Gator Bait Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I currently trade with USAA. I started my brokerage account through them because that is who I have my mutual funds and insurance with. USAA's online website for the brokerage department is terrible, so I'm shopping for a new company. Anyone have any favorable or unfavorable experiences with any of the major online brokers: etrade, Ameritrade, Scottrade, Zecco, etc. I'm not a major trader and I don't have any more than a few thousand to put in a brokerage account right now. most of these companies have a lot of fine print writing in their promotions (etrade requires you to make so many trades per quarter to get their advertised $9.99 trades) any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dictator Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I've got no suggestions. USAA's sites across the board suck butt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Bait Posted April 6, 2009 Author Share Posted April 6, 2009 I've got no suggestions. USAA's sites across the board suck butt. yes they do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetSkins Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 charles schwab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forehead Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I used Sharebuilder for awhile, they're not bad at all in terms of price, and they don't require you to do anything in terms of trade minimums. I looked into Zecco at one point because they advertised free trades. I think you had to have a minimum balance, but they made their money elsewhere, through advertising or whatever. I don't know if they still offer trades for free though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I setup with ScotTrade. I've been very pleased with them so far. $7 trades Also, they have branch offices most places- there is one near me. So if I have to I can always drop in on them. Plus having some brick & mortar locations adds some credibility to them. imo I don't have much with them though. I mostly buy mutual funds thru Edward Jones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Bait Posted April 6, 2009 Author Share Posted April 6, 2009 I looked into Zecco at one point because they advertised free trades. I think you had to have a minimum balance, but they made their money elsewhere, through advertising or whatever. I don't know if they still offer trades for free though. Zecco used to have free trading...you had to have a minimum balance of 3,000 in you account. I'm sure they made a lot of money off interest. Now their trades are 4.50 and I think there is more in the fine print. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Bait Posted April 6, 2009 Author Share Posted April 6, 2009 I setup with ScotTrade. I've been very pleased with them so far. $7 tradesAlso, they have branch offices most places- there is one near me. So if I have to I can always drop in on them. Plus having some brick & mortar locations adds some credibility to them. imo I don't have much with them though. I mostly buy mutual funds thru Edward Jones. so you get $7 trades without minimum trades per quarter/month/year? What is the minimum balance required in your account? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Bait Posted April 6, 2009 Author Share Posted April 6, 2009 Ameritrade looked promising....$9.99 trades with no required trades per month/year/quarter their tools look useful as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 so you get $7 trades without minimum trades per quarter/month/year? What is the minimum balance required in your account? http://www.scottrade.com/online_trading_reasons/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Bait Posted April 6, 2009 Author Share Posted April 6, 2009 http://www.scottrade.com/online_trading_reasons/ It says $500 for an account ($2000 for margin account) anyone know what is the difference between the two accounts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Bait Posted April 6, 2009 Author Share Posted April 6, 2009 Scottrade has a location right near my house in woodbridge, that is probably who I'll go with. Thanks for the input Zoony....I really do enjoy your company Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoony Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 It says $500 for an account ($2000 for margin account)anyone know what is the difference between the two accounts? If you just want to trade stocks all you'll need is a $500 min balance to get it open. You can transfer the funds from your checking account and start trading. IIRC it took about 3-4 days for the verifications to complete, etc. before I was actually buying stocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I use scottrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Bait Posted April 6, 2009 Author Share Posted April 6, 2009 I use scottrade. how do you like it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrcunning15 Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I use etrade mainly b/c I set up a savings account few years back that had no minimums and a fairly high interest rate. I just recently set up a brokerage account. The commission on the trades is a little pricey but then again I'm only investing a small amount and just keeping most of my money in the savings account. It seems like scottrade could be a better option I think I might check them out cause I'm getting hosed on my trades right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 how do you like it? Works for what I need right now. I'm not all that impressed with the research tools. The cost to trade is lower which is good considering that there are weeks when I make a lot of trades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FanboyOf91 Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I use two: thinkorswim - mostly for the cheap commissions on stock trading. $.015 per share ($5 minimum) or $9.95 flat fee. Downside: $15 fee per quarter. Schwab - $12.95, but you can buy Treasuries, bonds, preferred shares, and CDs from other banks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sacase Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I use two:thinkorswim - mostly for the cheap commissions on stock trading. $.015 per share ($5 minimum) or $9.95 flat fee. Downside: $15 fee per quarter. Schwab - $12.95, but you can buy Treasuries, bonds, preferred shares, and CDs from other banks. I go with schwab, you have a lot of options about what you want to purchase, the websites is one of the best ones out there. Plus they have a ton of research tools that can help you make informed decisions. But like Fanboy said, its 12.95 for trades. However, I know when I put money into my Roth IRA the other day, they didn't charge me anything for that. The main reason I joined schawb initially was they had a 4% interest rate on their investor checking account as well as no ATM fees. I think they are down to 1% on the checking account with no fees. Their credit card is nice also 2% back into your brokerage account and no fees, even on international purchases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redskins59 Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I use Ameritrade and I really like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Washington Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I use scottrade as well. They have a location down the street from me and they haven't harassed me about anything or sold my info to another company (increase in junk mail). Keep in mind it takes about a 1-1.5 weeks to set up money transfer from a bank account to them using the deposit verification. I don't trust them with my bank password and username. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Washington Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 It says $500 for an account ($2000 for margin account)anyone know what is the difference between the two accounts? From my 8th grade education.... With a margin account they lend you $ for trading so when you buy a stock you're using their cash. If the stock tanks, they demand you put more $$ in your account (your $$ is actually collateral for a loan) or sell some of the stocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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