Free account; trades from $0.75 to $9.95
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SUMMARY
Good pricing, easy to use system, and above average tools and features. Where E*Trade really excels is that it doubles as an investing and/or retirement account in addition to a trading account. One of the better all around platforms, although if you are looking for something more in-depth you will find better tools, features and pricing in other platforms. |
4.1
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E*TRADE Investing Platform Review
Although best known for its creative “Baby Investor” commercials, ETRADE boasts a full range of investing choices, personalized guidance, in-depth research, innovative and easy to use tools, and free education to help you grow your knowledge.
Standard pricing is $9.99 per trade, but they do offer a batch of free trades to get you started, and they have deals negotiated with many top mutual funds which allow them to offer them with no transaction fees (most do have an early redemption fee if you sell within 90 days, but this is typical and the fees are fairly minimal).
The new “ETRADE 360″ dashboard is very visually appealing in comparison to the old dashboard (which is still available), but it doesn’t offer much new functionality.
The most powerful feature by far is their stock screener, which is extremely in-depth and can be used to find stocks or funds which meet a combination of criteria including fundamentals, earnings, technicals and even insider trades.
One drawback is that quotes are on a 15-minute delay unless you meet their “power-user” status by making over 30 trades in one quarter. While this isn’t necessarily that many trades, it does equate to about $100 per month in trade fees; which is annoying considering that you can get free real-time quotes through Google Finance.
My overall rating: for experienced investors 4.5 out of 5 stars; for novice investors 3.5 out of 5 stars. There are other platforms which provide much better guidance and ease-of-use for those new to investing, but savvy investors will find this platform very powerful and more than adequate for their needs.
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