Online Brokers Reviews

The reviews below are assigned ratings by ConsumerSearch. These ratings are based on credibility in testing, evaluating and identifying the best Online Brokers. See our ratings criteria

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Online Brokers Reviews Reviewed
Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Online Brokers Ratings Comments on Reviews
1. SmartMoney.com	2007 Broker Survey: Finding the Best Broker Neil Parmar July 10, 2007		In this annual survey, SmartMoney evaluates 21 brokers in three categories: premium brokers, full-service brokers and discount brokers. Editors tested sites by actually using them, placing orders and calling customer service. E*Trade is the best premium broker, moving up from second place and snapping Fidelity’s 4-year winning streak, followed by Fidelity. The top full-service broker is Edward Jones, thanks to an improved stock picking score over last year. As for discount brokers, TradeKing is ranked best for the second year in a row. Scottrade, Firstrade and OptionsXpress are also good. The writers opened several accounts with a variety of brokers, made actual trades and then compared their experiences based on several criteria, including customer service response and research tools. This is the best, most detailed review we found.
2. Barron's	Tools of the Trade Theresa W. Carey Mar. 5, 2007		In this comprehensive roundup, Barron's ranks 29 online brokers (14 that use their own proprietary software and 15 that use web browsers) in eight categories. Interestingly, the top web-based brokers here don't match up with the SmartMoney review above. Thinkorswim and TD Ameritrade are rated most highly here, but not at SmartMoney. In fact, Thinkorswim didn’t even make the list this year at SmartMoney.
3. J.D. Power & Associates	2007 Online Investment Firm Satisfaction Study Editors of J.D. Power and Associates Oct. 24, 2007		Over 5,000 online investors responded to J.D. Power's annual broker survey. Scottrade is the highest rated for customer satisfaction and achieves this rank for the seventh time in eight years. Vanguard is the second highest rated among the ten brokers, receiving perfect scores in all but two areas (cost and trade execution). This is interesting because SmartMoney rates Vanguard last for its limited functionality. Schwab and Fidelity rank third and fourth in the J.D. Power survey. Lowest rated for overall satisfaction are Merrill Lynch Direct and T. Rowe Price. J.D. Power and Associates also rated full service investment firms in July 2007. Edward Jones came in first in customer satisfaction for the third year in a row, followed by A.G. Edwards & Sons and Vanguard.
4. Kiplinger.com	Best Online Brokers for Fund Investors Katy Marquardt Sept. 2007		Kiplinger.com examines 12 brokerages on a broad range of issues important to do-it-yourself mutual fund investors. Muriel Siebert & Co. and Fidelity Brokerage stand out over the rest. Both firms offer a wide selection of no-load funds, have websites with good research tools and charge few nuisance fees. In July 2006, Kiplinger.com also compared eleven online brokers. The companies are rated on ten criteria, including commissions/fees, margin interest and research offerings. The top pick for those with $50,000 to invest is OptionsXpress, and it’s rated number one in the $500,000 category as well. Kiplinger authors Steven Goldberg and Jessica Anderson cite OptionsXpress' fast service, wide fund selection and low fund prices as reasons for its landing in the top slot. On the downside, they also note that OptionsXpress "doesn't boast the cheapest stock commissions, and it doesn't offer any no-transaction-fee funds." Muriel Siebert & Co. finishes second in both categories. Ratings are further broken down by specific criteria, helpful if you are looking for a broker that's strong in a certain area.
5. Consumer Reports	Online Brokers: Better Prices, More Services Editors of Consumer Reports June 2007		Consumer Reports Money Lab evaluates 19 online brokers that are accessible to investors using a standard web browser. Brokers are rated using seven criteria including minimum trade fee, research and education and customer support. Consumer Reports finds that competition among firms has led many to reduce fees and commissions, and add low-cost financial services.

