E*Trade Review

They’re a flat-out giant in the industry. E*Trade Financial now has customer assets in excess of $100 billion, and they’re one of (if not the) most famous online stock trading platform in the world, but is E*Trade the best choices for your trading needs?

In this E*Trade review, we’ll have a look beyond the slick marketing and the super bowl ads, and dig into what’s really on offer at E*Trade. Hopefully by the end you’ll have a good idea of whether or not they deserve your business.

Pros - Great research and investment planning tools, easy to use platform, top-of-the-line mobile apps, banking services, strong education, wide range of investment offerings.

Cons - Tiered pricing, inconsistent customer service, high margin rates.

Best For - E*Trade casts a wide net of offerings that will appeal to everyone from beginner to experienced investors, and active traders to long-term investors. They score big points on ease of use, research amenities, analysis tools and range of investments offered. Obviously, because of the tiered commission structure (more below) active traders will benefit more than casual investors when it comes to price. Nevertheless, E*Trade is a solid all-around choice for the average investor especially if you’re looking for a one stop shop for banking and trading.

Minimum To Open Account - $500

Special Offer: Open a E*Trade account today and trade free for 60 days + get up to $500!

Browser or Software/Mobile Apps - Browser, Software, iPad, iPhone, Android, Blackberry

Fees & Commissions

Equities: $9.99*
Options: $9.99 + $0.75 per contract*
Mutual Funds: $19.99
Bonds: $1 per bond ($10 min, $250 max)
Broker Assisted: +$45
Futures: $2.99 per contract + exchange fees
Platform Fees: $0
Margin Rates: Base + 4% to Base – 0.25%

*As I mentioned above, E*Trade is one of the few brokers that still offers a tiered commission structure. In order to qualify for $7.99 trades (and $7.99 + $0.75 per options contract), you must execute at least 150 stock or options trades per quarter. If you’re even more active, you can qualify for $6.99 trades if you make over 1,500 stock or options trades per quarter.

Investments Offered

Equities: YES
Options: YES
Mutual Funds: YES
ETFs: YES
FOREX: 6 currencies
Futures: YES
International Exchanges: YES

Although they don’t offer as wide a range of products as Interactive Brokers, TradeStation or Fidelity, E*Trade is still one of the leaders in investments offered.

If you’re looking to diversify your portfolio with global investments specifically, E*Trade gives you access to over 1,200 international mutual funds and ETFs. You can trade stocks online in 6 different markets (Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan and the U.K.)

Learn how you can Trade Free for 60 Days at E*TRADE Securities LLC

Research & Tools

Free Live Streaming Quotes: YES
Tax Lot Selection: YES
Breaking News: YES
Market Commentary: YES
Research Reports: YES
Market Analysis: YES
Trader Community: YES

A quick overview and some notes on tools:

E*Trade provides free access to independent research from S&P, MorningStar, ResearchTeam, and Thomson Reuters.

The Power E*Trade Pro platform, which provides an advanced service team and customizable trading tools, is available for free to customers who execute a minimum of 30 trades each calendar quarter. It’s even got some pretty cool features like live streaming CNBC TV inside the user interface. If you don’t make 30+ trades per quarter, you can still access the platform for $99/month.

If you’re a long-term investor, E*Trade’s Online Advisor is awesome. It’ll help you analyze, diversify and manage your portfolio with their state-of-the-arts (and easy to use) tools. Their Retirement QuickPlan tool in particular is a joy to use.

I’ve heard people call E*Trade’s mobile apps the best in the industry. I haven’t tried them all, so I can’t comment here, but I do know that you can make trades from anywhere, which is more than a lot of brokers offer with their mobile apps. If you want to get a quick idea of what you can do with the mobile apps, check out the short video below.

E*Trade Mobile Video Tour (1:00)

Learn how you can Trade Free for 60 Days at E*TRADE Securities LLC

Education

Free Tutorials: YES
Free Webinars: YES
Free Workshops: YES
Options Trading: YES
Futures Trading: YES
Stock Trading: YES
Bond Trading: YES
Mutual Fund/ETFs: YES

E*Trade has a pretty very impressive range of education if you’re looking to hone your skills. You can take your pick between videos, interactive tutorials, and live events featuring industry experts.

Customer Service

24/7 Support: YES
Live Chat: YES
Email: YES
Phone: YES
Branch Offices: YES (check out their branch locator)

Mixed reviews abound the internet about E*Trade’s customer service, but it’s tough to say if they’re outdated by now. I know that they have worked towards improving it in the last year or so, and they received the highest marks for customer service from Kiplinger’s in their 2011 review, so they’re clearly doing something right.

Learn how you can Trade Free for 60 Days at E*TRADE Securities LLC

Types Of Accounts

Virtual Trading: NO
No Fee IRA: YES
Individual/Joint: YES
Business: YES
Education: YES

Commentary In The News

#1 Overall Broker (StockBrokers.com, 2011)
#1 Online Broker (SmartMoney, 2008-2010)
5 Stars For Website Usability (Kiplinger’s 2011)
5 Stars For Customer Service (Kiplinger’s 2011)

Final Thoughts…

When it boils down to it, the typical investor cares most about three things when picking a broker: price, ease of use, and range of investments. While E*Trade doesn’t run away with all of these categories, they do offer one of the most balanced mixes of the three. Their tools are slick and easy to use, their research is solid, they give access to a wide range of products, and their price, even though it isn’t the lowest of the discount brokers, isn’t that bad either.

Special Promotions - E*Trade Promotion Code

Learn how you can Trade Free for 60 Days at E*TRADE Securities LLC

Many people have used E*Trade in the past, but the most useful reviews are always the most current, so we’d love to hear from current customers or people who have an account. If you fit into that group, please feel free to add to the BrokerStance community and share your own E*Trade review below. Thanks!