List of Stock Brokerage Firms
We used a five-star-based rating system to rate companies in the discount stock brokers list above. The best brokerage firms would
get the highest, five-star rating. In 2020 not a single firm got five stars, however six brokers were rated at four and half stars. Any brokerage house
with two- or one-star rating should be avoided. Three-star rated firm is perfectly fine, but there are, probably, better options for investors
to consider. All companies with three and half stars and higher are recommended for at least one category of investors.
Every online brokerage firm on the list above has its strengths and weaknesses. It might be ideal for one customer and at the same time might not work
for someone else. Before opening an account, there are a lot of parameters to consider besides commissions, well-known brokerage name, and pretty website.
Some of the most important of these parameters are surcharges and fees; friendliness to client's knowledge level (perhaps one is a beginner? or needs
a professional-level trading platform?); availability of investment products a client wants to buy (for example forex, futures, or NTF mutual funds) as well
as availability of online community, virtual trading, and discounts. We suggest to investors to take a time to read brokerage reviews, and see for themselves
if a particular firm is the right fit.
Some online brokers on the list above allow clients to open an account with $0 down. Investors should take this
opportunity and open few brokerage accounts, and see which one they like the most. This will also allow
investors to take advantage of unique and valuable features that some companies provide at no charge. For
example, Ally Invest
offers lots of great trading tools, low mutual funds commission, and $0 minimum to open an account. If a client
decides to invest, the firm has hard-to-beat $0 commission on stocks and ETFs. With
TD Ameritrade
there is also $0 minimum to open an account, and a client will get an amazing selection of independent,
third-party investment research, best trading platform on the market, free Level 2 quotes, and a generous
promotion offer. There are no inactivity or maintenance fees to worry about - everything is free.
The list of stock brokerage firms is updated throughout the year. TradeMonster, MB Trading and Scottrade were removed from the table above,
since they got acquired and merged into Etrade, Ally Invest and TD Ameritrade respectively. In addition to keeping stock brokerage companies
list current we also update broker's rating and pricing, which are often correlated.
All companies mentioned in this article are members of SIPC and FINRA, which means that they have to follow strict government rules and regulations,
and their client accounts are insured (similar to bank accounts FDIC insurance) in case of brokerage company failure for up to $500,000 ($250,000 cash).
If you know an online stock trading company not in the list right now but should be included, please contact us.
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