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Best Discount Brokers
Best discount brokers: 3 top rated low cost online brokerage firms in US for trading/investing account in 2013
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Best Discount Broker: Commissions
- Stocks and ETFs: $3.95
- Stocks and ETFs broker assisted: $3.95
- Two plans for options:
1. Up to five contracts for $5; each additional
contract $1
2. $8.50 + 0.15/contract (great if trading over 10 contracts)
- Two plans for spreads:
1. Up to 10 contracts for $10; each additional
contract $1
2. $12.50 + 0.15/contract
- Mutual funds: $9.95
- Orders for U.S. Treasury bonds and listed corporate bonds are accepted by phone
- Investments: stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds, ETFs
- Optionshouse minimum deposit to open account: $1,000 for cash account, $2,000 for margin account
- All Optionshouse fees
- Lowest commissions
- Free streaming quotes
- Efficient trading tools
- No account minimums. Minimum initial funding size is $1,000 for a cash account and $2,000 for a margin account
- No fee IRA accounts
- No volume requirements, or maintenance or inactivity fees
- Free check-writing privileges
- Free DRIPs/Dividend Reinvestment (complete, non-fractional shares only)
- No surcharges for large orders or extended hours trading
- Very low margin rates
- Free virtual trading
- For stocks priced $2 or less that are not options eligible, add $0.005 per share for the entire order
- Shortened after-hours trading: 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm EST, instead of 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm EST
- Basic charts
Top Discount Broker Full Review
Optionshouse Review
Fund a new account with OptionsHouse and trade FREE for 60 days.
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Best Discount Broker: Commissions
- Stocks and ETFs: $7
- Stocks and ETFs broker assisted: $32
- Stocks and ETFs interactive voice response (IVR) telephone system: $32
- Options: $7 plus $1.25 per contract
- Mutual funds: 3,000+ free mutual funds, $17 for others
- CDs, OTC Secondary Corporates, OTC Secondary Municipals, U.S. Treasury Bills, Notes, Bonds and STRIPS, New Corporate Offerings: subject to a markup or markdown
- Listed Corporate Bonds: $35 fee plus $3 per bond (minimum investment $1,000)
- Unit Investment Trusts (UIT): $50 liquidation fee
- Foreign Stocks Transferring In or Out: $60 per transaction
- Investment products: stocks, options, mutual funds, CDs, munis, U.S. Treasury, Canadian and foreign stocks, ETFs
- Scottrade minimum deposit to open account: $500 for a cash account, $2,000 for a margin account
- All Scottrade fees
- No inactivity, account maintenance or hidden fees
- No-fee IRAs
- 500+ local branches for in-person assistance
- Great support for beginner investors with a massive number of educational resources
- Online user community
- Good banking services: savings, CDs, money market and free checking accounts (free ATM withdrawals, VISA check card, and first order of checks free)
- Only $500 minimum to open account
- Free real-time streaming quotes and charts
- Free dividend reinvestment for mutual funds (but not for stocks)
- Largest number of mutual funds - over 14,500
- Additional 0.5% of the principal value commission for stocks under $1
- No electronic withdrawals, but you can use a debit card or check. Once you receive checks, you will have the routing number and account number, which you can use to withdraw money via ACH initiated from other financial institutions
Top Discount Broker Full Review
Scottrade Review
Get up to $100 in transfer fees reimbursed when you move your account to Scottrade.
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Best Discount Broker: Commissions
- Stocks and ETFs: $4.95 (for stocks/etfs priced over $2)
- Options: $4.95 plus $0.65 per contract
- Short options valued at 5 cents or less, can be bought to close these positions for no charge (commission free)
- Mutual funds: $9.95
- Bonds: $4.95 per bond ($14.95 minimum)
- Treasuries: $24.95
- Certificates of Deposit (CDs): $24.95
- Investments: stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds, CDs, forex, treasuries, ETFs
- TradeKing minimum deposit to open account: $0
- All TradeKing fees
- Great commissions
- No minimums, or maintenance or hidden fees
- Free real-time quotes
- Top-rated customer service
- Low margin rates
- Best online investor community
- Fee-free IRAs
- Free DRIPs (dividend reinvestment plans)
- Extensive educational resources
- Additional $0.01 per share on the entire order for stocks priced at 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
- International investors are not accepted
- Shorter after-hours trading: 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm EST, instead of 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm EST
Top Discount Broker Full Review
TradeKing Review
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This article was updated on 01/25/2013.
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