SpeedTrader Review 2011-2012: Commissions, Fees and Investment Products
- Stocks and ETFs Per Trade: $6.95
- Stocks and ETFs Per Share: $0.0039 per share, $0.99 min per trade
- Futures Trades (Electronic): $1 per contract (plus exchange and NFA fees)
- Options Trades: $1 per contract
- Bonds Trades: $50 per ticket
- Mutual Funds: $50 per trade for no-load mutual funds
- Investment products: stocks, options, futures, futures symbols, no-load mutual funds, Forex, bonds, ETFs
- Minimum to open SpeedTrader account: $0 for cash account, $2,000 for margin account
- All SpeedTrader fees
SpeedTrader Website (SpeedTrader.com)/Trading Tools Review
SpeedTrader offers state of the art trading systems developed with lots of bells and whistles available only in
professional platforms. There are 3 trading platforms to choose from:
- SpeedTrader 2.0 (free) - browser-based direct access trading.
- SpeedTrader PRO is $49 per month (waived for clients who generate commissions equal to or greater
than the total amount of fees that month). With SpeedTrader PRO customers get NASDAQ (level 1), NYSE, AMEX (level 1), News Headline,
Hi - Lo Ticker, Advanced Chart Studies,
1 Training Account for free.
- Sterling Trader Pro is $150 per month. It delivers a full suite of trading tools with reliable, real-time market data,
high-end performance, and a fully-customizable, streamlined design power the broad range of execution and management tools.
Some of our favorite SpeedTrader trading tools features are:
- point and click trading;
- SpeedTrader Pro provides users with visual alerts that can be set to automatically
alert you of possible trading opportunities;
- Sterling Trader Pro software allows to set up a pre-defined order that executes based on your alerts.
One can have the software automatically send a buy, sell or short order on any stock as soon as their alert is triggered;
- Sterling Trader Pro allows to place both a stop order and a target price order at the same time. This way one can cover
their downside with a stop order and protect upside with a target order;
Speed Trader Pros
- Low commissions for very active traders
- Free streaming real-time Level I or Level II quotes
- Professional trading platform
- Free intra-day charting
- Virtual trading
Speed Trader Cons
- $30 Quarterly Inactivity Fee (if under 15 trades)
- Steep software fees
- High mutual funds commissions
- $35 annual IRA fee and $25 IRA set-up fee
- Option exercise or assignment $30 each
SpeedTrader Review Summary
SpeedTrader recently lowered its commissions and removed volume requirements. Customers now pay $6.95 per trade in flat-rate plan and
$0.0039 per share with $0.99 minimum in
pay-per-share commissions plan. The company also introduced $30 quarterly fee for those users making
less than 15 trades per quarter. Options and Futures are $1 per contract. There are no surcharges on large orders, penny stocks and
extended hours trading. The firm charges very high mutual fund commission - $50 per transaction.
SpeedTrader brokerage targets mostly very active traders and is definitely not the right choice for beginner investors.
Because of annual $35 IRA maintenance fee and $25 IRA set-up fee it is also not a good fit for an individual retirement account.
There are much better IRA companies
that don't charge retirement account and inactivity fees.
SpeedTrader created fast and efficient trading platform but their charts are poor. The platform comes with the price of $49 per month.
Users, however, could trade with their browser-based system for free. The firm also offers free virtual trading that allows
customers to practice trading and test various strategies without risking real money.
The biggest disadvantage of SpeedTrader is that you need to make at least 15 trades per quarter or otherwise you'll be paying
$120 ($155 for IRA) a year to maintain account at SpeedTrader. If you are not an active trader, you'll better off with one of the
brokers in our Top Online Brokerages list.
We believe that low per-share trades are temporary - just a
marketing trick to lure new customers.
Speed Trader
Reviewed by Brokerage Review on
.
Rating: 2
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