Comments on: How Does Zecco Compare to TradeKing and ShareBuilder?

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 12:58:37 +0000

That’s a great idea, Dan. I can see why some people would prefer not to do that – for example, if they don’t trade often or prefer to have as few open accounts as possible. But otherwise this idea could save money in the long run.

By: Dan

Dan — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 09:48:19 +0000

Just read your post alan,

Why not just have a tdameritrade/TOS account with a small amount of money in it so that you can use all the free tools. Tdameritrade has no yearly fees. Then use tradeking for your actual trades.

By: Alan

Alan — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:11:47 +0000

I am in the process of closing my TradeKing and Zecco accounts. I don’t believe the $5 you save trading with them is work the lack of services.

There were a couple things that really bothered me with TradeKing. A wire transfer is cash money. However, if you wire money into TradeKing, and then need to get part of it back, they will not let you take out your money until after 10 days have passed from the time they received your wire. They are simply holding onto your clear cash to float your money and that is pretty crappy of them to do that. The second thing that I didn’t know when I opened my account with them is that they do not let you margin the leveraged ETF shares. That was a big surprise and a deal breaker for me. That is what lead to the surprise of them holding onto my cash that I wired to them for 1o days until I could get it back! That is crazy and for that policy alone I would not trade with them ever again.

If you really must save $5 per trade over better options, and you are going to decide between TradeKing and Zecco, I’d say TradeKing is the better choice of the two evils. Zecco is really bare bones; no pre or after hours trading allowed, no way to trade on mobile platforms, no service after hours, and a poor trading platform without any advanced order entry options. For example, you can’t enter an order triggers order with Zecco. (Say you want to automatically put in a stop order once your buy order is filled, you can’t do that with Zecco.) I had a bad experience trading a very leveraged ETF on 4x margin where the system would not let me enter my stop order. It could have been very serious if the market moved against me while I repeatedly tried to get the system to accept my order.

I’ve moved both my Zecco and TradeKing accounts over to TD Waterhouse. They charge $10 instead of about $5 that TradeKing and Zecco charges. If $5 per trade is going to make or break you, I don’t think you should be trading. I suggest you download the ThinkorSwim software (free) and check it out. It will blow you away. You can paper trade with a $100,000 account to try out the trading platform. For me the advanced real time streaming charts and advanced order capabilities at TD Waterhouse is way worth the extra $5 a trade. I’m really surprised the ThinkorSwim software is free. It blows away the streaming charts at TradeKing. At TradeKing you have to have a minimum of 25 trades per month to use their real time streaming charts. Try ThinkorSwim, you’ll love it. I run it with dual monitors and it gives me a very nice package of charts, news, and very advanced trade entry options. ThinkorSwim was the #1 rated internet broker and they have now merged with TD Waterhouse which was the #1 rated discount broker. Can’t go wrong with that combo.

I was drawn to the lower commissions at Zecco and then moved to TradeKing because of the extremely limited trading platform at Zecco. But it quickly became apparent that you get what you pay for and the extra $5 a trade at TD Ameritrade is well worth it for all the free tools, advanced orders, and real time streaming charts you get. With them you can even put in orders like “If the DOW falls by 3% buy TZA at market.”

PS – Just saw the post from Brad. TOS stands for ThinkorSwim. I agree 100% with him. Zecco and TradeKing is really amateur hour stuff.

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:45:36 +0000

I signed up with interactive brokers and they said they’re not running any promotions where they cover a ACAT fee

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:13:51 +0000

Chad: I have never used SoGoTrade, which is why I cannot compare them to TradeKing, Zecco, or ShareBuilder – three online brokerage accounts I have used before.

Zecco received so much attention and press because they offered free trades to virtually everyone – though that is not the case anymore. Of the three I mentioned, TradeKing is my favorite because of the interface, free tools and education, and the low prices.

By: Chad

Chad — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:47:12 +0000

Why nobody talks about sogotrade? This is still the best website for only 3 dollars a trade/option. Sogotrade is not as good as tradeking, but it’s better than zecco. OK! zecco’s used to have a good interface, but its no good now due to a new change that makes it a little bit confusing. Sogotrade web interface is not really good, but you can get used to it because if you trade a lot like me. Sogotrade is not a nobody like zecco, it comes from a big broker and not a broken bank underinvestigation by the us gov. Tradeking requires little document to open an account there, but it has a fun interface. At the end, all cheap one line trade brokers are fast. Choose the one that you like. I chose Sogotrade!

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 02:09:09 +0000

Thanks, Steve. From what I understand, TradeKing usually does a giveaway offer about once a year. They did it in October and November of last year, so it may be awhile before they do it again. but I agree with waiting. No need to open an account that you won’t use!

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:39:27 +0000

Thanks for the comparisons. I just opened a Sharebuilder account for a $90 bonus through costco. As I don’t really have any extra money to invest right now, I will most likely wait until TradeKing does some sort of bonus. The comparisons were very helpful though.