Scott Trade Vs. Ameritrade
Scottrade and TD Ameritrade are two of the more popular online stock brokerage companies. Modern discount stock brokers offer the ability to place buy and sell orders over the Internet, by interactive telephone or by talking directly with a broker. It is important to compare both the fees and services before selecting a broker.
-
History
-
Scottrade started as Scottsdale Securities in 1980 as one of the first discount stock brokers. The company initiated its online trading program in 1996.
TD Ameritrade has a history based in several companies. Accutrade was an early discount broker established in 1975. TD Ameritrade Clearing started a a clearing trade company. Ameritrade Inc. launched as an online broker in 1997. TD Waterhouse and Ameritrade merged into TD Ameritrade in 2006.
Offices
-
Scottrade has 306 offices throughout the United States. This can be very useful if you need to quickly do forms, deposit money or turn in stock shares.
TD Ameritrade has branch offices in over 40 major U.S. cities.
Stock Commissions
-
The commissions to buy or sell stocks are a big factor in selecting on online stock broker. Here are what these two brokers charge:
Scottrade
Internet order: $7
Interactive phone: $17
Broker assisted: $27TD Ameritrade
Internet order: $9.99
Interactive phone: $34.99
Broker assisted: $44.99
Option Commissions
-
Options trading usually involves multiple contracts per trade. Compare commissions using your average number of contracts per trade.
Scottrade: $7 plus $1.25 per contract for Internet trades. Other types are the interactive phone or broker assist rates plus $1.25 per contract. The charge for contract assignment or exercise is $17.
TD Ameritrade: $9.99 plus $0.75 per contract for Internet trades. Other types are the listed commission plus 75 cents per contract. Assignment or exercise is $19.99.
Other fees and services
-
Both Scottrade and TD Ameritrade offer free checking on accounts, IRA, bond, CD and mutual fund options. Both have advanced research and trading tools and you should look at each to determine if one is better for your trading style.
Both companies charge similar fees for margin accounts, paper statements and confirmations, wire transfers and account transfers. TD Ameritrade offers what they call an "Apex" account for investors that trade over five times per month or have account values greater than $100,000. Apex accounts have many service fees waived.
-
