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Wells Fargo brokerage (WellsTrade) review: very high investing/trading costs and terrible registration process
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- Stocks and ETFs: $19.95; agent-assisted trading: $45.00
- Options: $9.95 + $1 per contract
- Mutual funds: $35
- Auction of Treasury Bills, Notes and Bonds: $49 per transaction
- Investment products: stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds, ETFs
- Minimum to open account: $1,000
WellsTrade account opening process is the longest we have tried and it is still done by filling paper forms,
signing and mailing them. With most other brokerage firms you can do it all online in 10-25 minutes.
WellsTrade.com Trading Tools Review

WellsTrade offers independent research and education: market commentaries, profiles, S&P Stock Reports and Morningstar® mutual
fund ratings. Charts are less comprehensive than in most other brokerages. The gain/loss information on the positions screen is
not updated right away. Overall, the WellsTrade's trading tools are disappointing, especially considering how
high commissions are.
- Great banking services
- Good research
- Minimum to open: $1,000
- Extremely high commissions
- For stocks below $1/share commission is greater of $34.95 or 3.5% of principal
- Understaffed customer service
- High margin rates
- Annual account maintenance fee: $50
- IRA annual custodial fee (all except Education Savings Accounts): $30
- IRA annual custodial fee for Education Savings Accounts: $20
WellsTrade is a brokerage operation of a well-known Wells Fargo Bank. It is very expensive to invest in or trade
stocks and other assets with WellsTrade: $19.95 per trade stock/ETF commission is way too high comparing to most other
discount brokerage firms.
The company has probably the worst new account registration process of all online stock brokers.
Unlike most other firms, Wells Fargo brokerage charges $50 account maintenance fee and custodial IRA fees.
The firm has very high margin rates and poor customer service.
The only WellsTrade's redeeming quality is great banking services offered to account holders. But that is not enough
to offset all the negatives. There are a lot of low-cost, highly-rated
Online Brokerage Houses that offer more value to their customers.
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