I have had an Ameritrade account for over 5 years. In my opinion,
1) The Positives:
Trades are a flat $9.99, and unlike some other discount brokerages, there are no non-activity fees, or minimum balances (as far as I know). The website is relatively clean and easy to use, and trades are executed quite promptly.
2) The Negatives:
Sometimes due to heavy traffic, logging in and navigating the trading website can be a little slow. This doesn't happen often, but it does happen enough that I notice. The stock research reports they provide are not very extensive (Argus, S&P, Goldman Sachs are the main ones). Better than Scottrade ($7 trades), but worse than Fidelity. Customer service on the phone/email can be slow, and usually they are not that helpful (not rude, however). Withdrawing money from your account is a hassle, because you presently can't link withdrawals to your bank. You have to request and receive a check, which you then have to cash in at your bank. Their interest rates for sitting money are also Extremely low, something like 1-2%, if that.
I opened a Fidelity account because I value research (apparently #1 for discount brokerages) and Excellent customer service (extremely polite and helpful), which includes phone, email, and IM, which is great. Fidelity is expensive @ 17.99/trade, but if you have 50K, that drops to 10.99. Plus, you can link to your bank accounts.
So if you have 50K or trade very rarely, I recommend Fidelity. If not, Ameritrade or Scottrade is better, but don't expect perfection. I wouldn't consider ETrade, because even though they have convenient linking of bank/stock accounts, I hear they are extremely poor in customer service, and have a lot of fees/charges.
2007-02-22 23:46:36
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answer #1
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answered by sky2evan 3
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It is great. They are very afordable and they provide a lot of tools that help you research stocks...
2007-02-22 15:40:50
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answer #3
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answered by Anonymous
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