I have been a TradeKing customer for more than two years. My experience is that it’s a decent broker despite that the commission it charges for stock trading isn’t the cheapest among online discount brokers. I talk about TradeKing quite often because it’s one of brokers I use quite often. If you are interested in getting the bonus, you can open an account before November 30 with a minimum $2,500 initial deposit and keep the month in the account for at least six months, plus a trade must be made within 180 days.

Besides, there are also other bonus offers from banks and brokers for opening a new account. Maybe you can find something you need

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

Online discount stock brokers Firstrade is having a triple sign-up bonus promotion. Open an account with Firstrade between now and December 31, 2009, and fund the new account, individual, joint, or IRA account, within 30 days after the account is opened to

• Receive 100 commission-free trades for funds of $2,000 or more
• Receive 100 commission-free trades and up to $100 ACAT rebate for funds of $25,000 or more
• Receive 100 commission-free trades and up to $100 ACAT rebate as well as a $100 cash bonus credited to the account for funds of $50,000 or more

Firstrade charges $6.95 per stock trade (see Discount Broker Comparison for details about commissions charged by brokers). So the value of the free trades is at $695. The terms and conditions to receive the bonuses are:

To receive up to a maximum of 100 commission free internet stock trades (equivalent to $695 in free trade commissions at a value of $6.95 per trade), account must be funded with equity valued at $2,000 or more within 30 days of account open date. Eligible non-retirement accounts will pay the commission on all trades at the time of trades ($6.95 for stock and options trades plus an additional $0.75 per options contract), and the account will be credited with up to $6.95 per trade within eight weeks of qualifying (excludes option contract fees). Eligible retirement accounts will receive commission-free online equity trades at the time of execution for 30 days after account funding. Qualified commission-free internet stock trades must execute within 30 days of account funding. You will not receive cash compensation for any unused free trade commissions.

To receive up to $100 account transfer rebate in additions to 100 free trades, account must have transferred equity valued at $25,000 or more within 30 days of account open date. You must apply for the transfer fee reimbursement offer by completing and submitting a Firstrade Account Transfer Rebate Form and an account statement providing proof of imposed transfer fees. Account Transfer Reimbursement Request forms and proof of transfer fees can be mailed or faxed to Firstrade. Submission must be postmarked within 90 days of account opening. Reimbursement will be made to your account via a credit approximately 6 – 8 weeks after receipt of the Account Transfer Rebate Form and proof of transfer fees.

To receive a $100 cash bonus in addition to 100 free trades & $100 account transfer rebate, account must be funded with $50,000 or more in equity within 30 days of account open date. Cash back bonus will be credited to your account approximately 6-8 weeks after funding date.

IRA accounts are not eligible to receive the $100 transfer rebate or $100 cash back bonus.

The 100 commission free trades seem to be a lot for most investors. However, since the free trades must be used in 30 days, I doubt how much investors can benefit from the promotion, especially those who take the buy-and-hold approach when it comes investing. As for the $100 account transfer fee reimbursement, it is pretty standard (see How Much Does It Cost  to Transfer A Brokerage Account?). As far as I know, many brokers, including Scottrade, TradeKing, and OptionsHouse, all offer at least the same amount of fee reimbursment.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

Chase Freedom Card is having a promotion which will give new cardholder $50 bonus after the first purchase. I got the card back in early 2007 and since then, it has become the card for shopping at grocery stores and gas stations since I can earn 3% cash back in these categories. However, the card has recently undergone a lot of changes, mainly downgrades in rewards. For example, the card on longer gives 3% rebate on fixed categories, replacing it with rotating categories. And in the past, every $200 bonus can be redeemed for a $250 check. That is gone as well (I got my $250 check when the offer was still available early this year). Nonetheless, the card is still better than many other rewards credit cards which have scaled back their rebates recently due to the change of credit card regulations.

