The online brokerage account you use to trade stocks and exchange-traded funds can have a big impact on your investment expenses and trading capabilities. Whether your goal is to lower costs such as trade commissions or gain access to better research or a larger selection of asset classes, NerdWallet researched the options to find the best available. Here are our picks, divided by category to help you quickly find the right online broker for you.
The best overall online brokers
These brokers have no inactivity fees or account minimum. They offer advanced trading platforms, a breadth of research and access to a wide range of investments.
- Provides low commissions and superior trading tools, particularly for options traders. See our OptionsHouse review.
- Commission: $4.95 per trade
- Account minimum: $0
- Promotion: Trade free for 60 days
- Provides top-tier research and two powerful trading platforms available to all customers. See our TD Ameritrade review.
- Commission: $9.99 per trade
- Account minimum: $0
- Promotion: Up to $600 cash bonus
Both OptionsHouse and TD Ameritrade offer strong customer support, advanced trading platforms with no balance or trade minimums, and an impressive amount of research. TD Ameritrade’s trade commissions are on the high side, but many traders find their first-class trading platforms, Trade Architect and thinkorswim, worth that higher cost. The broker also offers a large selection of no-transaction-fee mutual funds and commission-free ETFs. Although OptionsHouse fails to offer either, it has very competitive commissions for stock, ETF and options trades.
The best low-cost online brokers
In addition to top pick OptionsHouse — a strong deep-discount broker — these brokers are formidable choices for fee-conscious investors. They both offer rock-bottom commissions, but investors won’t sacrifice much in the way of tools and investment selection.
- Frequent traders benefit from volume discounts and one of the best trading platforms available. See our Interactive Brokers review.
- Commission: $0.005 per share; minimum $1 and maximum 0.5% of trade value
- Account minimum: $10,000 ($5,000 for IRAs)
- Promotion: Lower minimum activity and balance requirements for clients 25 or younger
- Offers an impressive trading platform and depth of research paired with low commissions. See our TradeKing review.
- Commission: $4.95 per trade
- Account minimum: $0
- Promotion: NerdWallet exclusive offer: New accounts earn a $200 cash bonus
Stripped-down apps like Robinhood offer commission-free trading. But for investors who want more, TradeKing and Interactive Brokers prove that it’s possible to pair low commissions with advanced features. Both companies score high for their trading platforms and investment selection. TradeKing falls a bit short by not offering futures trading, but the broker has a $0 minimum deposit requirement and lower inactivity fees when compared with Interactive Brokers. Frequent traders will pay less in commissions at Interactive Brokers. It offers volume discounts but requires traders to meet monthly activity minimums and maintain a $10,000 balance.
The best online brokers for beginners
These brokers have around-the-clock customer service, a large number of commission-free ETFs and low or no account minimums.
- Offers a breadth of educational content and no inactivity fees. See our TD Ameritrade review.
- Commission: $9.99 per trade
- Account minimum: $0
- Promotion: Up to $600 cash bonus
- Gives investors access to one of the largest selections of commission-free ETFs. See our Charles Schwab review.
- Commission: $8.95 per trade
- Account minimum: $1,000
- Promotion: 500 commission-free trades
If you’re new to the markets and looking to dabble in a little trading, you may value handholding over fancy tools, research or even low fees. You want to be able to pick up the phone — or visit a branch — and talk to someone who can walk you through your choices. With these brokers, you can do that (though making a trade through a broker, rather than online, will generally cost extra). They also both offer a wide selection of commission-free ETFs and no-transaction fee mutual funds, as well as educational content to help you gain your footing. Charles Schwab often waives its $1,000 account minimum for investors who agree to auto-deposits of at least $100 a month.
The best online brokers for research
These brokers offer a depth of high-quality research alongside reasonable commissions.
- Leads the pack in terms of research offerings, with reports from more than 20 firms. See our Fidelity review.
- Commission: $7.95 per trade
- Account minimum: $2,500 ($0 for IRAs)
- Promotion: 300 commission-free trades
- Provides a breadth of research from well-respected providers alongside its own offering. See our Merrill Edge review.
- Commission: $6.95 per trade
- Account minimum: $0
- Promotion: Up to $600 cash bonus
Research is key to stock trading, and Merrill Edge and Fidelity both stand out here. Fidelity is unmatched among online brokers for offering research from more than 20 providers. Merrill Edge features Morningstar, S&P Capital IQ and Recognia, plus mutual fund reviews from Morningstar and Lipper. Better still, research is free at both brokers, which also charge mid-range commissions.
Best online brokers for investment selection
Clients of these brokers can trade a number of asset types, including futures and foreign exchange.
- Offers a large investment selection with reasonable commissions and fees. See our E-Trade review.
- Commission: $9.99 per trade, volume discounts available
- Account minimum: $500
- Promotion: Up to $600 cash bonus
- Offers a large investment selection with significant discounts for high-volume traders. See our OptionsXpress review.
- Commission: $8.95 per trade
- Account minimum: $0
- Promotion: $100 cash bonus
E-Trade and OptionsXpress both offer stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, options, futures and forex trading, alongside powerful trading platforms that advanced traders will appreciate. Be sure to compare trading costs for the investments you plan to trade most frequently: For example, futures trading at E-Trade is slightly cheaper at $2.99 per contract (compared with $3.50 at OptionsXpress), but high-volume options traders will save money at OptionsXpress. E-Trade also offers a large selection of no-transaction-fee mutual funds, while OptionsXpress has none — but that broker scores higher marks for its extensive selection of commission-free ETFs.
Arielle O’Shea is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: aoshea@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @arioshea.
from NerdWallet
http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/investing/best-online-brokers-for-stock-trading/
They are the most qualified individuals that you can contact when you are starting to trade on the Forex market. The most important thing to find is their track record. XAUUSD Brokers
ReplyDeleteBitcoin is a sort of crypto-currency that has revolutionized the online financial market. In terms of finance, this is an incredibly innovating concept. The Bitcoin currency value is determined by an algorithm, and everything is transparent for everyone involved, so no one has any surprises. referral code
ReplyDelete