Online Brokers Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Online Brokers Ratings Comments on Reviews

6. USA Today Magazine	Online Brokers Step Up Competition with Free Trades Matt Krantz Jan. 15, 2007		Matt Krantz's article focuses on aggressive competition from banks and extreme-discount brokers, many of which offer free trades for certain investors. The price slashing means that investors might want to rethink paying over $10 a trade. Krantz examines 14 brokers, detailing base commission, advantages, disadvantages and best matches for investors. For example, he says that Charles Schwab is best for those who aren't fully invested and want a decent return on cash. Conversely, E*Trade suits investors who trade 150 times a year or more and need access to tools designed for day traders.
7. Business Week	The Best E-Broker For You Lewis Braham July 31, 2006		Business Week advises investors to choose a broker based on individual needs. Scottrade gets the nod for its low cost and extra service. Novice investors are directed to ShareBuilder, where its automatic-investing program is "great for a newbie's savings discipline." Investors looking for breadth of product should look at Charles Schwab or E*Trade, and online research is best at Fidelity. However, brokers aren't ranked or rated in this article and we wish it were more up to date.

Online Brokers Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Online Brokers Ratings Comments on Reviews

8. StockTradingToGo.com	5 Top Online Stock Brokers Blain Reinkensmeyer May 31, 2007		Stock Trading to Go is a site dedicated to providing market commentary from investment professionals. Site owner Blain Reinkensmeyer names his picks for the top five online brokers and discusses what he likes and dislikes about each one. TD Ameritrade, Scottrade and E*Trade are his top three choices. He cautions that just because you can get cheap trades doesn’t mean you will also get the tools you need to trade successfully. This website includes other articles by Reinkensmeyer and his staff including a detailed October 2007 piece on "12 Ways to Compare Your Online Stock Broker." Readers add comments at the end of each article.
9. Eons.com	Online Brokers: A Look at the Best of the Best Frank Choy As of Dec. 2007		Eons is a website created by Monster.com’s founder, Jeffrey C. Taylor, for people over the age of 50. In this article, Frank Choy says there are online brokers to suit everyone, but you must decide which is best for you. He picks the five online brokers that he feels provide the best overall user experience and tools for a general buy-and-hold investor. Charles Schwab, E*Trade and Fidelity head the list. Two charts summarize the findings.
10. The Motley Fool	Broker Comparison table Staff of the Motley Fool As of Dec. 2007		This website compares five brokers -- TD Ameritrade, ShareBuilder, E*Trade, Fidelity and Scottrade -- on a range of criteria. The commission schedule includes fees for online trades, phone trades and broker-assisted trades. It also discusses whether extras such as ATMs, checking accounts or dividend reinvestment are available. Brokers are not ranked, and it's unclear whether their inclusion here is an endorsement from The Motley Fool or is paid advertising.

Online Brokers Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Online Brokers Ratings Comments on Reviews

11. Forbes >> Details/Subscribe	Best of the Web: Brokers Ben Berentson Not Dated		Forbes "Best of the Web" articles are supposed to be updated each year, but this article doesn't take recent mergers and acquisitions into account, since BrownCo (acquired by ETrade) and Harrisdirect (also acquired by ETrade) are listed separately. Schwab is rated the best online broker, followed by BrownCo, Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, ShareBuilder and TD Ameritrade. Links lead to outdated reviews focusing mainly on research tools and fees.
12. Keynote Systems	Keynote Performance Index for Broker Web Sites Editors of Keynote Systems Nov. 19, 2007		Keynote Systems rates online brokers every week based on their response time for placing a stock order and on the success rate of that order completion. At the time of our visit, the top three brokers for response rate were E*Trade, Scottrade and TD Ameritrade, all of which processed transactions in under four seconds.
13. Epinions	Brokers Contributors to Epinions As of Feb. 2007		Epinions allows site visitors to rate brokers. The only problem is that many reviews date back to 2000, and some of the brokers that land at the top of the list only have one review. Fidelity and Vanguard get fairly high scores from a number of people, however, all brokers receive some complaints. Those aimed at ShareBuilder focus on limited research tools and high maintenance fees.
14. The New York Times >> Details/Subscribe	Citadel Throws E*Trade a $2.55 Billion Lifeline Michael J. de la Merced Nov. 30, 2007		Michael de la Merced reports that Citadel Investment Group, a hedge fund, has come to the rescue of ETrade, whose banking subsidiary was caught in the growing worldwide financial crisis surrounding subprime mortgage-backed securities. Details of the rescue show that ETrade is paying a stiff cost.