The fine print for the $50 bonus offer says that existing cardmembers are not eligible for the bonus:

You will receive $50 in bonus rebates with this bonus offer, which can be redeemed for a $50 check. You will qualify for and receive your bonus after your first purchase/first use of the card. First purchase/first use includes purchases, balance transfers, or any checks that are used to access your account, and excludes cash advances. After qualifying, please allow 6 to 8 weeks for bonus rebates to post to your account. This one-time bonus offer is valid only for first-time cardmembers with new accounts. Existing cardmembers/accounts are not eligible for this bonus offer.

In addition to the bonus, Chase Freedom cardholders can earn 1% cashback on every purchase with no limit on how much cashback you can accumulate. Plus, you can get 3% cashback in rotating categories like gas, home improvement and department stores. If you shop through Chase shopping network, the rebate can be as high as 20% at selected merchants. The card doesn’t charge an annual fee.

Interested? Get a Chase Freedom Card and enjoy the $50 free money

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

• TradeKing $50 bonus for a new account: Open an account before November 30, 2009, deposit at least $2,500 and make a trade, and collect $50 bonus.
• CollegeAdvantage $50 bonus: If you open a 529 college savings plan with Ohio CollegeAdvantage, one of the best 529 plans, before December 15, 2009, you can receive $50 free money to jump start your college savings.
• ING Direct Business Savings Account $50 bonus: Looking for a business savings account that pays a decent rate? Try ING Direct Business Savings Account and get $5o. No account minimum required.
• Capital One Online Savings Account $50 bonus: A new reference code will give $50 if you open an account before November 25, 2009. Make an initial deposit of $10,000 and you can enjoy an annual yield of 1.60%.
• ING Direct Orange Savings Account $25 bonus: This deal has been around for a long time and it’s still quite attractive to many savers, despite ING’s 1.30% APY. Make $250 deposit and get $25 bonus.
• Prosper $50 bonus to start lending: Prosper, the peer-to-peer lending provider, is offering a $50 bonus if you open an account which no other requirement. That’s some easy money to get you started.
• PerkStreet Checking Account $50 bonus: Open a PerkStreet checking account and receive $50 bonus, plus get 1% cash back using the debit card.
• Lending Club $25 bonus to become a lender: If you are interested in becoming a lender, you can get $25 when opening a new account and start to lend ($25 is the minimum amount to invest in a loan). But remember investing in P2P lending involves risk.
• Zecco Forex 20% deposit bonus: I don’t trade forex, but if you do, then you can receive up to 20% of the deposit you make to your account with this promotion.
• OptionsHouse up to $100 account transfer reimbursement: OptionsHouse has a much lower commission for stock trading. At $2.95/trade, it beats many other popular online discount brokers. Transfer your account to OptionsHouse and get reimbursed for up to $100 account transfer fee.
• OptionsHouse 100 commission free trades: And you can also get 100 commission free trades from OptionsHouse if you open a new account is November and December and deposit $3,000. That’s $295 value for your.
• OptionsXpress $100 bonus: OptionsXpress isn’t cheap if you want to trade stocks or options with it, but its $100 bonus for just opening an account does look attractive if you want to have an account with the broker. Use the Contact form to request a referral link.
• Firstrade triple-bonus promotion: Get 100 commission free trades, $100 account transfer fee reimbursement, and $100 cash back when you open a Firstrade account, depending on your account balance.
• Zecco $30 bonus: I stopped the referral program some time ago because of problems tracking my references. Now I want to give it another try. Use the Contact form to request a referral link and get $30 Amazon.com gift card when you open an account and meet all the requirements.
• Scottrade 3 commission free trades: At $7 per trade, the value of the free trades is $21, not very much compared with other bonuses listed above. However, I have had very good experience with Scottrade so far, despite the no-so-low commission.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

I opened a Capital One Savings Account last year when the rate was much higher and much attractive than the current rate of 1.60% APY. To give you an idea of where Capital One is in terms of rate, take a look at how it compares with other popular online banks:

• Ever Bank: 2.51% APY (3-month bonus rate)
• Ally Bank: 1.65% APY
• DollarSavingsDirect: 1.60% APY
• WTDirect: 1.51% APY
• FNBO Direct: 1.50% APY
• HSBC Direct: 1.35% APY
• ING Direct: 1.30%APY

