Zacks Trade Review
Zacks Trade is a great choice for advanced trading and professional-level software. Before opening an account, be sure to read the following review:
Accounts and Tradable Assets
At Zacks Trade, investors will discover a moderate range of asset classes. The broker offers stocks, options, cryptocurrencies, mutual funds, ETFs, closed-end funds, and fixed-income securities. Beyond the major American exchanges, there are also over-the-counter markets and some foreign exchanges, such as the London Stock Exchange. An account must be set up for international trading before it can actually trade on one of these foreign exchanges.
All Zacks Trade accounts are self-directed. There is no investment-advisory service. A brokerage account must have a tax category, and Zacks Trade provides several options, including joint, custodial, individual, trust, and retirement. It also accommodates professional traders, like proprietary trading groups and hedge funds.
Securities positions in a Zacks Trade account are covered by SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation) up to $500,000 per separate capacity.
Pricing
Zacks Trade focuses on day traders, which affects its pricing in various ways. First, trades do not have zero commissions. Second, there is a $15 monthly charge for accounts with under $25,000 in assets. Clients can avoid this inactivity fee by generating $15 or more in trading commissions each month. The minimum opening deposit is $250.
Every stock or ETF trade costs $0.01 per share with a $1 minimum, provided the stock is at least $1.00. Below that price, the commission is 1% of the trade value, with a $1 minimum.
Option trades cost $1 for the first contract and $0.75 per contract for each additional contract in the same trade. Exercises and assignments are free. Zacks Trade is among the few brokers that do not charge extra for trades placed through a live broker.
Crypto transactions have a $1.75 minimum and a maximum fee of 1% of the trade amount. Mutual funds cost $27.50 per transaction.
Because it is geared toward day traders, Zacks Trade has various market data bundles with different charges, depending on which package is chosen. There are no software fees.
Margin
As noted, Zacks Trade specializes in advanced trading, so it’s no surprise the broker offers margin accounts. Its rates are among the lowest in the business:
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Debit Balance
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Zackstrade Margin Rate
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$0 - $100,000
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8.83%
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$100,001 - $1,000,000
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8.33%
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$1,000,001 - $3,000,000
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8.08%
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$3,000,001+
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7.83%
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The Zacks Trade desktop platform, covered below, includes a margin calculator showing both current and post-trade margin requirements for hypothetical trades.
Besides regular margin, portfolio margin is also available at Zacks Trade.
Open ZacksTrade Account
Visit ZacksTrade Website
Banking Tools
Zacks Trade does not offer many cash-management services. There’s no debit card or FDIC-sweep program.
Website
Zacks Trade’s website is primarily for describing the broker’s trading services. It does have a login area that provides access to account management, funds transfers, and basic trading. Customers can download statements and tax forms, and there’s a portfolio-analysis tool that can create daily, monthly, or quarterly pdf reports.
For actual order placement, the website has charts with multiple styles, intra-day stats, several order types, and a few time-in-force settings.
Mobile App
Zacks Trade uses Interactive Brokers’ software for its customers. The app runs on Apple or Android phones and tablets. While charts naturally look better on a tablet, the same features exist on phones. These tools include:
- Multiple technical indicators
- Several chart styles
- Buy and sell buttons directly on the chart
On the order ticket, a small chart appears on the right side. Swiping left shows the chart previously viewed before reaching the ticket. The chart can be edited without returning to the main charting page.
The order form has several order types, including mid-price, limit, market if touched, and trailing. Key data like real-time bid and ask are at the top of the ticket.
Trading presets can be set on the order ticket by tapping the settings icon (three dots) in the upper-right corner. Examples of adjustable settings include time in force, trade size, and order type.
Beyond apps for phones and tablets, there’s also an Apple Watch app.
Desktop Program
Zacks Trade Pro, the broker’s desktop system, provides the most advanced trading resources. It’s compatible with Mac and Linux in addition to Windows.
A convenient starting point is in the lower-left corner, where you’ll see Classic and Mosaic layouts by default. You can create customized layouts and add them here. There’s also a Learn tab with a lot of educational content to guide you through this robust platform.
Classic and Mosaic share many of the same tools, though each has a slightly different format. You might notice small differences, like on the trade tickets. For instance, in Classic mode you’ll find a box to send only marketable orders to the best bid and offer, while Mosaic mode doesn’t have this. In either mode, you get a wide range of order types, such as:
- Mid-price
- Limit
- Pegged-to-Best
- Adaptive Algo
The charts in every layout come loaded with features. A right-click will show a menu with trade buttons (blue for buy). There are just two chart styles, yet the platform includes many technical studies, along with text fields and drawing tools.
Option traders will appreciate the strategy builder, where multi-leg spreads are already set up. The volatility lab provides color-coded charts and data on implied volatility, historical volatility, and open interest.
Because this software has a steep learning curve, a paper-trading mode is available and recommended.
Zacks Rank Trading Tool
For 36 years, Zacks Investment Research, Inc. has tracked hypothetical model portfolios of Zacks Rank #1 stocks. A hypothetical Zacks Rank #1 portfolio has outperformed the market in 29 of the past 36 years, averaging +24.15% annually, which is more than double the S&P 500’s +11.11%. These returns cover 1988 to 06/03/2023.
The Zacks Rank Trading Tool allows users to search Zacks Rank #1 stocks by industry, theme, or sector. Clients can buy and sell these stocks straight from the tool in their Zacks Trade account.
A $250 minimum (account balance or initial deposit) is required to access the Zacks Rank Trading Tool.
Open ZacksTrade Account
Visit ZacksTrade Website
Day Trading
With a monthly fee for accounts under $25,000, Zacks Trade is clearly focused on day traders. Here’s how it performs in important areas:
Leverage: Day traders can use up to 4:1 leverage, and that can be raised to 6:1 with portfolio margin.
Extended Hours: Zacks Trade supports pre-market and after-hours trading for most securities. Cryptocurrencies can be traded continuously.
Level II quotes: The broker provides Level II data on U.S. and foreign exchanges.
Direct-access routing: Orders can be sent to a specific exchange or market, including some non-U.S. ones.
Shorting: Shorting is allowed, and the software shows how many shares of a specific ticker are available to short.
Bracket orders: On the desktop platform, an opening order can include both take-profit and stop-loss instructions.
Customer Service
Previously, Zacks Trade had a live chat tool on its site, but that’s now gone. There isn’t a bot chat, either. The company does have an email address (support@zackstrade.com), though this is slower.
For urgent matters, phone support is available during Zacks’ business hours (9:00 am to 6:00 pm, EST). Zacks Trade has no branch offices.
Additional Services
Initial Public Offerings: Not offered.
DRIP Service: Zacks Trade does provide dividend reinvesting, but it charges for this.
Fractional-share Trading: Not available for stocks or ETFs, though cryptocurrencies can be traded in fractional amounts.
IRA Service: Zacks Trade offers Traditional, Inherited (both Roth and Traditional), Roth, SEP, and Rollover IRAs. The Rollover is only available as a Traditional account.
Fully-Paid Stock Lending: Not offered.
ZacksTrade Review Final Verdict
For high-powered global trading, Zacks Trade is undoubtedly a strong contender.
Open ZacksTrade Account
Visit ZacksTrade Website
Updated on 3/17/2025.
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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