Comments on: Low-Cost Stock Trading: 5 True Discount Brokerages

By: SavingEverything

SavingEverything — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:32:48 +0000

Have anyone heard of, or have experience, with the following brokers: Interactive Brokers, TradeStation, TradeKing, SogoTrade, OptionsHouse, OptionsXpress, thinkorswim (owned by Ameritrade), FirsTrade, TradeMonster, Zecco, ScotTrade, e-Trade, ShareBuilder, Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard, TDAmeritrade? Has anyone heard of Penson Financials and Genesis Securities?

By: Red

Red — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 21:52:26 +0000

I too had a very bad experience with Sharebuilder. They gave me wrong information and then they said it was my fault that they took double of the amount I requested to be transferred from my bank account. One supervisory said it was our fault, they’ll take care of it but I would have to call another day. I called another day, they said they can’t honor what they said before because this is a new day with new rules. I’m taking my business elsewhere. I’m looking for another company that honors their promises.

By: mark

mark — Sat, 09 May 2009 05:49:59 +0000

I’ve had problems with Sharebuilder as well. They recently lost a $600.00 check I mailed to them. After ten days, they blamed me. They also didn’t place trades that I had ordered at the opening of the markets as I had requested. My total loss due to their messups— $600.00 approximately. I’m now looking for another broker. Too many excuses.

By: Broc

Broc — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:18:27 +0000

Anyone have experience with Sogo? I have Zecco account and find them very good, except for foreign stocks? I’ll be working on that with them :)

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:02:00 +0000

As of March 1, 2009, Zecco changed their policy regarding the minimum account balance required to be eligible for free trades. People should be aware that the minimum account balance to obtain free trades has increased from $2,500 to $25,000.

While this may not impact most “traders” who are accustom to paying fees for trades, the responses from Zecco customers were not positive. Per some of the other comments posted, review the “social community” responses to the recent changes. It appears that a number of customers felt alienated by the adjustment to the business model and applying those changes to existing customers.

It is important to note that Zecco still does not offer after hours trading, so if this is a feature that you value, it may be worth it to explore other low-cost brokerage options.

I became a customer of Zecco in 2007 and was initially attracted to the company because of the free trade model. I retained my ETrade account because I prefer the format and they provide better research and after-hours trading, which Zecco does not offer. In terms of customer service, I have always had positive experiences.

By: john sloan

john sloan — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:35:11 +0000

I took a good advice and signed up with scottrade.com and got 3 free
trades with this promo code: YWEU0574

By: jamie

jamie — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:00:56 +0000

i have had bad experiences with sharebuilder as they restrict the securities that you are allowed to invest in saying it must meet their criteria but when you show them that it does they then use the excuse that allowing you to invest in it will drive up the price and then you will be able to buy fewer shares

i think that they are hiding something as i always thought that when you buy shares in something it is a good thing if the price goes up

By: John

John — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:36:51 +0000

As a young company Zecco is working out a few kinks, but improvements are being made quickly. We kick ass thanks to our social network and transparent investing community. What’s also cool is that investors can join our community without opening a Zecco account, so collaboration is free and transparency is celebrated.

John (ZeccoShare Community MC)

By: dunkoman

dunkoman — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 04:27:31 +0000

Beware of Zecco trading! They will execute canceled orders if it will push you into the paid trades number! Very scary! Best to stay far away from this one.
Customer service was totally incompetent as well when I complained about the canceled orders being executed.
I went back to Scottrade for now, the trading interface is much better, and canceled orders go away immediately, and you can change them as many times as you like.

By: Black Hammer

Black Hammer — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:12:50 +0000

E*Trade really rapes us on ESPP commissions. Even selling multiple blocks as a single transaction it seemed like they just multiplied the commission by the number of blocks.

By: Tony Leach

Tony Leach — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:23:56 +0000

Hey Flexo, thanks for the writeup on the different brokerages. I gotta ask – did you check out any of Zecco’s social features (ZeccoShare)? We think it really sets us apart!

Tony (Zecco Product Manager)

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:38:25 +0000

Woohoo! I just checked since I thought that sharebuilder still charged 15.95 to sell. Yep, you were right with $9.95.

By: zeromoney

zeromoney — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:30:45 +0000

I’d love to see the same thing written up for us Canadians. It’s something that interests me but I don’t know where to begin, and get overly confused as soon as I visit one of those trading sites.

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:46:35 +0000

Man, you work through your “to-do” list quickly! Thanks for the informative article.