Stock Brokerage Reviews » cheap commissions

100 Free Trade With OptionsHouse

ashivapu — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:00:09 +0000

OptionsHouse has steadily been growing under the radar. While options still come first, the flat $2.95 commissions per stock trade is awfully hard to ignore.

See our full review of OptionsHouse.

In order to the larger customer base with various trading styles OptionsHouse has developed a new, tiered pricing structure that provides customers with the flexibility to choose the rate that works best for them. Now all customers will have a low, competitive rate that will maximize the way they trade and provide them with the best overall value.

5 for $5 Option Trades

Catering to customers who generally trade less than 10 option contracts per leg, “5 for $5”, single-leg trades will be $5.00 for up to 5 contracts. The per-contract charge, for additional contracts, on this plan is $1.00. With the “5 for $5” plan customers who currently trade up to 5 contracts at OptionsHouse will see reduced pricing of 50%. Learn more.

$8.50 Option Trades

The other plan caters to the customer, who routinely trades more than 10 contracts per leg. In this plan, single-leg trades are $8.50, plus 15 cents per contract. Even with these new rates OptionsHouse continues to be a leader in the industry on low pricing for larger orders. Learn more.

100 Commission-Free Stock or Options Trade

New customers can take advantage of the free 100 trades until December 31, 2009. Learn more about OptionsHouse’s complete list of rates.

SOGOTRADE Review – Low Discount Broker

ashivapu — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:29:14 +0000

At its best SOGOTRADE is a stripped down version of all the core resources and tools you need to properly trade stocks. There are no bells and whistles here; however, you’re rewarded with extremely cheap commissions.

Besides the cheap trade commissions, most people seem to be raving about the overall interface involved with their web service and helpful customer service. A clean organized interface helps you easily conduct trades, while minimizing the time needed.

Deals and Offers

SOGOTRADE will cover up to $100 worth of fees if you want to transfer your account to them.
Open your account with a minimum of $500 and get 30 free trades.
Open account with minimum of $2500 and get free 1 year subscription to McAfee Virus Scan.
Get 25 free trades when you refer a friend.

Stock Brokerage Details

Commissions: Stocks $3 per trade; Options $3 plus $0.70 per contract.

Account Minimums: $0 and no inactivity fees ($500 initial deposit required)

Overall, SOGOTRADE is still a brokerage that needs to grow and expand some more. The tools and resources available don’t really enhance the trading experience; however, the cheap commissions and amazing deals makes it a great option for cheap online stock trading.

Best Stock Brokerage For Active Traders

ashivapu — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:21:46 +0000

While there are various classifications for what makes somebody an active trader, for this purpose, we are considering traders who execute multiple trades in a week. The deciding factor for most active traders is how low are the commissions.

Active traders are looking to quickly enter and exit stocks, obviously the higher the commissions, the longer they might have to hold on to make the trade worth playing. The following stock brokerages have been considered best for active traders because of their low commissions and ability to get security prices at low values. Also, check out how to lower your commissions with your current brokerage.

The following is a chart of the best online discount stock brokerages for active stock traders.

Broker	Commissions (stocks/options)	Acct. Minimum	Best For
OptionsHouse	$2.95 / $9.95	$1000	Everybody
MB Trading	Direct: $.01 per share for first 500 shares and $.005 per share for unlimited additional shares ($1 min) Smart: $4.95 for up to 10,000 shares and $.005 for additional.	$1000	Active Traders
Interactive Brokers	varies/cheap	$10,000	Active Traders
SOGOTRADE	$3/$3+0.70 per contract.	$500	Cheap Trades

Check out a complete list of our stock brokerage reviews.

Want to take your trading to the next level? Learn how to use technical analysis to accurately predict price movement.

How To Lower Your Broker Commissions

ashivapu — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:44:50 +0000

Regardless of whether you are an active trader, new trader, long-term trader, or whatever type of trader, we would all like the lowest commissions possible; however, because of varying factors and needs we can’t all experience those low fees. That being said, there is a simple yet effective technique to lowering your broker commissions without having to switch to another.

Just like any bank, the fact is that brokerages need your money more than you need them. With many brokers offering to pay most if not all of your transfer fees to switch to them, there are obviously more options for traders today and more pressure on brokerages to keep their customers satisfied.

A simple but effective technique to have your current brokerage lower you commissions is to simply call them up and ask them. Especially, in this economy, brokerages need every bit of business they can get. So if one brokerage is not ready to offer you a commission reduction, then another will.

Let your brokerage know that you are ready to take your money somewhere else because they are offering lower commissions. If you are fortunate enough, then your current brokerage will lower your commissions, and, if not, then at least you tried and you can proceed to take your money somewhere else or just stay put.

Now we must use some common sense here. If you have less than $1000 in your account and only execute a few trades a year, then odds of getting your commissions lowered are probably not likely. On the other hand, it never hurts to try.

People often overlook that fact that brokerage need your business more than you need them. By simply calling them up and voicing any problems you have, often times you may be surprised with the positive outcome.

Check out a list of online stock brokerages with naturally cheap commissions.

Zecco Review – Free Online Stock Trading

ashivapu — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 03:26:25 +0000

While Zecco has been on the scene for just a couple of years, their initial 100% free stock trading basically changed the entire game for all online stock brokerages and has drastically lowered the barrier for more people to enter the stock market.

Understandably, as Zecco started to grow and increase its members count, the 100% free online trading is not what it truly used to be. Now members are eligible to get 10 free trades per month as long as they maintain a balance of $25,000 or execute 25 trades in a month. Any other trade is still reasonably low compared to other stock brokerages at $4.95 per trade.

All that being said, Zecco still has room to improve when it comes to the tools and applications that it provides; however, you need to weigh whether you would rather have the cheap commissions or more sophisticated tools.

