List of Online Brokers with input and pricing...I got this from the site you gave me Susan, thanks. Which part did you order?
successinformation.com
What type of On-Line Brokerage
Account you need to trade stocks
There are two types of trading accounts.
Type 1 accounts are sufficient for the Basic Membership. You can open these accounts for
as little as $2500 and make great trades with holding periods of 1 to 3 days.
Type 2 accounts are what our Deluxe members need. They have an emphasis on daytrading
where you'll be in a position to make anywhere from 1 to 5 trades a day on the low end
or 50 to 100 trades a day on the high end. You can get these accounts open as low as
$5000.
A good rule of thumb for Deluxe members is to realize that you're trading typically in
500 to 1000 share lots. So if you're trading 500 shares of a $40 stock, you'll need about $10,000 in your
account with normal margin.
Another example: with 2-to-1 margin, let's say you're trading 1000 shares of a $25 stock
- you'll need a $12,500 account (half of $25,000 since you have a 2-to-1 margin).
Volume and volatility are important for daytrading - you need to be in stocks that are
actively trading. How to find these stocks is covered in the memberships.
Now let's go into some detail ...
* * * * *
The Internet has evolved into a great resource for investors and traders in the last few
years and from the trends we see today, it's only going to get better. The amount if
information available on the Internet about stocks is staggering. It has also opened
the vaults of research information to help us find trading ideas.
The information you can now get for free used to cost thousands of dollars per month. I
know because I used to pay that price for the detailed institutional quality research
and analysts reports that are now available for free. Most of the higher quality On-line
brokers now offer free investors resources that are web page links to some great sites
like ...
www.briefing.com
www.zachs.com.
The trade execution costs are coming down all the time too and in some cases trade
execution is free with certain restrictions.
Margin rates are decent as well making it more affordable to trade on margin now. The
web pages of the On-line brokers are getting easier to use and if you have trouble you
can even get a broker over the phone.
Connection problems and execution problems sometimes happen, so don't be surprised. But
for the most part they are reliable and problem free as long as they don't have computer
problems on their end which is very rare.
The On-Line brokerage firms basically come in 2 types.
TYPE 1 Brokerage Firms
Type 1 offers you basic electronic execution at a very low price and some research and
charts. You access them from your web browser on the internet. Brokerage firms of this
type are firms like ...
Schwab,
ETrade (www.etrade.com),
Ameritrade (www.ameritrade.com),
Accutrade (www.accutrade.com),
Suretrade (www.suretrade.com),
Datek (www.datek.com), etc.
(more shown below)
They don't make markets in stocks so all your orders are agency orders. They are for the
cost-conscious trader that is looking for a low cost way to trade.
Personally I think you need a type 1 broker that offers low commissions on stocks, the
ability to trade options and good access to research from companies like Baseline and
Briefing.com. None of them are really any better than the others. It's totally a matter
of which service you are most comfortable with.
TYPE 2 Brokerage Firms
Type 2 On-Line brokerage firms are those that offer you Level II trading software. Once
you open an account with a type 2 firm you then download the level II software that
allows you to trade the NASDAQ market on a level playing field with market makers and
other professionals. With the level II software you can route a NASDAQ order to buy or
sell stock through the SelectNet system, the ECN's, the SOES system and Instinet.
This (along with instant executions and instant confirmations) gives you a tremendous
edge.
The level II software is something you must have to use the methods in the DELUXE Tricks
Of The Trade Membership. For an example and more information check out ...
Alltech (www.attain.com),
MBTrading (www.mbtrading.com).
NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF TYPE 1
ON-LINE BROKERAGES
All of the On-line brokerage firms receive payment for order flow. It's a common
practice in the industry. None of the On-line brokerage firms make a market in stocks,
this helps them keep costs down so they can pass some of that savings on to you the
customer. Since they don't make a market in any stocks they execute all trades for
their customers accounts on an agency basis. Doing this means they can "sell" your
orders to a market maker that makes a market in almost every stock on the NASDAQ market.
Payment for order flow does not exist for NYSE or AMEX listed trades or for options so
there is very little profit in those trades for the On-Line brokerage firms.
Payment for order flow can be .015 -.02 cents per share on all NASDAQ stocks so you can
see how the profits rack up.
The process of payment for order flow is controversial as it can sometimes put the
customer in a disadvantaged position by having their orders routed to the payer of the
order flow rather than to the market maker that can obtain the best execution of those
orders. It's difficult to say how much of an impact it has on each order but overall
your executions should be good. No worse than at a full service traditional broker but a
lot worse than with Level II capabilities.
The absolute worst part about trading with a type 1 account is the time it takes to get
an electronic confimation that your order has been executed. With all the type 1
accounts you will have delayed confirmations sent to you or delayed confirmations
available on their website after you log in under your account password. The aspect of
delayed confirmations makes it impossible to daytrade from a type 1 account, but they
are OK to use for the rest of the methods outlined in the BASIC membership.
NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF A TYPE 2
ON-LINE BROKERAGE FIRM
I personally believe that using a type 2 account is the only way to go but if there were
a negative aspect to trading using a type 2 account it would be the cost. You can expect
to pay .015 to .025 cents per share on each trade and $100 - $400 per month for a level
II software fee.
Part of the fee is due to the exchange fees for live quotes. Every brokerage firm that
offers level II trading capability will offer you different levels of service and almost
all of them will adjust the monthly fee or the cents per share based on how much trading
you do every month.
For example, if you do 20 round trip trades per month you can expect them to cut you a
better deal on the monthly fee. This is very reasonable considereing the fact that
DELUXE Members are taught methods that will enable them to make 50 - 150 trades per DAY.
The cost of the level II service is more than fair when you also consider that fact that
you have TOTAL CONTROL of your order. You can choose the path the order takes to the
NASDAQ market which is a huge advantage. You can also immediately cancel your order at
any time as well as obtain an INSTANT EXECUTION in fast market conditions. Most of
these firms will also allow you to trade before and after hours through the ECN"s like
the Island for example. The bottom line here is that the advantages more than outway the
costs of having a type 2 account that allows you level II trading capabilities.
Here is a review of the type 1 accounts.
ETrade - www.etrade.com
Etrade is the second largest On-line broker behind Schwab. They are fast becoming an
excellent firm and some reviews rate them the best. From personal experience I can tell
you they are very good. Tremendous resources that are all free including interactive
charts and quotes as well as great research. Options trading is also very good.
Everything you need is here. The biggest problem is the delay in trade reports. For some
unexplainable reason it takes 2-10 minutes for them to get you a report on your trade
executions in real time. This could be a problem for active traders. Very easy to use
site that is customer friendly.
Commissions Stocks
Listed $14.95
NASDAQ $19.95
Options
$20/trade + $1.75 per contract.
Real time quotes available
eSchwab - www.eschwab.com
Schwab is the largest Internet On-Line broker in the business. They offer unparalleled
customer service for free. As well as extensive research for all eSchwab customers.
Easy to use site but a bit crowded. Schwab is trying to offer something for everyone and
it can get in the way here. For example, they have large banners on the site offering
life insurance products and mutual funds. Commissions are about average and you can
execute options trades here also.
Commissions
Stocks
$29.95 up to 1000 shares
+ .03 per share over 1000
Min $37.75 + $1.75 per contract
Datek - www.datek.com
Datek has advertised extremely heavy. They do a fairly good job of executing NASDAQ
stocks but nothing great for listed and no options trading. The fact that you can't
trade options is a major drawback. The biggest reason and the only reason to use Datek
is the price $9.95 per trade.
A. B. Watley
A.B. Watley offers trade basic trade execution and 3 Web based trading packages. They
are the Watley trader delayed quotes Watley trader live quotes For a more professional
trader there is the three levels of ultimate trader service silver, gold, and platinum.
Commissions
Stocks.
$14.95 for listed orders
$19.95 for listed orders and OTC market orders
Options
$30.00 plus $1.75 per contract
Real-time quotes available for 29 dollars per month.
For the more active investor and serious trader, you can subscribe to the A.B Watley
Ultimate Trader services. The silver gold and platinum are all good choices.
Commissions
Stock
$25.95 for OTC market limit orders
$25.95 plus.05 cents/share for listed market orders
$25.95 plus.01 cents/share for listed limit orders.
For your first to your 100th trade a calendar month which is their billing cycle they
charge you the standard low rate of $25.95. Once you do that 100th trade, all your
trades are billed retroactively at $ 21.95 That means it's a 400 dollar savings on the
first 100 orders.
The silver level of service features the order entry system, unlimited pages, board
views, takers, snap quotes, alarms, hot keys and fundamentals. Monthly price for the
Silver service is $75.00/ month.
The Gold level of service features everything in the Silver plus charts with technical
studies. The Gold level of service is $150.00 / month.
The Platinum level of service includes everything in Silver and Gold plus dynamic NASDAQ
Level II data, color-coded market maker screens in time in sales this is a $250.00 /
month service plus $50 a month for NASDAQ level II data.
A.B. Watley offers one the best Internet service packages available for the active
trader. They also offer some of the best research links available.
Accutrade - www.accutrade.com
This company is very average. Nothing special here at all. Stock commissions are $28.00
plus two cents a share regardless of price. There is an additional $7.00 fee if the
trade is executed through broker.
Options commissions - there is a minimum 35 dollar option commission.
The options commissions usually run anywhere from three dollars to eight dollars per
contract.
There are much better deals available on the Internet combining lower commissions better
research.
Ameritrade - www.ameritrade.com
Ameritrade is the result of a merger between Aufhauser, Ceres and eBroker. The poured
millions in millions of dollars into their national advertising campaign to attract
customers. Their main competition is ETrade and eSchwab.
Commissions on Stocks = $8.00 per trade.
Touch tone telephone trades are $12.00. Trades placed through the phone with a broker
are $18.00. There is an additional $5.00 fee for limit, stop, and stock limit orders.
