I have used scott trade for almost two years now, no issues till now. I was looking at others and came across SoGo trades, did anyone here use it ?
razedge - What types of issues are you having now?
as I said, scott trade is good but SoGo seems to be cheaper( I havent used it as yet). But then on the downside I dont think SoGo provides any/all of the research services that scott trade has. do you work for scott trade?
Ha no I don’t work for Scottrade. You said you weren’t having any issues up until now. I thought that you were implying that you recently started having issues. I just want to hear some other’s experiences before making the move. I opened my etrade account a few years ago without reading any of the fine print and don’t want to make the same mistake again.
Is the research scottrade provides valuable? I just used work resources…don’t tell.
We get stuck in the crappy brokers due to work (ie Etrade/Scottrade). If I were making trades of more than 700 or so shares (7/.01=700), they would be fine, but 100 share lots at a place like Interactive Brokers paying a penny a share is 1/7th the cost. It depends on your activity, but I still think tthe Scottrades of the world overcharge.
I’ve used E*Trade, Schwab and IB. For my trading, IB is the hands-down winner. Very inexpensive trades, even considering any trade-cancellation charges someone else here mentioned. A huge breadth of investment options. By far the most professional analysis tools of these three (option-analysis, bonds, forex, futures, types of stock orders [e.g. iceberg], the list never ends with these guys). IB’s research on option plays is excellent, but on equities, like analyst reports, better to stick with something like E*Trade or Schwab which provide much more. In essense, IB is tops for professional traders, Schwab and their ilk for the average buy-and-hold investor.
Which discount broker offers the best research for you guys?
nocareer Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Which discount broker offers the best research for > you guys? I pretty much use free sites for research, but I have been impressed with Schwab’s research. It is helpful for the dumb accountant I know who uses it ;-). All in all it is discount brokerage, how good do you think research is when discount is the description of the brokerage house?
This is probably a stupid question but I’ve always just traded through my company Do these online brokers provide you with automated reports during tax season or do you have to go back and track everything?
Etrade sends you an electronic 1099. I believe it is the law that they have to send them to you by January 31.
Jscott24 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > This is probably a stupid question but I’ve always > just traded through my company > > Do these online brokers provide you with automated > reports during tax season or do you have to go > back and track everything? They send you a 1099 by law. But, not all discount brokers (Zecco!) send you the cost basis which is required on the Schedule D. Finding the cost basis can be a real b1tch so if you do not have a ‘gainskeeper’ or something built into the discount broker that gives you the realized and unrealized gains, keep a spreadsheet with all the cost basis’s of purchases and sales to make your tax man happy.
QuantJock_MBA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > nocareer Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Which discount broker offers the best research > for > > you guys? > > > I pretty much use free sites for research, but I > have been impressed with Schwab’s research. It is > helpful for the dumb accountant I know who uses it > ;-). > Which sites do you use? I have a TD Ameritrade account, and the research is lacking.
Reuters, Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance I don’t dig into individual securities very often so these site suffice for ETF/MF research.
I’m looking for something that charges minimal fees, gets good execution, and no inactivity BS. I have no need for research since I have all of that at my fingertips at work. What would you recommend?
CFABLACKBELT Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’m looking for something that charges minimal > fees, gets good execution, and no inactivity BS. > > > I have no need for research since I have all of > that at my fingertips at work. > > What would you recommend? I think Scottrade would be your best bet - depending on how much you trade. Judging by your request for no inactivity I’m guessing youre not switching positions day by day, which is a strategy probably best suited by $1 trades at Interactive. I think $7 trades is a fine premium to pay for a trusted service that wont try to pick your pockets with hidden fees.
I’m moving some stuff over to Wells Fargo to get the 100 free trades/yr and $6 after that. I hear their research is garbage but I can get that stuff elsewhere.