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OptionsXpress vs TD Ameritrade
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- Stocks and ETFs: $8.95
- Options (active traders): $12.95 for up to 10 contracts, $1.25/contract for over 10 contracts
- Options (non-active traders): $14.95 for up to 10 contracts, $1.50/contract for over 10 contracts
- Mutual Funds: $9.95
- Bonds: $5 per bond, $9.95 minimum
- Futures: 1-40 contracts $6.99; 41-100 contracts $5.99; 101-300 contracts $4.99; 301-1,000 contracts $3.99; 1,001 + contracts $2.99
- Options on Futures: 1-40 contracts $12.99; 41-100 contracts $8.99; 101-300 contracts $7.99; 301-1,000 contracts $6.99; 1,001 + contracts $5.99
- Covered Calls: $22.90 up to 10 contracts
- Penny Options: 1-10 contracts $4.95 flat; 10 + $0.50/contract
- Spreads, Straddles & Combos: 2-10 contracts - $12.95 Flat (active traders) $14.95 Flat (non-active traders); 10 + contracts - $1.25/contract (active traders); $1.50/contract (non-active traders)
- Investments: stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds, futures, options on futures, covered calls, ETFs
- Minimum to open OptionXpress account: $0 for cash account, $2,000 for margin account
- All OptionXpress fees
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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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- Best customer service
- Many well-designed trading tools and cutting-edge trading technology
- Free streaming quotes
- $100 bonus for opening new account
- No fee IRA accounts
- Great research
- Free paper trading
- No money down to open new account
- Free account transfers
- Free instructor lead online classes
- Free broker-assisted trading
- Free dividend reinvestment (contact customer service)
- No platform fees
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- No surcharges on penny stocks, large orders and after-hours trading
- Large and well known company with many local branches
- Very good trading platform
- Free IRA accounts
- No maintenance and inactivity fees
- Free streaming quotes
- Large selection of independent, third-party research (S&P, Morningstar Associates, and ResearchTeamTM)
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- Higher than average commissions on stocks and ETFs
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- $9.99 commission for stocks/ETFs and $49 commission for mutual funds are high
- Occasional poor order execution
- The website is sometimes very slow or even down on the high volume days
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TD Ameritrade vs OptionsXpress: Comparison Summary
OptionsXpress (OptionsXpress Review)
and
TD Ameritrade (Ameritrade Review)
are very similarly priced for stocks and ETFs: $8.95 and $9.95 per trade commission respectively.
TD Ameritrade, however, charges much more for mutual funds: $49.99 per transaction versus $14.95 at OptionsXpress.
OptionsXpress easily beats TD Ameritrade in customer service, trading tools and research. It also provides free
virtual trading environment which is great for beginners for practicing their skills as well as for
more advanced investors who want to test new strategies without a risk.
Both companies don't have account maintenance fees, IRA setup and annual IRA fees, and surcharges on extended hours trading
and stocks under $1 (penny stocks). We rated OptionsXpress one of the
Best IRA Companies in 2012.
At TD Ameritrade we often experienced order execution problems: orders would sometimes fail to execute at
the market price. Also, the firm's website occasionally becomes slow and unresponsive on critical,
high-volume days.
In 2012 we rated OptionsXpress one of the Best Brokers.
Between these two investment companies it is clearly a better choice.
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