TD Ameritrade Review - Great Broker Not Just For Penny StocksIn 1975, the brokerage industry was deregulated and brokerage houses could negotiate their own commissions. Ameritrade entered the discount brokerage business as First Omaha Securities, Inc. Through several name changes, that first firm is now Accutrade, a division of TD Ameritrade, Inc. Accutrade introduced trading via a touch-tone phone in 1988. By 1994, K. Aufhauser & Co., Inc. started the first online trading brokerage. In 1995, Ameritrade Holding Company, now TD Ameritrade, purchased them. The company launches eBrokers in 1996, an internet only trading site. By 1997, the company merged the best features of several of their subsidiaries, including eBroker and created Ameritrade. In 1998, it became one of the first to offer options order entry on the Internet and give trade confirmations by email. Since that time, it was first in many areas of online trading and in 2006, changed the name one final time to TD Ameritrade.
Cost of Services The fees vary by the type of Ameritrade account you have. If you have an Apex TD Ameritrade Account, there’s a drastic reduction of fees to have a brokerage account. To qualify for this type of account you either need $100,000 of value or average five or more trades per month. Due to the volatility of the market, no TD Ameritrade review would be complete without warning the investor to make certain they have at least 10 percent more in the event of a deep market drop. Most of the service fees noted applies only to the TD Ameritrade regular accounts, not the Apex accounts. If you trade online, the price per trade is only $9.99, not the best, but far cheaper than full service brokerages. However, using the interactive telephone system increases the cost to $34.99, which jumps to $44.99 if you have a broker-assisted trade. The same is true for ETFs and options, but you add an additional $0.75 per contract to the cost of the options. The cost of futures runs $3.50 per contract and Forex trade costs vary by the type of trade. The cost of trading bonds seems in line with any traditional brokerage house. No load mutual funds are quite salty with a cost of $49.99 for a trade. You’re better buying direct from the company. While a full outbound transfer is $75 for those not Apex account holders, it’s free for Apex holders. There’s also no cost for a partial outbound transfer. There’s also no account set up fee or annual maintenance fee and no minimum account amount for the standard TD Ameritrade account. Products and Services TD Ameritrade offers the same products as most online brokerage houses: stocks, options, bonds, ETFs and mutual funds. Unlike many online brokerage houses, however, TD Ameritrade offers Forex and Futures. They also have a free debit card with no fees attached to the checking account. There are ample educational tools and trading tools but some of them cost a monthly premium. Platform TD Ameritrade has had ample time to perfect its platform and this TD Ameritrade review notes that they used it wisely. The platform is easy to use; however, if you need help from a broker, it will cost you a whole lot more. Positives:
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Conclusion While the trading costs aren’t the lowest on the Internet, if you trade more than stocks, such as futures, this is a good site to use. TD Ameritrade offers a wider variety of products than most sites do. For those with more funds in their brokerage account, the site could be quite beneficial. This is not as true for those with a tight budget who are just beginning investing.
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