Overview of Etrade and JP Morgan
Which broker is the better firm, E*Trade or J.P. Morgan Chase? E*Trade wins for software, while J.P. Morgan Chase
is the go-to broker for Chase Bank customers.
Cost
| Broker Fees |
Stock/ETF
Commission |
Mutual Fund
Commission |
Options
Commission |
Maintenance
Fee |
Annual IRA
Fee |
|
Etrade
|
$0
|
$19.95
|
$0.65 per contract
|
$0
|
$0
|
|
Chase
|
$0
|
$0
|
$0.65 per contract
|
$0
|
$0
|
|
Ally Invest
|
$0
|
$9.95
|
$0.50 per contract
|
$0
|
$0
|
Services
| Broker Review |
Cost |
Investment Products |
Trading Tools |
Customer Service |
Research |
Overall Rating |
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Etrade
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Chase
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Ally Invest
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Promotions
Ally Invest:
Up to $3,000 cash bonus + $0 commission trades.
Etrade:
Get zero commission on stock and ETF trades.
Chase:
Get up to $625 when you fund a J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing account.
J.P. Morgan Chase Pros and Cons
J.P. Morgan Chase customers will find the following benefits:
- One login for brokerage and bank accounts
- Robo advisor option
But the broker-dealer has many weaknesses, including:
- Undeveloped software
- Short list of mutual funds
- Limited selection of tradable products
E*Trade Pros and Cons
At E*Trade, investors will find these highlights:
- Multiple trading platforms
- Large selection of investment vehicles
- Several managed account options
- Good customer service
There aren’t many downsides to E*Trade, although the firm has:
- No robo chat on its website
- Small number of branch locations
Category #1: Assets that Can Be Traded
E*Trade offers the following investment vehicles:
- Equities
- Bonds
- Mutual, closed-end, and exchange-traded funds
- Options
- Futures
- IPOs
Futures include both cryptocurrency futures and options on futures. The equity category includes both penny and OTC stocks.
Over at J.P. Morgan Chase, we found a smaller selection: the firm doesn’t offer futures or IPOs.
Winner: E*Trade
Category #2: Security Analysis
E*Trade customers will find many educational and research materials; they are located in multiple locations. Examples include:
- Security screeners with lots of search variables
- Bloomberg Business News
- Asset profiles with earnings summaries, financial statements, and much more
- Free stock reports in pdf format
J.P. Morgan Chase also has effective screeners. During our analysis, we found them helpful and easy to use. Other highlights the broker offers include:
- Morningstar style boxes and ratings
- Basic graphs with tools
- Trade recommendations from multiple analysts
- JPMorgan research
Winner: E*Trade
Category #3: Website Trading
E*Trade customers get a website with several useful tools. Charting is available with several gizmos, including a trackball. The firm’s order ticket has a discrete sell short button, and there are quite a few order types, including on-the-close orders.
For more advanced trading, the broker offers Power E*Trade, a browser platform. This comes with a lot of great features, including:
- Simulated trading mode
- Very sophisticated order ticket with lots of order types
- Full-screen charting
J.P. Morgan Chase doesn’t have a browser platform, but it does provide simple charting with some tools. Although there are some technical indicators, there is no full-screen mode. The broker’s order ticket offers a few order types and time-in-force choices.
Winner: E*Trade
Category #4: Desktop Software
If E*Trade clients don’t find Power to be quite powerful enough, they can upgrade to E*Trade Pro with a $1,000 account balance. This professional-level desktop platform has a steep learning curve but nevertheless delivers:
- Level II quotes
- Excellent option tools
- Multiple themes
- Charting with more than 100 technical studies
J.P. Morgan Chase has no desktop program.
Winner: E*Trade
Category #5: Mobile Apps
If you’re often away from your desk, each broker-dealer in this skirmish has a mobile app. Actually, E*Trade has two. Combined, they offer:
- Ability to trade options, futures, and mutual funds
- Mobile check deposit
- Level II quotes
- Charting in horizontal mode (with multiple tools)
- Streaming video news
Although it might be a little inconvenient to have more than one app, the second app is specially designed to be a trading app. It’s modeled after Power E*Trade.
J.P. Morgan Chase has just one app, and it tends to be on the simple side. For example, there is no horizontal mode on its charting program; although there are some good tools.
The app’s trade ticket provides multiple order types and duration choices. Besides mobile check deposit, there is also bill pay and funds transfer.
Winner: E*Trade
Category #6: Options Trading
Both firms in this evaluation provide trading in options, but only E*Trade offers multi-leg strategies. The Power platform delivers:
- Straddle
- Strangle
- Protective Put
- Condor
- Butterfly
- And more
Both Power and Pro offer many derivative tools, including:
- Greek values
- Strategy builder
- Profit-loss diagrams
During our testing, what we found really useful on Pro was a strategy optimizer that is able to offer trade ideas based on volatility, ticker symbol, and expiration date.
J.P. Morgan Chase customers can buy and sell calls and puts without any tools. The J.P. Morgan Chase site does provide open interest data, one of the few strengths.
Winner: E*Trade
Category #7: Other Services
Dividend Reinvestment Program: Both J.P. Morgan Chase and E*Trade provide free dividend reinvesting.
Automatic Mutual Fund Investing: Same story here.
Cash Management: You may think that J.P. Morgan Chase would have the better banking features in this contest, because, after all, it is owned by one of the largest banks in the world. But you would be wrong. J.P. Morgan Chase actually doesn’t provide any cash management tools. A deposit account with Chase Bank can be linked, but we like E*Trade Bank’s offerings better.
Investment Advice: Although both brokerage houses offer managed accounts, only E*Trade has old fashioned human advisors in addition to a digital program. Its traditional service includes stock investments, which J.P. Morgan Chase’s robot can’t handle.
IRAs: If you want to open an Individual Retirement Account, either E*Trade or J.P. Morgan Chase will work. The former has more IRA types than the latter.
Winner: E*Trade
Promotions
Ally Invest:
Up to $3,000 cash bonus + $0 commission trades.
Etrade:
Get zero commission on stock and ETF trades.
Chase:
Get up to $625 when you fund a J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing account.
Our Recommendations
Beginners: Both firms do a good job of providing learning materials on their websites. But only E*Trade offers 24/7 customer service, simulated trading, and branch locations. E*Trade is the easy choice.
Mutual Fund Traders: E*Trade has over 8,000 mutual funds, while J.P. Morgan Chase offers less than 4,000. Moreover, E*Trade offers fund recommendations.
Long-Term Investors and Retirement Savers: With E*Trade’s financial planning service, target-date mutual funds, and self-employed 401k plan, it gets the nod.
Small Accounts: Toss up.
Equity Traders: We pick E*Trade for its very excellent desktop program. Plus, Power is not bad by itself.
Broker Reviews
Go to JP Morgan Review
or to E*Trade Review
JP Morgan vs E*Trade: Results
Although JPMorgan Chase may be one of the biggest banks in the world, it is no match for E*Trade
in the investment space.
Anyone looking for the top-rated brokerage firm on the market
should go with TD Ameritrade
or read TD Ameritrade review.
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Disclaimer
INVESTMENT AND INSURANCE PRODUCTS ARE: NOT A DEPOSIT • NOT FDIC INSURED • NO BANK GUARANTEE • MAY LOSE VALUE
Chad Morris is a financial writer with more than 20 years experience
as both an English teacher and an avid trader. When he isn’t writing
expert content for Brokerage-Review.com, Chad can usually be found
managing his portfolio or building a new home computer.
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