As you can see, Capital One is right in the middle. Actually, good rate for savings account is hard to find these days. Many banks are still lowering their rates (see Online Bank Interest Rate History for latest rates) while the benchmark rate has remained stable for a very long time. Among the bank listed above, one exception is Ally Bank, which recently raised its online savings account rate from 1.75% to 1.80% APY. This is the second rate increase for the bank in two months. Hope the move signals that savings account rates have already reached the bottom. We can all use a good rate for our money

Anyway, for this Capital One offer, it is valid for first-time customers only. If you are an existing customer of Capital One Direct Banking or had an account with them before, then you are not eligible for the bonus offer. To get the $25 bonus, you must open an account with promotion code SAVER25DF before November 25, 2009 and make at least $10,000 deposit (Online Savings account requires a minimum deposit of $10,000 to earn the 1.60% APY; balance below the minimum will earn 0.60% APY instead).

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

If you want to take advantage of this offer, all you need to do is following these steps:

1. Open a TradeKing brokerage account before November 30, 2009;
2. Fund the account with at least $2,500 within 30 days after the account is opened;
3. Make a trade 180 days of the account opening;
4. And collect $50 bonus.

Unlike the previous promotion, no reference is necessary this time to get the bonus. You can simply use this link to open an account and meet the requirements. However, you do have to keep the initial fund ($2,500) in the account for at least 6 months; otherwise, the bonus will be forfeited.

TradeKing is one of the stock brokers I am actively using. The broker charges $4.95 for online stock trading and $0.50 more for each contract in options trading. I have discussed TradeKing quite often here. To learn more about the broker, check out my TradeKing review for stock and options trading. The promotion ends November 30, 2009.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

Ohio CollegeAdvantage 529 Savings Plan, which was named by Morningstar one of the best college savings plans in April,  is running the promotion program again. If you are interested in opening a 529 account with CollegeAdvantage and receiving the bonus (and make some money yourself), simply follow these steps:

• Go to Ohio CollegeAdvantage and open an account;
• During the application, use reference code 2331122 in order to receive the bonus;
• Fund the account with at least $25 to qualify for the bonus;
• Receive the bonus in 7 t0 10 business days;
• Use the $25 bonus you just earned to start saving right away;
• Refer your colleagues and friends to CollegeAdvantage plan and earn more bonuses (up to $500).

I am using the plan myself and you can read my discussion of CollegeAdvantage and find more information about the plan. This offer ends on December 15, 2009.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

When the broker ran the program last year, I think it was quite successful from what I can see. Now the program is back with the same promotional bonus of $50. Here’s what you need to do in order to get the bonus:

Open a new, non-IRA account with TradeKing by August 27th with at least $1,000 deposit within 30 days of opening the account and make at least one trade within 180 days. TradeKing will then credit you $50.

If you are interested in getting the bonus, use the Contact page to send me an email to request a referral link with TradeKing referral in the subject. Also, be sure to check out my TradeKing review to get a better idea of the broker and see how it compare with other brokers.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

The online bank is currently running a promotion for its Electric Orange Checking Account. The promotion will give $25 bonus to each new customer when the following conditions are met:

1. Open an Electric Orange with promotion code EM298 by August 22, 2009;
2. Activate the Electric Orange MasterCard Debit Card;
3. Use the Electric Orange Card to make at least 3 signature-based purchases in the first 45 days after the account has been opened;
4. $25 bonus will be automatically deposited into the Electric Orange 50 days after the account has been opened.

Electric Orange is ING’s interest bearing checking account, but the interests paid on small account balance is close to nothing. Currently, an account with balance up to $50,000 only earns 0.25% APY. I don’t know if you like this account or not, but I am definitely not interested. If I have that amount of money, I will put it in a savings account instead to earn a much better yield.

BTW, if you are looking for $25 bonus to open an ING Direct Orange Savings Account, you can a lot of referral links here.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

I got this email from Zecco some time ago, but since I don’t trade Forex, I somehow forgot about it until now.

