5 Top Online Stock Brokers

Investors should know the best online stock brokers to trade with. The following top online brokers offer traders the most value for their investment portfolios.
Some online stock brokers are known for their award winning customer service while others are known for inexpensive or even free stock trades. This guide will highlight some of the best stock brokers available today.

1.ETRADE was ranked #1 Online Broker 2011 by StockBrokers.com. E*TRADE offers trading anytime, anywhere with Etrade Mobile Pro and Power ETRADE Pro offers active traders world class trading tools.
Current E*TRADE Offer: Trade free for 60 days (500 free trades max) + Get up to $500 with any new account!
Open an account at ETRADE

2. thinkorswim
thinkorswim was rated the #1 Online Broker 2010 by Barron's*. Offering one of the best known trade platforms for active traders, the broker was rated as “best for frequent traders,” and “best for options traders” in 2010 by Barron's*.
Stock trades are a flat-rate $9.99 per trade or $.015 per share with a $5.00 minimum.
Open an account at thinkorswim

3. TradeKing
TradeKing offers investors fantastic customer service, ultra competitive trade commissions, and is home to the Trader Network with over 200,000 investors all sharing trade ideas, research, and market analysis..
Current Offer: Switch to TradeKing and get up to $150 in transfer fees reimbursed.
Open an account at TradeKing

4. OptionsHouse
OptionsHouse was ranked the Best Broker for Discounted Trading 2011 by StockBrokers.com and offers $3.95 flat fee trades alongside two flexible rates for options trading.
Current Offer: Receive 100 free trades with any new account!
Open an account at OptionsHouse

5. Scottrade
Scottrade was honored as #1 for Customer Loyalty 2009 by Brand Keys.
Scottrade has over 400 local branch offices for personal service and offers competitive $7 flat-fee stock trades. Scottrade clients can also take advantage of premium trading tools through the Scottrade Elite and OptionsFirst platforms.
Open an account at Scottrade

Online Brokers Comparison Chart
Compare online brokers with our stock brokers comparison chart! All the online stock brokers and discount stock brokers mentioned above are featured. Included are easy to read star ratings, pricing and fees information, and even a features overview section to see every broker's latest promotional offer.

3 Tips for Comparing Brokers
When choosing your online broker, here are some great tips to remember to help you decide:

1. Narrow down a list of what is most important to you - Just because a broker offers cheap commissions or live customer support with local branch offices doesn't mean it is the right broker. Just like when shopping for a new home, making a focus list of wants will help you separate choices to ultimately make a decision. For an investor that travels often for example, mobile trading will be more important than the cost of placing trades. 
2. Choose a broker with high acclaim and that is well known - The larger the online broker is almost always equates to more features, functionality, tools, better customer service, etc. Some brokers have hundreds of thousands of clients, if not millions, and these are the ones that almost always deliver the best trader experience.
3. Be aware of miscellaneous fees - This relates to #2, but be conscious of what fees the broker is charging. No smaller brokers are recommended on this site specifically for this reason. There are usually many hidden fees that are only found by digging through their website. To see what fees brokers charge, I recommend using the stock broker reviews on StockBrokers.com.

For more help in this area see my article How to Choose the Best Online Broker.
thinkorswim was rated #1 overall online broker, "best for frequent traders," and "best for options traders" in the 2009 Barron's ranking of online brokers (3/16/2009), and the 2010 Barron's ranking of online brokers (3/15/2010). Barron's is a registered trademark of Dow Jones & Company © 2010.


thinkorswim, Division of TD Ameritrade, Inc. and Reink Media Group LLC are separate, unaffiliated companies and are not responsible for each other's services and products.

Adapted from http://www.stocktradingtogo.com

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