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TradeStation vs TradeKing
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TradeKing vs TradeStation: Fees and Investments 2012
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- Stocks and ETFs: $4.95 (for stocks/etfs priced over $2)
- Options: $4.95 plus $0.65 per contract (for up to 8 contracts) OR $4.95 plus $0.65 per contract (for over 8 contracts)
- Short options valued at 5 cents or less, can be bought to close these positions for no charge (commission free)
- Multiple legs will only be charged one base price of either $4.95 or $8.95, depending on how many total contracts are involved
- Mutual Funds: $9.95
- Bonds: $4.95 per bond ($14.95 minimum)
- Treasuries: $24.95 per transaction
- Certificates of Deposit (CDs): $24.95 per transaction
- Investments: stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds, CDs, treasuries, ETFs
- Minimum to open TradeKing account: $0
- All TradeKing fees
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- Stocks and ETFs Flat-Rate Plan: 1 to 9 trades/month - $9.99/trade; 10 to 29 trades/month - $7.99/trade; 30 or more trades/month - $6.99/trade
- Stocks and ETFs Per-Share Plan: first 500 shares $0.01 per share, $0.006 per share thereafter, $1 minimum per trade
- Options: $1 per contract with no ticket charge and no minimum
- Futures: 25¢ - $1.20 per side, per contract + exchange, regulatory & overnight fees
- Mutual funds: $14.95
- Bonds: $14.95 plus $5 per bond
- T-Bills: equities - $50, futures - $10
- OTCBB: $9.99 (100,000 share position maximum)
- Pink Sheet Stocks: $9.99 (100,000 share position maximum)
- Investment products: stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds, futures, T-Bills, OTCBB, Pink Sheet Stocks, Forex, ETFs
- Minimum to open Tradestation account: $5,000 for non-daytraders and $30,000 for daytraders
- All Tradestation fees
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- Great commissions
- No minimums, maintenance or hidden fees
- Free real time quotes
- Award-winning trading tools
- Best rated customer service
- Low margin rates
- Best online investor community
- Fee-free IRAs
- Extensive educational resources
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- Great trading platform
- Trading modeling functionality
- Lots of investment products to trade
- Active online community
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- Additional $0.01 per share on the entire order of stocks priced less than $2
- $50 annual inactivity fee if BOTH apply to an account(s):
- Combined account value of the household account(s) is less than $2,500
- No commission-charged trades have been executed in the account(s) during the last 12 months
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- High stock and ETF commissions
- Direct routing up to 5000 shares is no additional charge, $.005 per share thereafter
- $99.95 fee to use TradeStation Platform if not traded at least 5,000 shares in previous month
- Lots of fees for market data
- $35 annual IRA fee
- Steep learning curve: trading platform is too complicated for beginner investors
- Minimum amount to open account is $5,000 for non-daytraders and $30,000 for daytraders
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TradeStation vs TradeKing: Comparison Summary
TradeKing (TradeKing Review)
is offering its customers significantly more attractive commissions on stock and ETF than
Tradestation (Tradestation Review):
$5 per trade versus $9.99 per trade (in flat-rate plan). Mutual funds are also priced better at TradeKing: $10 versus $15 per transaction.
TradeStation charges $100 monthly fee to use its trading platform (if not traded at least 5,000 shares in previous month).
Unlike TradeStation, TradeKing has no surcharge on large orders.
It does, however, have additional commission on stocks under $2.
TradeKing has no maintenance fees, IRA setup and annual IRA fees.
TradeStation, on the other hand, slams customers with $35 annual IRA fee. While TradeKing offers free real-time quotes, TradeStation
charges multiple market data fees.
TradeKing is one of the very best brokers for beginners:
it offers lots of learning materials, great online user community (see what others are trading and how they are performing) and
free broker-assisted trading.
TradeKing is also rated one of the Best Brokerage Houses
in 2012 and we definitely recommend it over TradeStation.
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