tradeMONSTER Review

I have seen tradeMONSTER around for a while now, but never looked into them until just recently. I’ve learned that they opened for business in 2008 making them a relatively new broker. Let’s get straight down to what really matters and look at the costs of trading with them and any hiddens fees that there might be.

Firstly they charge $7.50 per stock trade, this includes ETFs. This is fairly competitive but over 50% higher than Zecco. Options cost $0.50 per contract, this is very competitive and about as cheap as it gets. They charge an extra $15 per trade for broker assisted trades, ouch.

Some other tradeMONSTER costs include:

Futures: $1.50 per contract
Mutual Funds: $15 to buy, $0 to sell
Bonds: $15 (Municipal, Corporate, Agency, Treasury)
1.5 cents per share surcharge on extended hours trades
$0.0005 per share on stocks priced less than $1.00

I was pleased to discover tradeMONSTER Introducing tradeMONSTER. No minimums, no inactivity fees, real-time streaming quotes and charts. do not have any inactivity or account maintanence fees. This is important as these fees can very quickly add up, and eat away at your profits. Something else that really got my attention about this stock broker is that they offer no fee IRAs. So if your look for an individual retirement account, tradeMONSTER might be the perfect choice.

Account Opening

When I opened an account with tradeMONSTER Introducing tradeMONSTER. No minimums, no inactivity fees, real-time streaming quotes and charts. I found the process with quick and easy. It took about 10 minutes or so to complete.

The ACH transfer setup requires verification. They make a couple of deposits to your bank account that you need to verify with them. This took two days. Many other brokers I have used offer immediate funding. I found the delay was mildly annoying, but maybe i’m just being picky.

Account Minimum

You need to deposit a minimum of $2,000 to open an account with tradeMONSTER. This is not an issue for many traders, but not ideal if you are just starting out and do not have a large amount of disposable income to invest or it’s your first time buying stocks.

Customer Support

I tested out their customer support on two seperate occassions. The customer support departent responded within a few hours by email, and the response was helpful each time. I also spoke to them on the phone, I got through quickly and spoke to an intelligent and helpful representitive every time. This is critical when considering what stock broker you should use. It is particularly annoying to discover that your broker lacks in the customer service department after you need their assistance. There is no live person support which was mildly annoying.

Trading community

tradeMONSTER have a vibrant trading community where you can share your experiences with other traders. I always feel this is a big plus.

So in a nutshell the pluses are:

Reasonable trading costs
No fee IRAs
A vibrant trading community
Good support
Competitve margin rates
No extra fees for penny stocks

and the negatives:

Trades cost more than competitors such as Zecco
$2000 minimum
Penny stock surcharge

Conclusion

To conclude this tradeMONSTER Introducing tradeMONSTER. No minimums, no inactivity fees, real-time streaming quotes and charts. review, i’d say that on balance they are quite a good broker. If you are more a buy and hold investor and want a good solid broker, I would say they are a good choice. If you are looking for a place for your IRA, i’d also say they are a good choice.

However, if you make a lot of small trades, the trading costs would be significantly more than Zecco.

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