Early this year, Zecco, an online discount broker known for its zero-commission stock trading, launched Zecco Forex trading platform for currency traders. Now it’s giving up to $200 bonus for each new forex trading account that is opened and funded and at least one trade is made before July 31, 2009. The exact amount of bonus depends on the account deposit:

• < $1,000: $50 bonus
• $1,001 – $2,500: $75 bonus
• $2,501 – $10,000: $100 bonus
• > $10,001: $200 bonus

To get the bonus, simply open a Zecco Forex trading account using promotion code CashAd04, make a deposit and place one trade before the end of this month.

Once the conditions are met, the bonus will be credited within 3 – 5 business days. However, the cash bonus can’t be withdrawn from the account within 90 days of initial funding.

One the other hand, if you are interested in opening a brokerage account instead, use the following links to get 10 commission free trades every month:

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

The bank had run a few similar promotions in the past and from what I can see, the promotions were quite successful in generating interests. The yield of WTDirect savings account is currently at 1.76% APY, which hasn’t changed for more than three months (therefore, the rate is much more stable than rates of other banks). The rate isn’t the highest for sure, but it beats easily rates of other banks such as FNBO Direct, ING Direct, and HSBC Direct. The only drawbacks is that WTDirect requires a minimum balance of $10,000 in order to earn that interest rate. The yield is 0.15% APY for balance below $10,000. If like promotions the bank had before, then at least $10K is required to earn the bonus.

Right now, there isn’t much details on exactly how much bonus you can earn from the promotion, but it will depend on the amount of initial deposit, as in previous promotions. To earn the bonus, you must open and fund your account before July 31 and the money must remain in the account for at least three months (until October 30, 2009). If all the conditions are met, the bonus will be credited into your account by November 20, 2009.

Update: Here’s how much you can get from the promotion, depending on your initial deposit:

• Deposit and balance of $10,000: $25 bonus
• Deposit and balance of $20,000: $50 bonus
• Deposit and balance of $30,000: $75 bonus
• Deposit and balance of $40,000: $100 bonus
• Deposit and balance of $50,000 or more: $150 bonus

There’s no promo code for this offer. To get up to $150 free money from WTDirect, simply use this link to open an account.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

To get the bonus, you will need to register with the bank first. Information needed for the registration include last name, last 4 digits of checking account number, Zip code, and email address. Once the registration is done, you will get a confirmation with what to do next:

Remember, to receive your $25, simply pay 2 bills within 30 days with Online Banking.

I just registered myself and will pay 2 bills very soon (I have been using BofA online bill pay for a long time). Let see when the bonus will come.

Update: On the registration page, it says

This is a special limited time offer available to existing consumer and small business customers who have not made a bill payment with Bank of America Online Banking within the last 6 months.

So it looks like I won’t get that $25 bonus after all

Don’t have a BofA checking account? Then this is your lucky day. If you take advantage of this special offer to open checking account with $250 minimum, you can get another $75 bonus. With the $25 offer above, you can get as much as $100.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

Even though $4 per investment is quite low, the planned investment scheme itself lacks the flexibility if you want to invest at your own time, instead of a fixed day every month. In addition, the actual cost  of each investment can be rather high if only a  very small amount of money (for example, $100, which is quite typical for investors who do dollar-cost-averaging) is invested each month. If I want to invest in stocks, I’d rather pay $4.50 per trade to buy shares with Zecco, for instance, at any time I want than paying $4 to invest with ShareBuilder on the first Tuesday of the month.

Anyway, that’s just what I would do. If you like ShareBuilder’s scheduled investment scheme, you can use promo code SBMP25 to open a ShareBuilder account and get $25 bonus (valid for first-time ShareBuilder account holders only). To qualify for the bonus, you must open the account with the promotion code and make at least one trade. One these requirements are met, the bonus will be credited within 4 weeks.

BTW, this offer is from ShareBuilder via MyPoints. As I mentioned early, MyPoints let you earn reward points for free by simply clicking the ads they send to you every day. Each click can earn you 5 points and there are multiple bonus offers every day. If you want to accumulate points faster, you can actually take up the offers (if you like them of course). For example, for the ShareBuilder offer, in addition to the $25 bonus, you can also receive 550 points from MyPoints if you open the account through MyPoints. Points earned can be redeemed for gift cards (3,75 points for a $25 Amazon.com gift card). Check it out if the program interests you.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

If you are considering open a college savings account for your child’s future education, Ohio CollegeAdvantage 529 Plan makes a nice choice. The nationally available program was selected by Morningstar last month as one of the best college savings plans in the nation for its low cost, broad investment selections, and solid performance.

