Scottrade

Average at best

$7 commission these days isn't that cheap. They charge 1/2% transaction fee for any stocks under $1 so if you trade pennies fees will add up over time. Trade execution was always pretty good and their customer service is helpful. But don't see much reason to sign up with these guys unless having one of their branches you can walk into to pick up a check or whatever is a big thing for you.

Kali_Trader

Tools
Customer Service
Value

Bare bones but solid and great for OTC/Pinks

Scottrade does not have the bells and whistles of an E-Trade or an Ameritrade but if you trade penny stocks like I do, I think Scottrade is the better broker.

E-Trade ALWAYS trades against you when you try to buy or sell penny stocks or illiquid securities.

Ameritrade many times doesn't let you buy a wide range of penny stocks.



Scottrade lets you buy anything, their commissions are reasonable and they always route true and fair to NITE to represent your orders, unlike E-Trade.

They're not pretty, they're not fancy but they're solid good: Scottrade.

CharlotteC

Tools
Customer Service
Value

Customer service sucks

I had closed my account years ago but for some reason that I still can’t figure out why, a couple of bucks was left in my account. I kept getting statements through the years which I never thought twice about until I was billed for a “paper fee.” I called them and was told to send an email to moneymovements@… to get the account officially closed. So I did and in response I receieved a terse and rude email telling me that address was not where I should be sending correspondence to close an accout that was supposedly already marked “closed.” This email came from Liz Arndt, Chief Operations Officer.

Sometimes you might get treated like this from the rank and file, but you would never expect it from an executive. The environment breeds on itself and if customer service and being treated professionally is important to you, you might want to keep looking for a broker who values you as a customer.



When I was with them I always thought they should make Elite available to everyone since other brokers have at least what Elite offers. But without Elite and the sheer disrespect I received from a company officer, there's no way I would recommend them.

Traderpards

Tools
Customer Service
Value

Good for the swing trader, not good for speed and execution

Just not the best for intraday trading,

Slow executions on penny stocks, that have cost me at least $5,000 in profits because of the bad or no executions.

Good for Swing Trading

OddStockTrader

Tools
Customer Service
Value

not my choice

There are some ups and down to having scottrade as your broker.. but from my experience mostly downs. Scottrade is a retial broker and requires you to have a minimum of 25k to daytrade. So if you have a smaller account and are starting out then you will only be allowed to daytrade 3 times every week. Scottrade also has horrible short borrows and doesnt allow shorting of stocks under $5. The customer service is good and Sally was always helpful and got me my answers fast. However, there are alot of other great brokers out there that provide you with so many more opportunities than retial brokers. If you are focusing on daytrading stick to prop firms.

Traderseye

Tools
Customer Service
Value

Decent Brokerage

Scottrade has been good for me so far. Coming from TD Ameritrade, I find Scottrade easier to use. I am not a big trader and I get my research from different locations even my old TD Ameritrade account.

So if you are looking for a brokerage that is easy to use then I would recommend Scottrade.

Investinator

Tools
Customer Service
Value

Good if you trade a couple times a month

I opened an account with them to get my feet wet about six months ago. Customer service is good, and they're helpful when you need assistance. Recently, I've become more active and the commissions were beginning to really add up. I called them to ask if they would lower my rate because I was trading a lot more and they wouldn't budge. I started looking around at other firms and all I can say is I don't know how these guys stay in business. I guess they're ok if you trade a couple times a month, but if you trade every day, it doesn't make sense to trade with Scottrade. I've found several firms that I'm interested in taking a closer look at, and I've calculated I would save about 60% in commissions!!! In this day and age where there are so many firms out there that offer much lower rates and better tools, it just doesn't make any sense for me to stay with Scottrade.

Craksprd

Tools
Customer Service
Value

Not for Option Traders

Holy nightmare. It seems like common sense that a brokerage firm that handles options would actually have some educated brokers that were helpful. I was truly surprised years ago when I was actually educating the broker at the trade desk about capital requirement for a spread trade. I only hope they've improved, but have no interest in finding out based on my experience and what I continue to hear from other traders.

Here's a very specific problem: Ridiculous capital requirements to put together defined risk spread trades. What do I mean? Well, how about adding a short call spread to a short put spread (a.k.a. iron condor), and being required to withhold additional capital in the trade...even though the risk doesn't change a PENNY.

If you don't get what I mean because you don't trade option spreads, it's as simple as this: a stock CANNOT close for the day (options expiration day) at TWO different prices, and that is what they are telling you when they require additional capital to place the aforementioned trade.

I've also heard nightmares about restrictions in IRA's, and reasoning being given that is flat out false...such as "you can only buy calls/puts and write covered calls in an IRA" (wrong) ~or~ "it's an SEC rule...". Really? Then why can I trade spreads in my IRA with dozens of other brokers in the US? For Canadians, it is a different deal with RSP regulations, but I don't live there.

They would serve their clients better if they stuck to what they're good at... cheap stock trades for people that trade stock.

PoolSideSunshine

Tools
Customer Service
Value

If still traded stocks I would be with scotttrade

They were my favorite brokerage when I used to trade stocks.. nothing like those massive corporation that treat you like a number. Their fees are much less than their competitors.. definitely go with scott trade

JDinFL

Tools
Customer Service
Value

online broker

Scottrade for me is the most convenient broker so far. They have many branches in my area which makes depositing funds easy and quick. Their online trading site is pretty easy to use.

Xavyc3

Tools
Customer Service
Value