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Barron's Best Broker Survey 2011
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Barron's magazine published its annual stock brokerage companies survey results for 2011. 24 investment firms were rated on the number of parameters,
and all of them have an equal share in the final score. The numbers in the table below are based on accounts with $100,000+ in assets (!).
After ThinkOrSwim
(ThinkOrSwim review)
was acquired by TD Ameritrade
(Ameritrade review)
, there has to be a new winner. Tradestation Securities
(Tradestation review) became top online broker
according to Barron's magazine. While we believe it's a great company and we gave it a 4-star rating in our 2011 review, we also think
that it's only well-suited for very active traders and will have a steep learning curve for regular investors.
Our own top rated brokerage firms also got very high scores in Barron's broker survey:
OptionsXpress (OptionsXpress review) at #5
TradeKing (TradeKing review) at #7 and
OptionsHouse (OptionsHouse review) at #8.
OptionsHouse and TradeKing actually offer much cheaper flat-rate commissions than TradeStation and provide all the features the Barron's
favorite does.
|
| Broker |
Trade
Experience |
Trading
Technology |
Usability |
Ranges of
Offerings |
Research
Amenities |
Portfolio Analysis
and Reports |
Customer Service
and Education |
Costs |
Total |
Stars |
|
Tradestation
|
4.5 |
4.8 |
4.2
|
3.9
|
4.6
|
4.3
|
4.6
|
3.0 |
33.9
|
4.5
|
|
MB Trading
|
4.5
|
4.5 |
4.2
|
3.9
|
4.4
|
4.5
|
4.5
|
3.3
|
33.8
|
4.5
|
|
Interactive Brokers
|
4.3
|
4.7
|
3.9
|
4.4 |
4.0
|
4.0
|
3.8
|
4.5 |
33.6
|
4.5
|
|
TD Ameritrade
|
4.7 |
4.5
|
4.1 |
4.4
|
4.8
|
4.9
|
4.5
|
1.3 |
33.2
|
4.5
|
|
OptionsHouse
|
4.6
|
3.9
|
4.4 |
3.1
|
4.4
|
4.5 |
4.4
|
3.8
|
33.1
|
4.0
|
|
tradeMonster
|
4.7 |
4.0
|
4.4 |
3.6 |
4.5
|
4.7
|
4.5
|
2.6 |
33.0
|
4.0
|
|
OptionsXpress
|
4.6 |
4.2 |
4.4
|
4.2 |
4.6
|
4.8
|
4.1
|
1.8
|
32.7
|
4.0
|
|
TradeKing
|
4.4
|
3.4
|
4.5
|
3.2 |
4.4
|
4.8
|
4.4
|
3.3
|
32.4
|
4.0
|
|
Fidelity Investments
|
4.4 |
3.9 |
4.2 |
3.9
|
4.6
|
4.4
|
4.3
|
1.8 |
31.5 |
4.0
|
|
Lightspeed Trading |
4.1 |
4.3
|
4.1
|
2.3
|
4.0
|
3.4 |
3.8
|
4.0
|
30.0
|
4.0
|
|
ChoiceTrade
|
4.3 |
4.2
|
4.1
|
3.6
|
3.2 |
3.0
|
3.8
|
3.0
|
29.2
|
4.0
|
|
Charles Schwab |
3.9 |
3.2 |
3.7
|
3.9
|
4.6
|
3.9
|
4.5 |
1.2
|
28.9
|
3.5
|
|
Etrade Securities |
3.8 |
3.8
|
3.1 |
3.8 |
4.5
|
4.3 |
4.2 |
0.8
|
28.3
|
3.5
|
|
Scottrade
|
4.1
|
2.1 |
3.7 |
3.2 |
4.2 |
3.2
|
4.3 |
1.8
|
26.6
|
3.5
|
|
eOption
|
3.4 |
3.0 |
3.7 |
3.2
|
3.0
|
2.4 |
3.0
|
3.5
|
26.2
|
3.5
|
|
Cobra Trading
|
3.7
|
3.2 |
4.0 |
3.1
|
3.2 |
1.5
|
3.5 |
3.2
|
25.4
|
3.0
|
|
SogoTrade |
4.2
|
2.0 |
4.4
|
2.4
|
3.6
|
1.3
|
3.0
|
3.8
|
24.7
|
3.0
|
|
Zecco |
3.5 |
1.8 |
3.5
|
2.8 |
3.9
|
2.8 |
3.4 |
3.0
|
24.7
|
3.0
|
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Just2Trade
|
3.1 |
1.2 |
3.1 |
2.2
|
3.6 |
3.7
|
2.7
|
4.4
|
24.0
|
3.0
|
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Speedtrader
|
3.9 |
2.7 |
4.0 |
3.2
|
2.3 |
1.8
|
3.2
|
2.3
|
23.4
|
3.0
|
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Merrill Edge
|
3.1 |
0.8 |
2.8 |
2.2
|
3.9
|
2.1 |
3.4
|
2.9
|
21.2
|
3.0
|
|
Firstrade
|
3.0 |
1.8 |
3.0
|
2.6 |
3.0 |
2.0
|
3.4
|
2.0
|
20.8
|
2.5
|
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Trading Block
|
3.4
|
1.1
|
4.0
|
2.2
|
3.4
|
1.8
|
3.0
|
1.9
|
20.8
|
2.5
|
|
AB Watley
|
3.7
|
2.6
|
3.7
|
1.2
|
2.2
|
2.1
|
2.4
|
0.2
|
18.1
|
2.5
|
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