Options - $25 dollars plus $1.75 per contract.
They offer a 10 percent discount on trades placed electronically over the Internet
minimum commission on options transaction is 29 dollars.
Computel Securities - www.computel.com
A division of Thomas F White and Co. discount brokers. Customer service is good and the
site is easy to use.
Commissions
Stocks
$9.00 per trade for market orders of 1,000
5,000 shares.
$24.00 for market orders less than 1,000 shares.
$19.00 for limit orders.
Options
$24.00 per trade plus $1.00 per contract.
JB Oxford - www.jboxford.com
JB Oxford offers stock commissions of $15.00 per trade. For each and every executed
order there is an added $3.00 postage and handling fee. They should really just say this
is an $18.00 per trade commission. With every Internet broker we examined, customer
orders were routed directly to the exchange. In the process, a computer verified if the
customer had adequate funds in his or her account.
In the case of JB Oxford, a customer's order generates an email message that is
automatically printed out off a printer. A broker or customer service person brings up
the customers account information on a computer to make sure there's enough of a credit
balance in the customers account to execute the trade. Then after all this human
intervention and delay the order is then routed to the exchange to be executed. But if
JBOxford makes a market in the stock then they try to make an additional profit off the
trade. If this is actually the case, as I was led to believe, then this would be the
most inefficient execution system over the Internet that I've ever seen or even heard
about. If you use a broker at JB Oxford trade at your own risk.
Commissions
Stocks
$ 20.00 per trade.
Options
$25.00 plus $2.50 per contract regardless of premium.
Web Street Securities - www.webstreetsecurities.com
Web streets site and structure in trading execution is very good. They offer the unique
Trading Pit as they call it which is the best execution site I've seen. They also offer
great research sites and options trading as well. For the self directed, active trader
this is an excellent choice of On-line brokers.
Commissions
Stocks
Listed $14.95 for any size
NASDAQ $14.95 under 1,000 shares
NASDAQ FREE over 1000 shares
Options
$14.95 plus $1.75 per contract.
This was the most interesting WebSite I have seen. Especially because they offer an
example of the NASDAQ level II screen and as far as I've seen theWebStreet is the only
firm offering Level II at this price. Actively updating real-time quotes $29.95 per
month. They charge an additional $50.00 to view real-time NASDAQ level II data as well.
This combination of price and commissions with the ability to look at the NASDAQ level
II makes it a great choice. I have never used Web Street so I can't tell you first hand
how well it works. I can tell it looks like these guys are really onto something though
by offering the NASDAQ Level II service and at that affordable price. The ability to
trade options here is definitely an added bonus.
Suretrade - www.suretrade.com
More like unSuretrade. They advertise $7.00 per trade executions which makes them
attractive. But when I decided to check I had incredible problems. Their site said you
needed at least Internet Explorer 4.0 to navigate the site, which is not the case since
I have Internet Explorer 4.0 and still cannot figure out how to navigate site. Very
time I clicked on a button on their site nothing would happen. I even tried downloading
an application and nothing happened. I tried another computer just to make sure it
wasn't my computer in case I had a problem. I got the same result every time no matter
which computer or Internet browser I used. So I called customer service. The first
time my assistant called she was on hold close to an hour, then finally a customer
service represented answered and couldn't answer any questions. I think the customer
service department of Suretrade knows very little about securities business.
I then called back to speak to a manager and was on hold for one hour and 40 minutes. A
customer service person finally picked up the phone but still couldn't answer my
question. My assistant called back a third time and was put on hold for 45 minutes
before someone picked up the phone they still could not answer my question. So I
decided to email the customer service department to see what would happen. I asked them
three specific questions and they responded with a generic answer and information on how
to download an application to open an account. I thought this was very humorous. So I
sent them another email message and got the same response on how to open an account even
though that was never the question. The combination of a difficult to use site and
moronic customer service leads me believe that Suretrade is a poor choice. I would
consider it completely unreliable.
Type 2 On-Line firms
They all offer you the same trading platform, which is the program from Townsend
Analytics called Real Tick tm. The Real Tick progarm is the progarm that allows you to
trade the NASDAQ market like a professional markey maker yourself. All the brokerage
firms that offer you level II trading capabilities are re-sellers of the Real Tick
program.
What most firms have done is just write a new program on top of it to add some
proprietary bells and whistles. Most of these firms will offer a traing class for
anywhere from $1500 to $5,000 but ...
You Will Not Need To Take
Any Additional Courses If
You Own The Deluxe Membership From:
( successinformation.com )
Alltech - www.attain.com
MB Trading - www.mbtrading.com
LiveTrade - www.livetrade.com
Cybercorp - www.cybercorp.com
Trendtrader - www.trendtrader.com
It's easier for you to check these out for yourself than for me to write a description
of each one since your decision will be based on personal preference. I have tried
Alltech and found them to be very professional and fast. I also like what I've seen from
MB Trading. The Deluxe Membership material and the The Electronic Daytraders Video
Coaching Tapes will show you how to trade on any level II service.
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