Talk to other members. Thanks to ZeccoShare now members can discuss and share trading ideas with each other for free. Have a question? Post it on the message boards.

Now trade Forex. Just recently Zecco launched their new Forex service along with a virtual platform to practice Forex trading without risking any money.

Stock Brokerage Details

Commissions: Stocks $4.50 flat-rate; Options $4.50 plus .50 per contract

Account Minimums: $0

Overall, what Zecco lacks in available tools and resources makes up for in the extremely cheap trading commissions. Whether you are a new trader or just somebody looking to cut down on commissions cost, Zecco is worth giving it a try.

TradeKing Review – Fair And Simple Pricing

ashivapu — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:58:39 +0000

Ranked number 1 in customer service by SmartMoney in 2008, number 1 Discount Broker by SmartMoney in 2007 and received 4 stars by Barron in both 2007 and 2008 along with 5 stars from Kiplinger’s in 2008, TradeKing has won its fair share of awards and accolades over the years.

Fair and simple pricing. What makes TradeKing such an enticing discount stock brokerage is their simple pricing, with some of the lowest in the industry. Best of all there are no strange requirements or forms to fill in order to use them.

Social network twist. Members of TradeKing gain access to their unique trader network. See what other members are trading and why or check out other users’ portfolios and performances. You can also establish your own blog or peruse through others’.

Enough tools to keep you satisfied. TradeKing boasts a good amount of tools and platforms to perform your stock research. Their usability is also clean and organized, so any novice or stock junkie will be satisfied. Use their stock screener or chart platform.

Stock Brokerage Details

Commissions: Stocks $4.95 per trade; Options $4.95 plus $0.65 per contract.

Account Minimums: $0

Overall, TradeKing’s combination of cheap commissions, social network feel, and easy usability makes it a suitable solution for most traders; however, more experienced and aggressive active traders may prefer other options.

Interactive Brokers Review – The Ultimate Stock Brokerage

ashivapu — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:24:40 +0000

First off, if you are not an experienced and active trader and not trading over $10,000, then check out other stock brokerage reviews. Only the real traders come to play at Interactive Brokers.

Interactive Brokers is home to many professional and institutional brokers. With this stock brokerage, you can trade stocks, options, futures, FOREX, bonds, funds, and foreign markets.

What makes Interactive Brokers enticing is their extremely low commissions. Because the company does everything in house they are able to carry that over to their low prices. That being said, low prices also equals not the best customer support and tools. Again, that is why Interactive Brokers is really a good solution for just experienced traders.

Trading platform can be tested before signing up.

Stock Brokerage Details

Commissions: Because most IB users are trading larger volumes, commission structure varies. See chart here.

Account Minimums: $10,000. 21 or younger is $3,000

Fees: Interactive Brokers does want its users to perform a certain amount of trades per month. Failure to do so results in inactivity fees. See detailed chart here.

Overall, Interactive Brokers is good for only those traders that are experienced, do not need much support or tools, and able to really trade over $10,000. While it seems like a lot of requirements, traders that are able to meet them will experience extremely low commissions for the volume traded.

Experience institutional-type commissions and access when you sign up with Interactive Brokers.

MB Trading Review – Voted Best For Active Traders

ashivapu — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:43:01 +0000

Recently rated 4.5 stars out of 5 by Barron’s Online Broker Survey, MB Trading was also voted best in 2009 for active traders.

Unlike brokerages such as E*Trade and TD Ameritrade, MB Trading is more of a pure trading brokerage, with the ability to trade stocks, futures, options, and forex, that makes it a great solution for actives traders.

Tools that cover any type of platform. What was once their weakness, MB Trading has gained several awards on their variety of trading applications which include, a streaming platform, PC-based platform, and mobile application for the BlackBerry.

Stock Brokerage Details

Commissions: Stocks $0.005 per share or $4.95 flat rate; Options $0.95 per contract; Futures $0.95 per contract; Forex $0.50 per $10,000 traded

Account Minimums: $1000

Overall, MB Trading offers competitive commission fees to entice most active traders and tools to satisfy the self-directed trader; however, if you are a fairly new trader or non-active trader, then you might consider another option.

Experience cheap commissions when you sign up for a MB Trading account.

OptionsHouse Review – Flat Commissions. Cheap Prices

ashivapu — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:32:18 +0000

Who? Odds are that you have never heard of this discount stock brokerage before; however, after this review you might want to get more familiar.

OptionsHouse is backed by PEAK6 Investments, and was recently ranked number 1 in trade experience by Barron’s 2009 Online Broker Survey. If you have never heard of PEAK6, they are a powerhouse in the world of options trading; however, that does not mean you cannot trade stocks with them…

In fact, OptionsHouse stock trading commissions are some of the lowest in the industry at a flat rate of $2.95.

Not ready to trade real money? OptionsHouse also boast a unique virtual trading platform that will allow you to practice your trading skills all without risking any real money. There are also free webinars scheduled roughly every week that are lead by some traders with over decades of experience.

Stock Brokerage Details

Commissions: Stocks $2.95 flat-rate; Options $9.95 flat-rate

Account Minimums: $1000

Account Types: Individual , Corporate, Roth IRAs, Sep IRAs, Traditional IRAs, Joint , UTMA/UGMA , Trusts, Partnerships, Investment Clubs, and Educational IRAs.

Don’t Like Your Current Broker: OptionsHouse will reimburse any transfer fees up to $100.

Overall, while OptionsHouse is best used for options trading, their extremely low commissions make it an enticing discount stock brokerage for self-directed traders looking to cut their commissions costs down.

Take advantage of these extremely low commission rates and sign up for an OptionsHouse trading account.