Best Discount Stock Brokers
I know how much time it can take to find the right online broker, so I have looked round all the major discount stock brokers and spoke to a few of them on the phone to find out all of their charges.
I don't know about you, but I really hate hidden charges, so i've deliberately not included these, as they really get up my nose. If you use any of the online stock brokers below and find there are any hidden charges, I would be very grateful if you could drop me a line and let me know.
| Broker | Cost Per Trade | Min Account Size | Inactivity Fees | Broker Assisted Trades | Margin Rates |
| OptionsHouse | $2.95 | None | None | $2.95 | 4.45% |
| Zecco | $4.50 or FREE* | None | None | $19.99 | 7.20% |
| TradeKing | $4.95 | None | None | $4.95 | 6.50% |
| Scottrade | $7 | $500 | None | $27 | 7.50% |
| tradeMONSTER | $7.50 | $1,000 | None | $7.50 | 7.50% |
| OptionsXpress | $9.95 | None | None | $9.95 | 6.25% |
Optionshouse was established in 2006. They are one of the best online brokers I have come across. They offer good support via liveperson or over the phone. They even give you $25 if you fund your account using a bank wire transfer, which should cover any bank fees you incur and allows you to get trading quickly.
Optionshouse may be of particular interest if you regularly trade on margin. They have a considerably lower margin rates than any other of the major discount brokers. Currently the margin rate is just 4.45%. This is the cheapest i've seen recently.
Open an account with OptionsHouse
Zecco was established in 2006 and is now well known for offering free stock trades. This brokerage offers traders 10 free stock per month on account balances over $25,000. They offer smaller accounts 10 free if you make more than 25 paid trades per month. After the free trades, they charge a highly competitive $4.50 per trade. There is also no minimum account size with zecco.
TradeKing has been around since 2005. They have become very popular in recent years, probably due to their competitive pricing. They have no inactivity fees and no account minimums. They also offer broker assisted trades for the same cost.
As a promotion they are currently offering to reimburse up to $150 in transfer fees that your old broker might charge when you switch to TradeKing.
Scottrade is a well established broker that offers fairly competitive pricing at $7 per stock trade. They also have a fairly low account minimum of $500. This deep discount broker also has no account maintenance or inactivity fees. Scottrade won the award for "#1 for Customer Loyalty 2009" by Brand Keys.
OptionsXpress is a long established broker founded in late 2000. This online broker lets you trade just about every instrument imaginable under one platform and account including stocks, forex, futures, options, ETFs and even mutual funds.
Open an account with OptionsXpress
Privacy Policy Affiliate Disclosure View Sitemap