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ETrade vs. Scottrade - Compare ETrade | Compare Scottrade

If you are interested in stock trading or are an experienced trader who is maybe looking to transfer brokers, two of the online brokers you will want to look at are ETrade and Scottrade. To find out how they match up, take a look at this comparison of Scottrade vs. ETrade.

Also look at the chart below to compare ETrade and compare Scottrade to other top online brokers. The chart includes a comparison of trading fees as well as ratings from respected third party publications, listed with the lowest cost broker first.
Go Directly to the ETrade vs. Scottrade Comparison Chart

Compare Scottrade vs. ETrade

Scottrade Costs:
-  Cost Per Trade: $7.00 flat-rate
-  Additional Trading Fees: For stocks priced under $1.00, add 1/2% of the principal value to the commission
-  Account Minimum Balance: $500
-  Broker Assisted Trades: $27.00
-  Account Maintenance Fees: None
-  Cancellation Fees: None

Scottrade Service Offerings:
-  Investment Products: A deep offering of investment products including IRAs, mutual funds, CDs, bonds
   of all types, ETFs and options
-  Trading Tools: Highly rated trading tools and screening tools plus mobile trading capabilities
-  Customer Service: Highly rated customer service that has earned it the J.D. Power and Associates
   award for “Highest in Investor Satisfaction”
-  Foreign markets: Offers trading in 20 markets
-  Research: Offers research data from S&P, Dow Jones News and Market Edge
-  Banking: Limited offerings of Banking services
-  Local branch offices - Yes

Scottrade will reimburse account transfer fees
 up to $100
charged by another broker when you
transfer your account of $10,000 or more.


Open a Scottrade Account Today!
Scottrade


Compare ETrade vs. Scottrade

ETrade Costs:
-  Cost Per Trade: Tiered from $9.99 to $7.99 based on number of trades/quarter
-  Additional Trading Fees: None
-  Account Minimum Balance: $2,000
-  Broker Assisted Trades: $45.00
-  Account Maintenance Fees: $40 per quarter, but waived with any level of trading
-  Account Transfer Fee: $60.00

ETrade Service Offerings:
-  Investment Products: 7,000 Mutual funds, all ETF’s that are sold, and over 30,000 bonds
-  Trading Tools: Highly rated trading platform for stocks, options, futures plus mobile phone trading
-  Foreign Market Trading: Yes in 24 countries and 30 foreign exchanges
-  Research Tools: Free research from S&P, Thompson Reuters and MarketEdge
-  Banking Services: Includes Checking & Savings plus mortgages
-  Local branch offices - Yes

Trade free up to 60 days and get up to $500 cash credits - Open a new account with at least $2,000 deposit. Accounts opened with $250,000 or more will receive $500.

Open an E-Trade Account Today!


 Comparison Chart - Compare ETrade / Compare Scottrade

Online Broker Trading Fees /
Account Minimums
Service Quality
Recognitions
Summary of
Broker Comparison
Overall Rating = 4.5 Stars

4.5 Stars

More About OptionsHouse

OptionsHouse 
5 Stars

$3.95 per trade

=============

No Account Minimum
(Fund your account
with any amount) 
                  4 Stars

Barron's
* Overall Rating of "4 Stars" in 2010
* Rated "Best" for Options Traders
   in 2009 and 2010.
* Awarded "4 Stars" for Trade
   Experience, Research Amenities
   and Customer Service & Education
 

- Very low-cost stock trading.

- High-end trading platform has advanced tools for options traders.

- Offers "virtual trading" to practice trading at no risk.

Overall Rating = 5 Stars

5 Stars

More About TradeKing

TradeKing
5 Stars

$4.95 per trade*

=============

No Account Minimum
(Fund your account
with any amount)
                5 Stars

 SmartMoney WSJ Magazine

* Rated # 5 discount broker in 2010
* Rated "Best" in Customer Service
* Rated #4 Overall Broker in 2009

Barron's "Top-Rated" among web-based brokers

- Best combination of low cost trading and high customer service ratings.

- No upcharge for broker-assisted trades.

- Strong in educational materials.

Overall Rating = 4 Stars

4 Stars

More About Scottrade

Scottrade
 
4 Stars

$7.00 per trade***

=============

$500 Account Minimum 
              4 Stars

SmartMoney WSJ Magazine

* Rated #6 discount broker in 2010

J.D. Power and Associates
* Rated highest in Investor
   Satisfaction with Self-Directed
   Services" in 2008
 
- Offers competitive pricing and is solid in most rating categories.

