A question about brokers

Can anyone suggest a good online broker for me in case I should decide to change brokers. Do they have a good trading platform? Can you get level 2 quotes, what do they charge in commissions? Is their telephone support good? etc.

Thanks

Saul

Saul,

I’ve been using Tradeking and have been pretty happy with them. They have a flat 4.95 commission on trades with an additional penny per share if you are trading stocks under 2 dollars. I haven’t used the phone support but I have used their live chat several times and it’s always been very easy and I’ve gotten whatever issue I had resolved.

I’d never heard of level two quotes until I read your question, always nice to learn something early in the morning :slight_smile: I did a quick check and it looks like they can be turned on by talking to a support person but it’s not on by default.

I don’t have any experience with another trading platform.

Paul

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Can anyone suggest a good online broker for me in case I should decide to change brokers. Do they have a good trading platform? Can you get level 2 quotes, what do they charge in commissions? Is their telephone support good? etc.

Hey Saul,
I used Ameritrade. The commission is a $8.99 which is fine for the way I trade. The customer service is excellent. Phone support is very good. I have not used their research, but I have heard good things about it. And I really like their interface. Very intuitive and easy to use.

I did have an Interactive Brokers account, but I could not stand the interface, but the fees were very, VERY low.

Good luck with your decision.

Jeb

Saul,

I second Jebbo above. I use TDAmeritrade and the platform and support are both excellent. They offer level 2 quotes to non-professional investors at no additional charge as well.

Most people don’t know this, but depending on the size of your account, commissions may be negotiable. I first got them to match Scottrade’s $7 fee and then got it down a bit from there.

Let us know what you decide.

-Sameer

I also use TDAmeritrade for some of my accounts. They have self directed individual 401k accounts at no charge. My young adult daughters and my wife all have accounts with TDA and I was able to negotiate a lower rate as well (in the $6/trade range). The were willing to apply the same rate to everyone in my family which was a great deal for my daughters’ ROTH accounts which are individually relatively small. They have good customer service, several different trading platforms, the ability to link multiple accounts, and a pretty respectable mobile app for my Android phone (unlike the TMF app which is pathetic).

I also use Wells Fargo, Sharebuilder, and Schwabb and like TDA the best.

D.

Thanks everyone, it sounds like the consensus is for TDAmeritrade.

I appreciate the help.

Saul

For those who have experience in this arena, related to Saul’s OP topic is switching costs: what is the best way to avoid or minimize them?

Thanks,
Pete

Saul, though I’m long AMTD and would love to have your business :wink: I’d also encourage you to check out Interactive Brokers. I’ve been very happy with them, and for me they’ve been much more cost efficient than TDA (I have accounts with both).

Neil

Hi Saul,

Jebbo wrote: I did have an Interactive Brokers account, but I could not stand the interface, but the fees were very, VERY low.

I use Interactive Brokers, and I don’t disagree with the above statement. I had accounts both at TD Ameritrade and Options House, and both of those were easier to use, but not nearly as powerful. It took me a while to figure out how to fully navigate Interactive Brokers, but now that I do, I really like it. It has customized portfolio reporting options that I’ve never seen anywhere else, that I really like a lot. And equity trade commissions are generally $1. Options commissions are even less.

Fletch

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Saul,

In my prior post I also meant to put in a kuddo or two for Scottrade: it’s been my discount broker for more than a decade and it’s been quite easy to use and customer service has been excellent. Admittedly, I don’t use a lot of ‘advanced’ features (such as options - yet) so I cannot address those, but I’ve had a good experience overall. A recent review, along with those of all the other major brokers, can be found at:

http://www.stockbrokers.com/review/scottrade

Partly,

Customer Service

Scottrade, which won our title for Best Overall Client Experience in our2012, 2013, and 2014 Review of Online Brokers, offers the most personalized customer service out of any of the full-service brokers I’ve tested. And considering the competition, this is no small feat.

Hope this helps,
Pete

I’m a little worried about how basic the following question is but can anyone help me with the term “Level 2 quotes”?

Thanks.

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can anyone help me with the term “Level 2 quotes”?

I found the following article helpful:

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/trading/06/level2quotes…

Level II quotes can tell you a lot about what is happening with a given stock:

You can tell what kind of buying is taking place - retail or institutional - by looking at the type of market participants involved. Large institutions do not use the same market makers as retail traders.
If you look at ECN [Electronic Communications Networks] order sizes for irregularities, you can tell when institutional players are trying to keep the buying quiet (which can mean a buyout or accumulation is taking place)…

Does this work?

Pete

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doublexup,

Here’s a simple answer. If you want to buy a stock and they show the sake price is $9.43, you may want to buy 1000 shares but there may be only 100 shares offered at that price. Then there may be 300 shares at 9.44, 100 more at 9.45, and 1100 at $9.50.

Level one just shows you the price of 9.43 at perhaps the 100 shares. Level two shows you all those shares offered for sale at different prices, and tells at what price, and tells it in real time (if someone buys the 100 shares at 9.43 before you get a chance, it will now show the asked at 9.44 for 300 shares offered.

Hope this helps.

Saul

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doublexup,

Sorry about the typos. It got away from me. Here it is corrected.

Here’s a simple answer. If you want to buy a stock and they show the sale price is $9.43, you may want to buy 1000 shares, but there may be only 100 shares offered at 9.43. Then there may be 300 shares at 9.44, 100 more at 9.45, and 1100 at $9.50.

Level one just shows you the price of 9.43, and perhaps the 100 shares. Level two shows you all those shares offered for sale at different prices, and tells at what price, and tells it in real time (if someone buys the 100 shares at 9.43 before you get a chance, it will now show the asked at 9.44 for 300 shares offered).

Hope this helps.

Saul

Thanks team. Definitely useful information.

I trade with Wells Fargo and I certainly haven’t seen that level of detail.

I think its time to ask…

Just another valuable piece of information from this board.

Just curious, Saul. I seem to recall you invested through Schwab. Any particular discontent causing you to look elsewhere for greener pastures?

okapimoon (Schwab investor)

I use Schwab and my commissions are .006/sh for under 2,000 shares and .003/sh for over 2,000 shares. Minimum commission per trade $1.
Their Edge platform is pretty good with level 2 quotes, and can link multiple accounts.

Rob

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Just curious, Saul. I seem to recall you invested through Schwab. Any particular discontent causing you to look elsewhere for greener pastures?

Hi Okapimoon,

No, I’m actually very happy with Schwab. However, if you buy something with unsettled funds (which I do all the time, as when I sell something, I usually redeploy the funds immediately), you can’t sell it for 3 days (until the funds would have settled), or it’s called a “good faith violation”. and If you get five good faith violations they say you can no longer trade with unsettled funds but you have to wait three days for them to settle before you can buy with them. (That’s a regulators’ rule, not Schwab’s rule). That would make my trading more inconvenient and be a pain in the ass.

Now this is not five violations in a year, or in two years, but for THE LIFE OF THE ACCOUNT. It’s an insane rule. I picked up a fourth such violation last week in my main account. It’s only my fourth slip-up in at least ten years and many thousands of trades over that time. (I had added a little MTZ, and then they suddenly pre-announced all this trouble, and I sold my position, forgetting that I had recently bought a little). I’m just planning ahead that if I slip up again and get a fifth violation over the years, I may have to move my account somewhere else and start over.

Best,

Saul

Wow Saul, Fidelity warns me if I am about to make a Good Faith Violation. I hope you do not have to switch.

Saul,
Don’t worry. Just call them when you have the 5th and let them know you are moving your account, they will reset. It’s best to not lose a customer like you - that should be a no-brainer.

legoAbs

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