The CollegeAdvantage plan is running a spring promotion that will give $25 bonus to each new program participant if the account is opened before May 31st December 31, 2009. If you are interested, you can simply go to Ohio CollegeAdvantage and use reference code 2331122 open your account. The bonus will be credited 7 to 10 business days after the account opening.

Update:  The referral bonus is back. You can follow the above instructions to open an account and get $50 bonus. Offer ends December 31, 2009.

photo credit: Marcus Mo

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

Bank of America is offering a $50 bonus when opening a new MyAccess Checking Account with promotion code GROUP50 and a minimum initial deposit of $25. According to the offer page, there’s no monthly fee for MyAccess Checking Account opened with the above promo code. The bonus will be created within 50 days after the account is opened and funded. Offer expires on December 31, 2009. Use this like to open an account and get the bonus. In addition, BofA also gives $50 bonus for every new business checking account with an average minimum balance of $125 for the first 60 days and one check card purchase. Use this like and promo code SBEOFA1 to open an account and receive the bonus. BTW, I have my only checking account with BofA for years and I am generally happy with it.

Capital One is also offering $50 sign up bonus for its Online Savings Account (currently at 2.01% APY for $10,000 or more, more savings account rates). To get the bonus, the account should be opened and funded with $10,000 before April 15, 2009. I used the account for a while last year (check out my Capital One Online Savings Account review), but left after getting an account at Dollar Savings Direct. The Online Saving Account has no minimum balance requirement (a lower yield if balance below $10,o00 though) and no monthly account fee. If you are interested, use this link and promo code OFFER50 to open an account.

I also have a post on available bonuses from other banks.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

Anyway, are you interested in peer-to-peer lending?

If you are, then you can start your lending at Lending Club with $25 free money, available exclusively for readers of this blog. Opening an account at Lending Club is straight forward, taking only a few minutes to complete. Once you open your account, the bonus will be deposited into your account, so that you can invest it (that’s what I prefer to do with free money: Invest it and let it grow).

You may wonder what you can do with $25. Well, at Lending Club, you have a couple of options. If you are living in one of those states where direct lending is allowed, you can use Lending Club’s LendingMatch feature to find the right loan for you, at the minimum of $25. Or, if you are like me, who can’t invest in the primary market due to the residency restriction, you can still use Note Trading Platform to purchase an existing loan at $25 or less, like I did. Remember, when you purchase a loan (or note), make sure you don’t overpay for it.

If you just want to test out Lending Club to just get a feeling of it (the process of selecting a loan, the risk of lending, etc), but are reluctant to use your own money for the experiment, then the $25 free money is the right amount to get you started

To claim your $25 bonus from Lending Club, simply use this link to open an account and start to invest.

Update: Residents of these states, Kansas, Maryland, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Vermont, and DC are not allowed to open a Lending Club account now.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

CollegeAdvantage $25 referral bonus will officially end tomorrow, December 15th, 2008. Though there were rumors that the offer has been extended, from what I heard from CollegeAdvantage, the promotion will end tomorrow. If you want to take advantage of this offer before it expires, check out my original post on how to open an account and get the $25 bonus.

WTDirect up to $250 bonus promotion will end in one week on December 22nd, 2008. To receive the bonus, you must have at least $10,000 deposit, which will earn you a 3.06% APY. More details on WTDirect and the promotion can be found on the Savings Account Deals page.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

The cashback is offered via American Express Network. To receive this $20 credit, you will need to enroll your AMEX card (I enrolled my AMEX TrueEarnings Card, one of the best cashback credit cards) by providing necessary card information such as name, card number, expiration date, etc. Once you are done with the registration, a confirmation page (it’s always a good idea to print out the confirmation, I usually save it as a PDF file) will show that you are going to get the $20 credit when shopping at Walmart and spending at least $40 twice. The fine print of this offer says

You will be charged in full at the point-of-sale and your savings will automatically be credited to your statement within 5 days after you spend $40 or more 2 times from November 18 through December 18, 2008.

