Etrade Financial Online Stock Broker Speed Review
E*trade Financial is one of the top online brokers taking investment clients beyond trading and into banking, retirement, and more. They were ranked the SmartMoney #1 Online Broker 2008 (June) and offer support in 10 different languages to clients in numerous countries across the world.
Some of the reasons for investors to choose stock broker E*trade Financial over competitors Scottrade, OptionsXpress, Zecco, ShareBuilder, TD Ameritrade, and Fidelity are:
1. Flat-fee stock trades from $6.99*
2. Publicly Traded since 1996 under ticker symbol ETFC
3. Asset Protection including Fraud Protection, FDIC Insurance for Banking, and SIPC Protection for Trading
4. Optional to clients is a Digital Security which makes unauthorized login virtually impossible
5. Trade stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds, ETFs, and ADRs.
6. Free streaming real-time stock quotes, advanced charting and stock screeners
7. Integrated access to all your Etrade broker accounts
8. Free independent research from six leading sources
9. Accounts in 40+ countries worldwide
10. Top online broker for security and account protection
11. 2 second execution guarantee or your next trade is free
* Trade Commissions – When you open a standard account the fee per trade is $19.99. If you make 30 trades or more in a quarter then you are automatically enrolled into Power E*Trade and cost per trade is just $9.99.
The services E*trade offers its clients are in fact impressive. They have also won numerous awards, taking #1 spots every year since origination.
<– Open An Account! Click Here.
Other Stock Brokers Reviews:
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- TradeKing Review
- ShareBuilder Review
- TD Ameritrade Review
- Scottrade Review
- Fidelity Review
- OptionsXpress Review
- Interactive Brokers Review
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**NEW** - Check out the Stock Broker Forum.
Do not forget that their trading platform is cutting edge, and in my opinion, the best in the industry.
I am to my wits end with E*Trade. To sum it up, about 3 months ago, I opened up an account with etrade, and set up online transfer to transfer funds from my bank account. Made the transfer, and waited. After a week of no money in my account, and no word from E*Trade, I contacted customer service. They told me the funds should clear within 7 business days. 7 business days passed, and still no funds, so I called back, and they said the funds were returned and there was a “hold” on my account, and I needed to lift the hold by faxing them a form of government picture ID. I faxed them the ID, and tried to make a deposit again. Again, the funds were returned after 2 weeks, and I was charged a $25 fund return fee. I called customer service, and they said that because of the hold, I needed to sent a personal check, and they couldn’t give me any reason as to why my direct deposit wasn’t going through. I had the correct account number, and info for the account, but E*Trade wasn’t accepting it. I’ve set up multiple direct transfers before with other companies, and E*Trade is the only one I have had a problem with. I even “verified” the account with E*Trade before attempting the transfer, and it was shown as “verified” under my etrade account. Frustrated, I sent E*Trade a check to start up a new account. After they received it, it took 2 WEEKS to clear. In short, it took me almost 2 months just to get funds in to my account. I should have withdrawn my money and closed my account, but I decided to give them another chance. I optimistically thought that once I got the funds in to my account, E*Trade would function properly. I was wrong. I made a few trades (never got the “100 free trades” etrade was offering with a new account because they said it was only valid for the first 30 days the account is active. They had a “hold” on my account for the first 2 months!) and things were going fine, until last week when I checked my E*Trade account, and my net assets have completely vanished! $0.00 . I called customer service immediately, and they said they were just having technical issues with their online account, and to give it “24-48 hrs”. At this point I am fed up with the “24-48 hrs” line. I give it a WEEK and my net assets are still at $0.00, so I call them back today, and I’m informed that there is a “hold” on my account. I asked to speak with a supervisor, waited on hold for 20 minutes, and the same lady came back on and told me that the supervisor told her to send an email to one of their different accounts, and it would take “24-48 hours”. She said they would either lift the hold, or they would need me to fax in a form of government picture ID. I asked her what I could do with my existing portfolio, and the answer was “NOTHING”. I have thousands of dollars in a portfolio that I cant even see. I can’t buy, sell, or even check my balance. I can’t close the account, I can request a stock certificate and cut my losses, I can’t do a thing. I’m at the mercy of the incompetent customer service of E*Trade. I once heard someone say that “stupid people learn from their own mistakes. Smart people learn from the mistakes of other”. Be smart, and STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY. You will save yourself TIME and FRUSTRATION.
The same thing seems to be happening to me. I have not been informed of a hold yet, but my assets have vanished – and I am talking about a lot of money here.
When I called them this evening, I was told that I would need to call back tomorrow morning.
I will be closing this account as soon as I can, I hope that is sooner rather than later. I do not pay for a brokerage account so that I can be ignored, regardless of the features offered.
Etrade has lousy customer service, you can expect it to go under – its that easy.
eTrade is not as cheap as it sounds with the $6.99 trades. Unless you are a frequent trader you are going to pay $19.99 per trade. Farthermore, if you don’t continue to give them money by making mininum trading quotas, they will make you pay a low activity “fine” (they call it a service charge) of $25.00 per quarter. They farther kick you in the backside when you try to close your account by charging you $50.00 to close it, on top of the $125 fee charged to withdraw from the account. Please see the following url for a list of all the hidden fees that eTrade charges.
I am closing my account with them because I feel they are such a rip-off.
https://swww.canada.etrade.com/pages/home/fees3.shtml
Sounds like E-Trade is an awful company. Hidden Fees and charges. Penalty fees per quarter. Garbage. F*ck THEM!
After reading jr1185’s E-Trade experiences and the comments of others, I’m suprised this type of business conduct is legal.
Plans to roll over my 401k to E-Trade are now on hold.
It seems that damage has been done and there should be some recourse. This sounds like more than poor Customer Service.
I use Etrade for their high yield savings account and that has been fantastic thus far. Very competitive rates. I have not tested the trading aspect of the site yet though.
If anything it seems the trick is to qualify for the $6.99 trades right away.
E trade made a trade that wasn’t authorized and was beyond my account balance..They loaned me $100 to make it WTF.. I contested so they sold my stock to recoup there $100 and charged me a transaction fee. Now my account has a 90 day freeze for selling unsettled stock. Forget trying to talk to someone on telephone you can’t even call them because of their BS phone system wants your account password or a reset. Then they ask you questions you answer about yourself and they tell you it was the wrong answer.
You’ll now have to fax notarized docs to prove who you are.
I’m glad I did feeler account with them I’m going to try and get my money back. I’ll let you know how that goes.
Stay away from this inconsiderate company all they want is your money to buy short stocks and give you counterfeit’s.. Heard that rumor on message board yesterday and I wouldn’t doubt it one bit.