on at least 200 basis points of my money as maintenance fee. This is why I want to leave Scottrade."(February 27, 2007) "[Scottrade has] a security vulnerability in their website (specifically their Streaming Quotes tool) that I first notified them of several years ago. They have both failed to even acknowledge let alone fix it. The summary of the issue is that because of how streaming quote tool is first loaded, a third-party could impersonate the account holder and have visibility into the person's account and buy/sell securities within the account."(April 4, 2007) "Scottrade... has been a complete ordeal. [They] required me to visit one of their brokers to set up my account. Upon doing so I found this particular broker to be an arrogant ass who went to far as to attempt to correct me when I used the terminology Investment Advisor Representative.... Because of his ignorance I had to find some information not mentioned on the application prior to opening my account and fax the additional information to him the next day. The broker chose to not call me and notify me when he received the information and he chose to not notify me when my account was activated and ready for funds. Upon attempting to seed my account I found that Scottrade does not accept ACH transactions.... After sending them a check to seed my account and having that check held for 12 days I was finally ready to trade. Unfortunately trading proved difficult as I found their site, at least by comparison with Ameritrade, very clunky and lacking some of the key tools I have come to rely on. I only made two trades, a purchase and a sale of a highly liquid big-cap stock. Both of these trades were executed exactly at my limit price despite the fact that the stock was trading about 10c below the limit price when I bought and about 20c above the limit price when I sold. Thanks to an open call contract I haven't closed my Ameritrade account yet. I have, however, closed my Scottrade account and will send that money back to Ameritrade, that is if I ever get it."(April 11, 2007) "I sent in an application for business account to Scottrade on 3/27/2007. [Two weeks later] the account has not been opened. The representative seemed to have little knowledge of processing this type of account. I have resent the forms they required twice and they came back for more signatures which they could have told us about the first time.... Now this morning they want me to reapply from scratch and I flatly told them they can forget about the application and return the check I enclosed for account opening. This experience with Scottrade is indeed eye opening. I wonder how many new business Scottrade has turned away because of their poor customer service and [their representatives' lack of] knowledge of their new account procedures."(April 13, 2007) "I've been with them for about nine months....[L]imit orders never execute at a better than limit price. Also, they don't pay high interest on the cash balance in the account. I don't like them too much.... Scottrade's website regularly crashes after some time with Firefox 2.0.0.6. Their little graph that shows your portfolio status when you log [into your] home page is ugly, always slow, and sometimes does not load...."(August 10, 2007) "I've had a Scottrade account... for nine years, but active only for 7 1/2.... I normally use margin, which is exorbitantly costly at Scottrade.... The only other complaint I have about Scottrade is that in the middle of the night they shut the website down for 'batch processing.' They inform the reader that the process takes 30 minutes, which unfortunately is not the case. It may be hours, because I've never had the patience to keep trying after an hour or so. This has caused me twice to miss profitable buys."(September 23, 2007) "I have been using Scottrade for about 6 years. In the beginning the trades were quick; even funding my brokerage account via ACH debit took anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours to show up in my account if requested before 2:00 PM. I went to execute a stock buy a few days ago and it took approximately 4 minutes to execute; I ended up purchasing the stock for a much higher price. Yesterday, I initiated a ACH debit from my bank to my brokerage account. The funds will not be available for 3 business days. The stock that I was going to purchase has moved out of my range. I used to love Scottrade. It is now a sub-par company. I am looking for a new broker. I might just use my other broker, TD Ameritrade."(January 30, 2008) "I've had Scottrade since 1993.... I have had no problems with them at all.... Everything else has been fine. The brokers have been knowledgeable on all but one occasion, and he had the senior broker help me. My limit orders have filled at lower-than-limit prices.... I don't do options and I have high speed. I use... IE, Mozilla Firefox and Mac Safari."(December 12, 2009) "I have an account with Scottrade and I found out while trying to place an online trade that they have a policy that if a stock is down substantially on 1 day you can not buy it online; you have to call a rep to place the trade."(February 4, 2010) "It might seem like you are only paying $7 a trade, but because of various self-serving undocumented algorithms the [used by the] market makers who actually do your trades and *pay* Scottrade..., you will not get best execution. I had a limit order with Scottrade for an NYSE listed security. After the NYSE opened, the security dropped below my limit bid, then the *offer* for the security dropped below my bid, but still Scottrade did not fill me. Why? Because their "policy", though they admitted that it is documented nowhere, is to only fill after a security first trades on the NYSE. This allows their market maker to trade ahead of you and use your trade as insurance. You cannot opt out of this type of biased trading. The other problem with this is that more and more securities are traded off the listed market; in many cases most of their daily volume is off the listed exchange. I have a formal complaint filed with FINRA, but FINRA is just made up of the brokerage firms, so one has very little voice. Best to avoid this very poor brokerage choice. The commission might have been $7, but they just lost $618 of my dollars. Not much of a bargain."(March 25, 2010) "I have been with Scottrade a long time, and have had no problems."(May 30, 2010)
Rates Updated: April 20, 2006 MyTradz.com,
1.877-MyTradz (698-7239), 1.419.878-1900
Products: Stocks, options, mutual funds
Market Orders: $7.95
Limit Orders: $7.95
Mutual Funds: $30.00
Options: $14.95/trade+$1.95/contract
Minimum to Open: $200. Margin accounts must maintain a $2000 balance.