Not a bad deal if you are going to Walmart on Black Friday

Use this link to enroll and get the free money.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

• CollegeAdvantage $25 referral bonus: Get $25 when opening a Ohio CollegeAdvantage college savings account. Offer ends December 15, 2008.
• Firstrade $20 referral bonus: Open a Firstrade broker account and receive a $20 Amazon.com gift card plus 5 commission free trades ($6.95 per trade at Firstrade).
• Scottrade 3 commission-free trades: This offer is supposed to expire at the end of last month, but it seems it’s still available, with only 3 free trades. The only Open a account and get 3 commission-free trades ($7 per trade at Scottrade).
• Zecco Trading $20 referral bonus: Open a Zecco Trading account to trade stocks/ETFs for free plus get a $20 Amazon.com gift card and a book.
• TradeKing $50 signup bonus: Open a TradeKing account before November 30, 2009, deposit at least $2,500, and make a trade to receive $50 signup bonus.
• OptionsXpress $100 referral bonus: Receive $100 bonus when opening a new OptionsXpresss brokerage account and making a trade.
• WTDirect Savings Account up to $250 bonus: Get up to $250 bonus when opening a new WTDirect Savings account. Offer expired December 22, 2008.
• E-Loan Savings Plus Account $25 signup bonus: Open an E-Loan Savings Plus Account (currently 2.76% APY for balance of $10,000 or less) with a $100 minimum to receive $25 signup bonus. Offer expires December 18, 2008.
• ING Direct Orange Savings Account $25 signup bonus: Not the greatest return (2.75% APY) for your money, but sure is from a decent bank and this offer seems to be available forever. All you need is $250 deposit to get the $25 signup bonus.
• Virtual Bank eMoney Market Account $20 signup bonus: Open a Virtual Bank eMoney Market Account (up to 3.51% APY) with a minimum of $100 and receive $20 bonus.
• Ebates $10 bonus: Shop this holiday season at Ebates.com and get $10 bonus. Offer ends December 31, 2008.
• RevolutionMoneyExchange $5 referral bonus: Get $5 bonus when opening a RME account. Use it to send money to friends without having to pay a fee.
• Chase Freedom Card $50 bonus: Open a Chase Freedom Card and get $50 bonus after the first purchase.
• Discover More Card $50 bonus: Shop with Discover More Card and get $50 bonus when spending $500 or more.
• AMEX TrueEarnings Card $25 bonus: One of my favorite cash back cards. Get a new AMEX TrueEarnings Card and receive $25 bonus.

Update: Check out the latest bank & broker bonus offers and get up to $100 when opening a new account.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

Don’t have a Ebates account? Use Contact page to send me an email to request a referral link, or simply use this link link to sign up, make a purchase and enjoy the $10 bonus later.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

From now till October 31st, if you sign up with Ebates and make a qualified purchase, you will receive a $10 bonus. Interested? Use Contact page to send me an email to request a referral link, or simply use this link link to sign up, make a purchase and enjoy the $10 free money

Update: Ebates is currently running another $10 bonus promotion.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

• Deposit and balance of $10,000: $100 bonus
• Deposit and balance of $15,000: $150 bonus
• Deposit and balance of $20,000: $200 bonus
• Deposit and balance of $25,000 or more: $250 bonus

According to WTDirect, “Bonus will be credited to client’s WTDirect account during the first week of November, subject to the conditions noted above.”That’s a little longer than the 60-day period required for the bonus. So to be safe, it’s better to keep the account open until you receive the bonus if you decide to take this offer.

Currently, WTDirect has an interest rate of 3.31% APY with a minimum balance $10,000. The bonus offer is sweet, even though WTDirect doesn’t have the best rate for your money. For example, you can get a better rate from any of the following banks with lower balance requirements (complete list of bank interest rates):

• DollarSavingsDirect: 4.00% APY
• Ever Bank: 3.93% APY
• FNBO Direct: 3.25% APY
• HSBC Direct: 3.00% APY
• E-Trade Financial: 3.30% APY

Then again, if you can get the $250 bonus for keeping your money with the bank for 60 days, that’s a pretty good return.

