Best Reviewed
Online Brokers
- Best online broker overall Fidelity *Est. $7
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- Best for active traders ThinkOrSwim *Est. $9
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- High customer satisfaction
- Low transaction fee
- More than 400 branch offices
- $500 minimum opening balance
- Not much research help
- Online tools fairly basic
- Relatively narrow range of investment products
Scottrade offers online investing and almost 500 branch offices where you can go for personal service. The minimum opening balance is $500, and market orders are $7. This online broker consistently receives high ratings from its customers. If you want more online research and trading tools, and a broader range of investment products, reviewers say that Fidelity might be a better choice, although its costs are a little higher.
SmartMoney magazine and Barron's have the best reviews of Scottrade. J.D. Power and Associates conducts an annual customer satisfaction survey of online brokers, and ConsumerReports.org ranks brokers based on a survey of online subscribers; both include Scottrade. TopTenReviews.com offers a review and compares Scottrade to other brokers, while FiveCentNickel.com offers only a very brief review based on readers' feedback.
Our Sources
1. SmartMoney.comDetails/Subscribe
Scottrade lands in sixth place in the rankings of the 17 brokers in the survey, which also names the best performers in six categories. This broker gets its lowest ratings in the areas of banking services and research.
Review: SmartMoney 2010 Broker Survey, Neil Parmar and J. Alex Tarquinio, May 20, 2010
2. Barron's
Scottrade is ranked 16th out of 22 overall. However, reviewer Theresa Carey writes that since the last Barron's review, Scottrade has "added a huge amount of educational resources, both online and in branches."
Review: Newest Trading Play: Screen Savings, Theresa W. Carey, March 10, 2010
3. ConsumerReports.orgDetails/Subscribe
This survey of 8,969 online subscribers rates brokers on account service, website, phone service and in-person service.
Review: Brokerage Service Ratings, Editors of ConsumerReports.org, May 2009
Ten brokers are included in this survey. Scottrade ties for third place in overall investor satisfaction. An accompanying news release says that Scottrade "performs well in trading charges and fees."
Review: 2010 Self-Directed Investor Satisfaction Study, Editors of J.D. Power and Associates, Sept. 30, 2010
Scottrade is ranked fourth out of 18 brokers in the TopTenReviews.com comparison chart. According to the review "their fast executions, trade rate and mobile tools make it a great service, especially for day traders."
Review: Scottrade Review, Editors of TopTenReviews.com
Site owner Blain Reinkensmeyer ranks Scottrade fifth of the five best online brokers. The review notes that "Scottrade has over 400 local branch offices for personal service and offers competitive $7 flat-fee stock trades."
Review: 5 Top Online Stock Brokers, Blain Reinkensmeyer
This review reports responses to the site owner's request for readers to name their favorite online discount broker. He writes that Scottrade "has received rave reviews from numerous readers" but does not give specific numbers or say what aspects of this broker were singled out for praise.
Review: The Best Online Discount Brokers (Updated!), "Nickel"
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