Don't be fooled by this introductory offer. Unless you're a day-trader, or are looking to re-balance 100 stocks you might have a hard time capitalizing on the 100 free trades. They're only commission-free for the first 30 days after you open the account and you have to pay upfront for the trades and E*Trade will refund you the cost within 8 weeks.
The no annual IRA fee and no account minimums is also offered by TradeKing.
Below you can see how E*Trade and the other major online brokers compare to TradeKing price-wise:
Stock Trades, TradeKing commissions are less than half E*Trade's:
Options Trading: TradeKing is almost 60% less
Broker Assisted Trades: You'll pay a premium to call in a trade with E*Trade:
E*Trade closed down it's savings account division on March 7, 2010, preferring to focus on generating revenue from it's broker division instead.
So what are the pros to E*Trade?
Well, some users report they like the ease-of-use, and they do have E*Trade Mobile Pro for the Blackberry and the iPhone.
Also, some of their commercials are funny, this one is the best I've seen:
Anyway, if you're looking to open a brokerage account, you need to do you own research and make sure you choose a broker that fits your needs. If you don't trade much, maybe commission costs aren't the most important factor.
So far I've heard nothing but good about TradeKing.
The rates for money market accounts, CD's and Savings Accounts are rising. See some of the highest rates in the nation and save money that way.
