Scottrade vs. TradeKing: Compare The Best Discount Brokers
By Sun
Scottrade and TradeKing are another two very popular online discount brokers. Both of them have been around for quite a long time and won multiple awards for their services over the years. From my personal experience, I like Scottrade’s convenience because of their local presence. Also, with Scottrade, I can use money just deposited into my account to buy stocks immediately (as long as the price is $4 or above). As for TradeKing, they have a very neat interface and an array of research tools to help me research on stocks and ETFs. Their latest Blackberry Mobile Trading App really makes trading stocks on the go much easier.
Anyway, here’s a side-by-side comparison of the two brokers.
| Broker | Scottrade | TradeKing |
| Apply online | Yes, open an account | Yes, open an account |
| Account minimum deposit | $500 | $0.00 |
| Paperwork | No | No |
| Free trades | No | No |
| Referral program | Yes, 3 free trades | Yes, $50.00 |
| Stock commission | $7.00 | $4.95 |
| Options commission | $7.00 + $1.25/contract | $4.95 + $0.65/contract |
| Mutual fund fee (NTF)* | $17.00 | $14.95 |
| No-fee IRA | Yes | Yes |
| ACH | Yes (MoneyDirect) | Yes |
| ACH hold period | No** | 5 business days |
| Account transfer-in fee | No | No |
| Account transfer-out fee | $0.00 | $50.00 |
| Account transfer fee reimbursement | Yes, up to $100.00 | Yes, up to $150.00 |
| Dividend reinvestment | No | Yes |
| Check writing | Yes | Yes, for account balance of >$10,000 |
| Mobile trading | Yes | Yes, Blackberry App |
| Web based trading platform | Yes | Yes |
| Stand alone trading platform | Yes | No |
| Fractional shares | No | No, but yes with dividend reinvestment |
| Real-time stream quote | Yes | No |
| Free gain/loss tracker | Yes | Yes |
| Free research tools | Yes, including stock, ETF and mutual fund screener, CDs & bonds, news & commentary and more | Yes, including stock, ETF and mutual fund screener, technical analysis, and tax manager and more |
| Free educational seminars | Yes | Yes |
| Monthly fee | No | No |
| Local branch office | Yes | No |
| Investor community | Yes | Yes |
| Additional promotions | No | Yes, quite often (usually $50 bonus/account) |
*NTF: No transaction fee;
**You have to wait for 3 business days before using the fund to buy stocks that are less than $4.00/share at Scottrade;
If you don’t have an account with either one of them, which one do you like better from just the comparison, Scottrade or TradeKing?
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Author Info
Nice work, appreciate the side by side and the updated 2011 reviews. It took me a while to find this up to date information while considering which brokerage account to initiate.
I’ll see if I can get $50 into your account via referral.