Online brokers are all over so it’s hard to figure out which one is really the best. I’ve compiled a list of the different ones out there and give a brief description of my thoughts on each.
Etrade Financial really messed up with its mortgage division. During the past 2 years, the brokerage have been posting consecutive quarters of losses and it doesn’t even have anything to do with its brokerage firm. It’s really letting Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade take its share and it’s just going downhill slowly.
TD Ameritrade is also an early player and it’s main competition is Charles Schwab and Etrade. They have good advertising but the interface isn’t great and support is okay mediocre. However, they do have a solid following and trades are $9.99 no matter how much you trade or have with them.
Charles Schwab has been taking share ever since Etrade blew up with its mortgage business. It’s sad to see Etrade doing so bad but at least they came up with the Etrade baby. Charles Schwab also has a neat 2% reward credit card which is great if you use them as your brokerage.
TradeKing is a deep discount broker and trades are only $4.95 (half of the higher end ones). It offers a great trading community where you can find out what others are trading and executions are quite. In fact, it’s won many awards and it’s highly recommended.
Zecco has the worst marketing ever but it is one of the few broker that offers free stock trades. If you have over $25,000 or trade 25 times or more, the trades are free. Otherwise, it’s $4.50 per trade.
Sogotrade is a relatively new player and it plays the angle of cheap trades. With $3 per trade, it’s hard to beat unless everything is just free. Sogotrade also ensures trading accounts for up to $5 million.
Wells Fargo offers free trades for those that have at least $25k with them. This is the good news. The interface isn’t so great but it works. Can’t complain when it’s free right?
Bank of America also offers free trades and the details are almost exactly the same as WellsTrade. To me, it’s essentially the same but since BofA acquired Merrill Lynch, there may be a better future path when your net worth increases.
OptionsXpress is less known in the retail investor realm but it’s very popular for frequent traders who love options. They have the best tools for options trading and they also charge three different prices for options commissions (as opposed to pricing based on the exact number of contracts).
