Stock Broker Reviews



Etrade review 2010
FirstTrade review 2009

Compare Etrade vs FirstTrade




Etrade versus FirstTrade Trading Fees and Investments Offered



Etrade
FirstTrade
  • Stocks and ETFs: $9.99 if 0-149 trades per quarter; $7.99 if 150+ trades per quarter
  • Options: $9.99 plus $0.75/contract if 0-149 trades per quarter; $7.99 plus $0.75/contract if 150+ trades per quarter
  • Mutual Funds: $19.99
  • Futures contracts: $2.99 per contract, per side + fees
  • Investment products: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, futures, options, ETFs
  • Minimum to open account: $1000
  • All Etrade fees
  • Stocks and ETFs: $6.95; for stocks at or under $2 and trades over 5,000 shares, add 1/2 cent per share for the entire order
  • Options: $6.95 plus $0.75 per contract for market and limit orders
  • Mutual funds: $9.95 no-load funds, $0 load funds
  • Bonds: net yield basis
  • CDs: $30 for primary market CDs, net yield basis for secondary market CDs
  • Investment products: stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds, CDs, ETFs
  • Minimum to open account: $0



Compare Etrade and FirstTrade Pros



Etrade
FirstTrade
  • Very good trading tools
  • No IRA account fees, no minimums with electronic statements and confirms
  • Minimum to open: $1,000 for cash account, $2,000 for margin account
  • Banking products: checking, savings, money market accounts, CDs and credit cards
  • $0 minimum to open account
  • 10,000 mutual funds and fixed income investments to choose from
  • No inactivity or account maintenance fees
  • No annual, setup or termination fees for IRA accounts
  • Free dividend reinvestment



Compare Etrade and FirstTrade Cons



Etrade
FirstTrade
  • High commissions
  • Extra $0.015 per share will apply to that portion of the order that exceeds 2,000 shares
  • $40 Account Service Fee might be charged each quarter in some instances
  • Very high margin rates
  • IRA premature distributions: $25
  • Expensive commissions for stocks under $2 or orders of over 5,000
  • Customer service complains
  • Limited trading tools
  • Short Term Redemption Fee of $19.95 will be applied to redemptions of no-load fund shares held less than 180 days



Etrade or FirstTrade Comparison Summary



FirstTrade offers better commissions on stocks and options. Etrade has lower mutual fund fee. Both companies have significant surcharge for larger orders. FirstTrade also charges extra for stocks under $2.

Etrade comes ahead in trading tools, banking services and customer service. But it also has $40 Account Service Fee.

It's hard to recommend either of these companies primarily bacause of high commissions and surcharges. There are other highly rated discount brokers with much lower costs and excellent services, like ChoiceTrade, TradeKing and OptionsHouse.


Visit Etrade

Etrade review 2009
Visit FirstTrade

FirstTrade review 2009

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