Inactivity Fee: $0.00
Some Other Fees: Tender Fee:$10.00. DTC Out:$25.00/security. ACAT Out:$50.00.
Maximum Margin Rate: Broker Call+3.00%
Extras: Electronic check deposit. Online account opening.
Notes: "a division of Online Brokerage Services, Inc." Canadian citizens are accepted only if they reside outside of Canada.
User Comments:
Rates Updated: October 1, 2007 Cobra Trading,
1-877-79 COBRA, 715-381-6538
Products: Stocks, options, forex, commodities futures
Market Orders: $7.99
Limit Orders: $7.99
Options: $7.99/trade+$1.00/contract
Minimum to Open: $2500. Daytrading accounts require $30000 to open and $25000 minimum.
Inactivity Fee: $0?
Some Other Fees: ACAT Out:$50.00.
Maximum Margin Rate: Unknown
Extras: Also furnishes technical support and customer service through online chat; I have tested it, and they seem to respond well. Checking and debit cards available. They claim to be willing to negotiate commissions.
Notes: Also has direct-access platforms. Clears through Penson Financial Services.
User Comments: "I trade through Cobra Trading on their Cobra IQ platform.... I like these guys because they actually know my first name and I have got to know all of the brokers in the office, even Chad the president. I was previously with TradeStation and IB before that. These guys are the best I have come across so far.... Pricing is good, straightforward. Even broker trades I only pay .005/share but again the service is the best part for me.... I just started a futures account with them on the T4 platform. Good platform for a novice like me when it comes to futures.... Never had one problem with these guys (so far); been with them about 18 months."(June 11, 2009)
Rates Updated: June 12, 2009 thinkorswim,
(866) 839-1100, (773) 435-3210
Products: Stocks, bonds, options, futures, mutual funds, forex (through the desktop platform)
Market Orders: $9.95/trade up to 5000 shares, or $0.015/share
Limit Orders: $9.95/trade up to 5000 shares, or $0.015/share
Mutual Funds: $0.00, up to 3 trades per calendar month; after that $15.00
Options: $9.95/trade+$1.50/contract, or $2.95/contract, whichever is less
Minimum to Open: $3500
Inactivity Fee: Seems to be $0.00.
Some Other Fees: Tender Fee:$15.00. ACAT Out:$50.00.
Maximum Margin Rate: Fed funds rate + 3.25%
Extras: Several specialized software applications, such as a wireless PDA platform. "All [bond] trades done as agent." If that's true as written, it should result in clearer pricing and lower fees. Both inward and outward ACH transfers. Seems to have no setup fees or maintenance fees for IRAs, but I'm not certain about the setup fees. Accepts resident aliens and non-US citizens, with some restrictions; includes a link to thinkorswim Canada for Canadians.
Notes: thinkorswim does not have sweep accounts, but they pay interest on cash, starting at Fed Funds Rate - 3.75%, and they claim to have a "wide variety" of money market funds which you can buy. January 8, 2009: "TD AMERITRADE... and thinkorswim Group Inc.... today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for TD AMERITRADE to acquire thinkorswim.... thinkorswim clients should expect no immediate impact to their accounts.... TD AMERITRADE and thinkorswim expect the deal to close within the next six months."
User Comments: "I have been with them for a few years now and the way they choose to conduct business is outstanding. Quite a few firms claim to offer someone to talk to you about your trading strategy but the level of excellence is unmatched here. 90% of the people on the trading desk are former pit traders and are OK telling you if you are doing something stupid. They are not very PC, and you will never hear one of them start off the conversation with something like 'How can I provide you with excellent customer service today.' Software works; the system does not go down too much. Currently my only concern is how this level of service will be impacted with the upcoming TD Ameritrade merger."(July 29, 2009)
Rates Updated: April 25, 2008 Investrade Discount Securities,
1.800.498-7120
Products: Stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds
Market Orders: $7.95
Limit Orders: $11.95
Mutual Funds: $15.00 for no-load funds.
Options: $1.50/contract, $14.95 minimum
Minimum to Open: $2000, $5000 for international accounts
Inactivity Fee: $0.00
Some Other Fees: Tender Fee:$25.00 ($50.00 "Less than 48 Hours"). DTC Out:$25.00/security. ACAT Out:$50.00.
Maximum Margin Rate: Broker Call+1.50%
Extras: No setup fees or maintenance fees for IRAs. Dividend reinvestment. Streaming real-time quotes for active traders. Foreign currency conversions. Cash management accounts including checking, credit card, and bill payment. Customer-directed routing for broker-executed trades, which have a surcharge. Foreign accounts accepted.
Notes: "A division of Regal Securities, Inc." Clears through Penson Financial Services. Has a "processing fee" for pink sheet and bulletin board stocks.
