Fidelity invetments review



Optionshouse review


Fidelity.com review 2010



Fidelity review 2010: very expensive commissions but great research tools


Fidelity Commissions and Investment Products


  • Stocks and ETFs: $19.95 if 1-36 trades/year; $10.95 if 37-120 trades/year; $8 if over 120 trades/year
  • Options: $19.95+$0.75/contract if 1-36 trades/year; $10.95+$0.75/contract if 37-120 trades/year; $8.00+$0.75/contract if over 120 trades/year
  • Mutual Funds: no transaction fee when trading over 1,400 Fidelity and non–Fidelity mutual funds; $75 for all others
  • Bonds: U.S. Treasury Auctions, incl. TIPS Auctions, U.S. Treasury Bills, Notes, Bonds, incl. TIPS - free
  • GSE (Agency Securities), secondary CDs, Municipals, Corporates (BBB- or higher), CATS/TIGRS, Corporates (BB+ or lower): $1.00/bond
  • Commercial Paper: $50 per transaction
  • Investment products: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, options, Commercial Paper, ETFs
  • Minimum to open account: $2,500


Fidelity.com Trading Tools Review


Fidelity review

Fidelity.com website is neither well-organized nor intuitive. It feels cluttered and we often have to look around for a while to find what we needed. This is the only brokerage website where we had problem finding Fees information page.

Fidelity trading experience is disappointing. You can't even modify your orders! Trade confirmations do not contain time when order was executed. The firm provides average charting and users have no ability to save their chart settings.

On the other hand, Fidelity research tools, like stock screening, historical trading strategy, daily market commentary and individual stock research are impressive. There are research reports from 13 different independent firms, covering over 4,500 companies.


Fidelity Account Pros/Advantages

  • Great research tools and biggest selection of independent research
  • Low-cost Fidelity mutual funds
  • Many asset classes to invest


Fidelity Account Cons/Disadvantages

  • Extremely high commissions
  • Website is going down or becoming slow on crucial days
  • Trading commissions and fees are tied to how often client trades and his/her net worth
  • Annual fees: $25 for Simple IRA, $48 for Fidelity HSA
  • $75 mutual fund Short Term Redemption Fee
  • $12 annual Low Balance Fee for each noncore Fidelity mutual fund if balance is under $2,000
  • Somewhat high minimum initial account deposit: $2,500 (cash and margin accounts)


Fidelity Review Summary

Fidelity Investments is obviously targeting wealthy individuals: firm's commissions and fees depend on customer's net worth. This means that customers will pay extremely high commissions unless they have at least $1 million in assets or $25K in assets and make 120+ trades a year.

Fidelity's trading tools are disappointing but research is one of the best. There is a serious issue with firm's website becoming very slow or going down on high-volume days, right when many investors really need to be able to access their accounts and execute orders promptly.

Fidelity's commissions are some of the highest on all asset classes except Fidelity mutual funds. But even with mutual funds there is $75 short term redemption fee and $12 annual Low Balance Fee. Commission for non-Fidelity mutual fund families is very steep $75.

We see no good reasons to open account with Fidelity. There are dramatically less expensive brokerage companies that offer better trading platforms and more reliable service.


Fidelity Promotional Code: none right now

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