**E*Trade**

Reviewed December 2009

Good access to foreign markets
Banking services
Mobile apps
Access to good research

Relatively high trading costs
Account maintenance fee
Spotty customer service

Where to Buy

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Our Analysis

E*Trade earns praise from reviewers primarily for its research amenities and banking services. Costs are on the high side; unless you make 30 or more trades per quarter or have at least $50,000 in assets, you'll pay $13 per trade. There is also a $40 maintenance fee for each quarter in which you don't make at least one trade (IRA and custodial accounts are exempt). If you want a low-cost broker and don't want banking services, reviewers suggest that TradeKing could be a better choice.

SmartMoney magazine, Barron's, and Kiplinger.com all mention E*Trade in their reviews. ConsumerReports.org includes this online broker in a ratings chart based on feedback from online subscribers, and Keynote Systems includes it in its weekly ratings of 13 brokers based on their order execution. StockTradingToGo.com and TopTenReviews.com also review E*Trade.

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Our Sources

1. SmartMoney.com Details/Subscribe

This annual broker survey names the best online broker in each of six categories; a chart at the end ranks the 16 brokers included in the survey and shows their category ratings. E*Trade tops the rankings for the third year in a row, and it is singled out as one of the three best brokers for its banking services and one of the two best in the area of research.

Review: SmartMoney's 2009 Broker Survey, Roya Wolverson and Neil Parmar, May 19, 2009

2. Barron's

Barron's 2009 ratings of 25 online brokers puts E*Trade tenth in the overall ratings chart, with higher marks for its research and analysis tools and the general usability of its website, and lower ones for its costs, trading technology and range of offerings.

Review: Blue Chips, Theresa W. Carey, March 16, 2009

3. ConsumerReports.org Details/Subscribe

A ConsumerReports.org ratings chart ranks 17 brokerage firms based on a survey of almost 9,000 online subscribers. Respondents rated brokers on account service, website, phone service and in-person service.

Review: Brokerage Service Ratings, Editors of ConsumerReports.org, May 2009

4. Kiplinger.com Details/Subscribe

Kiplinger.com says E*Trade's $40 quarterly fee for those who don't make at least one trade during that period is a "nuisance fee" that drives up costs. Editors also find E*Trade's customer service to be mediocre. Reader comments follow the article.

Review: Best of the Online Brokers, Thomas M. Anderson, Nov. 2008

5. StockTradingToGo.com

Site owner Blain Reinkensmeyer rates online brokers based on trading fees alone. E*Trade is included among the top five, although this broker's fees are not among the lowest available.

Review: 5 Top Online Stock Brokers, Blain Reinkensmeyer

6. TopTenReviews.com

TopTenReviews.com examines 16 brokers and summarizes data about them, as well as the ratings they receive from the site's editor, in a comparison chart. E*Trade is ranked fourth of the 16; the review concludes that "with over 20 years of experience, this broker knows online stock trading. The only downside is the steeper fees."

Review: E*Trade Financial, Editors of TopTenReviews.com

7. Keynote Systems

Keynote Systems tracks and rates online brokers on a weekly basis based how long it takes to place a stock order and the success rate of order completion. E*Trade is consistently near the top in these ratings.

Review: Business Transaction Index for Brokerage Web Sites, Editors of Keynote Systems, Inc.