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Merrill Edge vs TD Ameritrade
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TD Ameritrade vs Merrill Edge (Merrill Lynch): Trading Fees and Investments 2012
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- Stocks and ETFs: $9.99
- Stocks and ETFs broker assisted: $49.99
- Stocks and ETFs Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Telephone System: $34.99
- Options: $9.99 plus $0.75 per contract
- No-load mutual funds: $49.99
- Treasuries at auction: $25 flat fee
- All other bonds and CMOs, CDs: on a net yield basis
- Futures: $3.50 per contract (inclusive of exchange fees)
- Investment products: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, options, ETFs, bonds, CDs, UITs, futures and forex
- Minimum to open TD Ameritrade account: $0 for cash account, $2,000 for margin account
- All TD Ameritrade fees
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- Stocks and ETFs: $6.95
- Stocks and ETFs Agent assisted: $44.95; Automated phone trades telephone system: $32.50
- Options: $6.95 + $0.75 per contract
- No Load, Transaction Fee Funds (TF) Mutual Funds: $39.95 per transaction
- Merrill Edge Self-Directed Mutual Funds: 0.75% gross proceeds, $50 minimum, $250 maximum
- Investment products: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, options, ETFs, Bills, Notes, Bonds. Agency: Discount, Notes, Bonds. Zero Coupon Bonds: Corporate, Government, Agency
Municipal Bonds, Corporate Bonds, Brokered Certificates of Deposit
- Minimum to open Merrill Edge account: $0
- All Merrill Edge fees
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TD Ameritrade vs Merrill Edge (Merrill Lynch): Pros
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- No surcharges on penny stocks, large orders and after-hours trading
- Large and well known company with many local branches
- Two excellent trading platforms (ThinkOrSwim and Trade Architect)
- Practice trading without risking your own money using paperMoney
- See what other traders are doing on myTRADE trader community
- Free IRA accounts
- No maintenance and inactivity fees
- Free streaming quotes, including Level II
- Large selection of independent, third-party research (Standard & Poor's, Morningstar, Jaywalk and TheStreet)
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- Free trades if meeting certain conditions
- Free checking account
- Great research tools
- Free DRIPs (have to call to get it)
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TD Ameritrade vs Merrill Edge (Merrill Lynch): Cons
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- $9.99 commission for stocks/ETFs and $49 commission for mutual funds are high
- The website is sometimes very slow or even down on the high volume days
- High margin rates
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- High margin rates
- Limited, badly designed trading tools and charts
- Terrible executions
- Account balance discrepancies
- Technical issues
- Customer service complaints
- Mutual funds Self-Directed Short-Term Redemption fee if held less than 90 days: 0.75% gross proceeds, $50 minimum, $250 maximum
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Merrill Edge vs Ameritrade: Comparison Summary
When comparing stock and ETF commissions, Merrill Edge (Merrill Edge Review)
(formerly known as Merrill Lynch/BOfA/Bank of America brokerage)
is less expensive broker than TD Ameritrade (Ameritrade Review):
$6.95 versus $9.99 per trade.
TD Ameritrade has no account maintenance and inactivity fees. It also does not charge IRA setup and annual IRA
fees, and we recommend it for a brokerage retirement account.
The internet is full of complaints from Merrill Edge's customers on the whole range of issues: trading tools bugs, maintenance and
account transfer fees, client features and mutual funds availability, order executions and customer service.
If you are new to investing, you will appreciate that TD Ameritrade provides free virtual trading that allows customers to practice trading
with fake money. The firm also offers online user community where one could learn from more advanced members and even get investment
ideas.
We recommend TD Ameritrade for IRA accounts, beginners and "buy-and-hold" investors.
For everyone else, we suggest taking a look at
Best Online Trading Brokers article.
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