- Targets the experienced trader with foreign market trading, local branch offices and investment products. 
Overall Rating = 4 Stars

4 Stars

More About E-Trade

E-Trade
3 Stars

Tiered from
$9.99-$7.99

per trade**

=============

$2,000 Account Minimum
              5 Stars

SmartMoney WSJ Magazine

* Rated #2 discount broker in 2010
* Rated "Best" in Banking Services
* Rated #1 Overall Broker in 2009


Barron's Received 4 of 5 stars in ranking of the best online brokers.
- One of the highest rated online brokers in most categories.

- Mid-tier pricing but sophisticated traders are willing to pay extra.
Overall Rating = 4 Stars

4 Stars

More About Schwab

Schwab
3 Stars

$8.95 per trade

=============

$1,000 Account Minimum
             5 Stars

SmartMoney WSJ Magazine

* Rated #4 discount broker in 2010
* Rated "Best" in Research

J.D. Power and Associates
* Rated highest in Investor
   Satisfaction with Self-Directed
   Services" in 2009
- Targets the the investor with mutual funds, bonds, banking services and branch offices.

- Pricing is competitive with other high-end online broker category.
Overall Rating = 3.5 Stars

3.5 Stars

More About TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade
3 Stars

$9.99 per trade

=============

$2,000 Account Minimum
              4 Stars

SmartMoney WSJ Magazine

* Rated #3 discount broker in 2010
* Ranked "Best" in quality of
   trading tools in 2009
- High ratings for investment products and research capabilities and middle of the pack customer service ratings.

- Offers multiple types of trading platforms and are a broker for most advanced traders.

Information on Added Costs Per Trade

  *    TradeKing - $4.95 per trade except add $0.01 per share for stocks priced $1.00 or less. $100 minimum per order
        in OTCBB and Pink Sheet stocks.
 **   ETrade - Per Trade pricing tiered from $9.99 to $7.99 based on number of trades per quarter
***  Scottrade - $7.00 per trade except for stocks priced under $1, add ½% of the principal value. Most foreign and
       pink sheet stocks must be traded with broker assistance for a $27 commission.

About this Online Broker Comparison Chart

This Online Broker Comparison Chart looks at the most prominent online brokers from the perspective of a new trader or beginning trader. While there are many ways to compare online brokers, including availability of investment products, banking services or sophistication of its trading platform, a beginner especially should be concerned at first with cost factors and overall service quality ratings.

Cost Factors

In order to get a complete view of total cost when you compare online brokers, look at all factors including trading fees (the cost to the trader for executing a single trade, whether a "buy" or "sell" trade. This can be misleading at first because buying a stock and then later selling it involves two trades. So a broker with $5.00 per trade fee will cost you $10.00 to buy and sell. A broker with a $10.00 per trade fee will cost you $20.00. After you sell a stock is when you determine your profit or loss and these fees must be included in your accounting. When you compare online brokers, there are also some "additional" fees that are charged based on specific types of trades and these are outlined in the broker comparison chart above. "Per Trade" fees may also vary depending upon the number or volume of trades executed over a defined time period, with lower fees charged as trading volume increases. A "Flat-Rate" broker is one that charges the same "per trade" fee regardless of the type of trade or the volume of trades executed over a defined time period.

"Minimum Balance" and "Required Funding Amounts" are not a cost to you, but they take money out of your pocket and are a factor to be considered. One broker may require a minimum balance be in your account in order to maintain it while another may have no minimum balance. When you are setting up your account, this could mean the difference between depositing $400 into your trading account because that is what you want to start with, or having to deposit $2,500 in your account. A beginning trader may not want to deposit that much into their account initially, so that can be an important decision criteria when selecting your trading broker. The broker comparison includes these costs for you to compare brokers with complete information.

Quality Factors

An online broker's service quality is also important when you compare brokers. There is a broad range of quality across these brokers, but it is hard to determine these without direct experience. This online broker review, therefore, relies on the broker comparison ratings given by established and highly regarded financial publications including SmartMoney - The Wall Street Journal Magazine, Barron's, J.D. Power and Associates. These publications conduct annual broker reviews rating the brokers across a variety of service factors including the quality of customer support.

Since these publications conduct these trading broker reviews each year, there is a year-over-year comparative capability. This means that you can not only use their rating for the current year, but you can also see how that rating has changed since previous years. This can give you a good idea of how that broker is trending and areas where they are improving their service.

Broker Comparison Star Rating

This review is primarily fact-based, reporting the brokers pricing schedule and fees policies and ratings given by the named publications. Based on the totality of the Cost Factors and the Quality Factors, a star rating is given to summarize that particular online broker's performance in that category relative to its competitors. The overall star rating can be used to directly compare online brokers by combining the Cost and Quality Factor ratings, using equal weighting (50% given to each) to arrive at a summary rating that can be used to choose a broker you want to open a trading account with.

Return to the home page to continue to compare online brokers.

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