User Comments: "I shorted QQQQ; had 70% of the short value in my account in cash, i.e. after adding the short sale proceeds I had 170%. IDS charged me margin interest on the other 30% and paid no interest on the big pile of cash in my account. What a rip-off!"(June 13, 2007) "I've had an account with Investrade for nine years. Early on they made an egregious error, and three free trades in compensation hardly made up for an ultimate cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Other than that, until they recently switched clearing firms, I've been happy with them. Their clearing firm leaves something to be desired. It sometimes reports day-ending balances tardily. In fact, in either July or August, they didn't post new balances for a week in the midst of stunning sell-offs, and for two days a client couldn't even obtain correct balances over the phone."(September 23, 2007)
Rates Updated: February 3, 2010 MarkeTrade.com,
1-888-353-6676, 1-415-901-0311
Products: stocks, foreign stocks, bonds, mutual funds, CDs, options, futures
Market Orders: $9.95
Limit Orders: $11.95
Mutual Funds: $25.00
Options: $1.50/contract+$10.00/trade
Minimum to Open: $200. $2000 for margin accounts.
Inactivity Fee: Seems to be $0.00.
Some Other Fees: Tender Fee:$15. DTC Out:$10.00/security. ACAT Out:$50.00.
Maximum Margin Rate: Broker Call+3.00%
Extras: Also has Chinese version of site, and promises bilingual (Chinese) telephone representatives. Free checking for US residents, paid debit card. Foreign residents are accepted, but if they want checking, they pay a yearly fee.
Notes: Direct access and Web-based trading platforms with different conditions. Has an annual charge for sending you your 1099s! Clears through Penson Financial Services.
User Comments:
Rates Updated: January 31, 2008 optionsXpress,
1.888.280-8020, 312.629-5455
Products: Options, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, futures
Market Orders: $14.95
Limit Orders: $14.95
Mutual Funds: $14.95, even on load funds
Options: Variable, according to table on site. $14.95/trade minimum
Minimum to Open: $0, $2000 for margin account
Inactivity Fee: $0.00
Some Other Fees:
Maximum Margin Rate: Broker Call+4.25%
Extras: Free checking, online chat to customer service, message boards, automatic trading. Includes many interactive tools. "Yes, upon our review and at our discretion we accept unsolicited accounts from non-U.S. residents.... Although our account opening process is geared toward opening accounts for persons with a U. S. domestic address, we will review and open foreign accounts." A user identifying herself as a "foreigner" said on August 25, 2009: "Offers foreigner accounts, although they don't offer mutual funds for foreigners. I actually pay $16.95, not $14.95, per order (stock trade)."
Notes: Specializes in options (obviously), including complicated trades.
User Comments: "OptionsXpress... has a less than satisfactory level of service. They are slow to respond to queries, [and] when they respond it is usually some "pablum" type of answer such as: 'We are looking into it, maybe at a future date, we are considering it'. They have a hard time saying yes [or] no or giving a timeframe for concrete action. They told me when I reached a certain level of option contracts traded that I would get a discount. When I reached that level, they reneged. I have over $300,000 cash in the account. I receive 2% interest in their money market fund. They told me they are looking at alternatives : pablum! I would recommend that anyone look elsewhere for a broker. I am in the process of evaluating different brokers to make a move in the near future."(November 12, 2006)
Rates Updated: August 25, 2009 Placetrade Financial,
1-800-50-PLACE, 919-719-7200
Products: Stocks, options, bonds, mutual funds, IPOs
Market Orders: $10.95, except for penny stocks
Limit Orders: $14.95, except for penny stocks
Mutual Funds: $29.95 for no-load funds. Also has load funds and NTF funds.
Options: $1.50/contract, $19.95 minimum
Minimum to Open: $5000
Inactivity Fee: $0.00
Some Other Fees: Tender Fee:$25.00 ($50.00 "Less than 48 Hours"). DTC Out:$50.00/security. ACAT Out:$75.00.
Maximum Margin Rate: Broker Call+0.50%.
Extras: Dividend reinvestment. No setup fees or maintenance fees for IRAs, although there is a termination fee.
Notes: Clears through Penson Financial Services.
User Comments:
Rates Updated: February 3, 2010 JH Darbie and Co.,
800.606-8844, 212.269-7271
Products: Stocks, bonds, options, mutual funds, CDs, cash management, asset management
Market Orders: $14.95
Limit Orders: $19.95
Mutual Funds: $25.00 on no-load funds
Options: $37.50 minimum, which includes 5 contracts. $2.00 for each additional contract.
Minimum to Open: $0
Inactivity Fee: $0?
Some Other Fees: Tender Fee:$50.00. DTC Out:$25.00/security. ACAT Out:$50.00.
Maximum Margin Rate: Broker Call+2.50%?
Extras: Checking accounts, accepts deposit by electronic check. Full service also available. Dividend reinvestment. ACH transfers (at least out, and I assume also in); both the setup request and the transfers are initiated by telephone, not online.
Notes: Clears through Penson Financial. I've had an account there for about 8 years, and I'm more than satisfied. Personal service, but very little research. Real-time quotes only late in the order entry process.
User Comments:
Rates Updated: February 3, 2010 |