If you want to take advantage of this promotion offer, use this kink to open account and use promotion code WTF3SOB.

Update: This offer has expired. Get the latest WTDirect Promotion Codes to open an account and enjoy 3.31% return. Also check out other available sign-up and referral bonuses up to $100 from banks and brokers.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

Now you have another chance to earn $25 if you open a E*Trade Complete Savings Account with just $1 deposit. I have discussed this product before, which currently pays 3.30% APY. Though the rate is pretty decent, it’s not the best offer you can find out there. In fact, quite a few banks have equal or better rate, including:

• Dollar Savings Direct: 4.00% APY
• Ever Bank: 3.93% APY
• WTDirect: 3.31% APY
• FNBO Direct: 3.25% APY
• HSBC Direct: 3.00% APY
• ING Direct: 2.75% APY

Of course, you don’t get any free money with them.

If you want to take advantage of this offer, use this link to open an account before August 13, 2008 and make $1 deposit, you will get your $25 free money. That’s pretty sweet

Update: This offer has expired. Check out the signup bonuses that are available now.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

As I have talked many times here on this blog that I am an active user of the UPromise program for several years, making nearly $500 rebates (though most were from Citi UPromise card) that were all invested in my daughter’s 529 plan. Actually, I think investing the rebate money, though a small amount, is better than taking it as cash and spending it.

Anyway, if you are not a member, joining UPromise is free and if you do join and make three eligibile purchases from there different merchants through their website before July 31, 2008, UPromise will send you a $10 Target Gift card. From the post card I received yesterday, the following retailers are excluded from this offer: Amazon.com, Avis, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Butterfield Blooms, Budget, Cryo-Cell, Eddie Bauer, Florist.com, Followers USA, FTD.com, Gift Sense, and The Sharp Image.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus

Among those listed on my referral page, one that I found as the easiest free money maker is ING Direct. Seriously, you can’t underestimate how many people still don’t have an ING Orange Savings Account and how many actually want to have one. I started to put referral links here at the end of April and in two months, nearly 100 people have taken those links and opened a savings account for themselves. That not only made me $250 richer but also helped several other people collected hundreds in bonuses because after I finished up my referral links, I also took unused links from them and posted them here to benefit both parties. Since each account holder can refer up to 25 people for Orange Savings Account and another 25 for Electric Orange Checking Account, it could mean $500 for anyone who has an ING account (the demand for the Electric Checking Account isn’t that strong though).

Don’t have an account? Then that’s even better because if you use any of the links listed in my ING Direct promotion page to open an account and fund it with at least $250, you can get a $25 bonus immediately. Once your account is ready, you can start to refer people and earn bonuses. Have no means to run your referrals? Not a problem. I can host your links for you. Just go to this page and leave a comment. I will get back to you when I need new links

In addition to ING Direct, other programs that let you earn referral bonuses include:

• RevolutionMoneyExchange: I reviewed RevolutionMoneyExchange early. It’s a nice service, though not as popular as Paypal. With RevolutionMoneyExchange, you can earn $10 per new signup for up to $500.
• TradeKing: I wrote a TradeKing review yesterday. With TradeKing, you will get $50 for every person you refer to and earn a maximum of $5,000 bonuses.
• Zecco: Zecco will pay you $50 for every new customer and there’s no upper limit on how much you can earn. I had some success with their referral problem, but stopped it after some issues with Zecco.

Though the above three are not as popular as ING Direct and making money from them is not as easy as either, but still not bad if you can get a bonus from them

Update: Check out the currently available referral and sign-up bonuses from banks and brokers.

Original Post on The Sun's Financial Diary

Special bonus offers

• OptionsHouse 100 Commission Free Trades
• Lending Club $25 Sign Up Bonus
• TradeKing $50 New Account Bonus in November
• CollegeAdvantage $50 Bonus