For information on the seminars or to use the financial calculators simply head to Scottrade’s education page (hat tip Amber).

After playing with the IRA comparison calculator we found that our best option was to maximize contributions to a Roth IRA over a Traditional IRA. Screenshot below.

If any of our readers attends a free Scottrade seminar please let us know as we would love to hear your feedback.

Scottrade is very well known for their overall client experience. Read our Scottrade review and stay up to date with the latest Scottrade News.

Originally launched back in April the new community site was only available to select Scottrade customers. Since though Scottrade has allowed all members access and now the public is permitted to take a peak but not create an account.

I had the opportunity to have some questions answered by a Scottrade representative to find out more information. Here is what they had to say:

1. What is the idea behind the Scottrade Community?

The Scottrade Online Community was created to allow customers to communicate with and educate each other. The Online Community is a place for our customers to come together, collaborate, discuss and learn about new ideas regarding Scottrade’s platforms, products and services. Scottrade customers can also provide feedback directly to Scottrade product specialists who develop and manage the trading tools, products and platforms used by Scottrade customers. This ability allows Scottrade customers to have a true voice in their own trading experience.

2. I noticed the main content generation area was with the blogs, is the main purpose for instance to share investment ideas?

Blogs, discussion groups and file sharing combined with content such as photos and videos/podcasts on the Scottrade Online Community, allow customers to share ideas, strategies, tips, articles, layouts, filters and spreadsheets. Whether customers share strategies or talk about how they use ScottradeELITE® most effectively, these tools are available for customers to learn from one another.

3. Am I looking at what will be a Community similar to Tradeking and Zecco where members can share actual trades as well or is this something different?

The Scottrade Online Community does not integrate actual trade information into the Community. The Community is focused on learning and open dialogue with like-minded individuals.

What I find interesting is Scottrade’s viewpoint of focusing on education over say the positions you are currently holding in your broker account. The site looks very simple right now as far as design is concerned but should prove to be pretty effective if the team can actually allow members to do everything they plan.

For more information please view the official press release and visit Scottrade.com. Screenshots below:

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I went searching for online broker ads as a result and found 10 that I thought were pretty good. For the sake of fitting them all I only focused on smaller button ads.

Which one do you think best grabs your attention?

TD Ameritrade Advertisement, “No maintenance fees.”

TD Ameritrade Advertisement, “$9.99 trades. No surprises.”

Charles Schwab Advertisement, “Back test your trading strategies.”

Charles Schwab Advertisement, “Learn how to keep more of what you make.”

Scottrade Advertisement, “Up to $100 back when you switch.”

Scottrade Advertisement, “No-Fee IRA.”

Zecco.com Advertisement, “$0 Stock Trades.”

Advertisement, “$4.95 A Trade, Join Today.”

Advertisement, “Get $50. Switch now.”

Etrade Advertisement, “100 Free Trades.”

More on Stock Brokers:

• Top 5 Online Stock Brokers
• 12 Ways to Compare Online Brokers
• Understanding Flat-Fee Trades
• How to Get Free Real Time Quotes
• Guide to Changing Online Brokers
• View All

**NEW** - Check out the Stock Broker Forum.

Some of the reasons for investors to choose stock broker Scottrade over its competitors are:

1. Online Stock Trades are just $7

2. Just $500 to Open an Account

3. No Fee IRAs

4. Exceptional Customer Service

5. Chinese Language Services

6. Account Linking to other Scottrade Accounts

7. Real-Time Account Balances and Free Streaming Quotes

8. Free Cost Basis Accounting

9. Low Margin Rates

10. Complimentary Dow Jones News

11. No Inactive Account or Account Maintenance Fees

12. $25,000,000 Account Protection

The services Scottrade offers its clients are in fact impressive. They have also won numerous awards for customer service, taking #1 spots year over year. Finally, they also have an award winning trading platform called ScottradeELITE which is built exclusively for active traders.

Other Stock Brokers Reviews:

• Zecco
• TradeKing
• Etrade
• ShareBuilder
  
• TD Ameritrade
  
• Fidelity
• Interactive Brokers
  
• OptionsXpress

More on Scottrade:

• Scottrade Adds New Tool: NASDAQ Velocity and Forces
• Scottrade Launches New Mutual Funds Center
• Scottrade Releases SmartText Analyzer

More on Online Stock Brokers:

• 12 Ways to Compare Your Online Broker
• 10 Great Online Stock Broker Advertisements
• Understanding Flat-Fee Trades
• How to Get Free Real Time Quotes
• View All

**NEW** - Check out the Stock Broker Forum.

Recently online brokers TD Ameritrade and Scottrade have developed new trading tools that can be used allus investors.

TD Ameritrade Pattern Matcher

According to TD Ameritrade with this free trading tool you can find stocks with specific technical chart patterns that use best match your trading style. Designed completely for technical traders, the tool allows you to save time while letting the tool do all the pattern searching for you.

The key benefits of the TD Ameritrade Pattern Matcher tool listed in the email I received are that you can:

Identify stocks that match well-known, textbook trading patterns.

Enter stock symbols to find other stocks that have similar patterns.

Customize your preferences and filter data to create your own unique search.

Analyze the results of your pattern search in a table or chart.

Add or create a Watch List from the results to easily monitor potential trading opportunities.

This investment tool is free for all TD Ameritrade clients and only is available in Command Center 2.0. You can learn more about the tool and see more images of it on the TD Ameritrade site.

Scottrade NASDAQ Velocity and Forces

Scottrade has broken the ground as being the first online brokerage firm to offer a NASDAQ tool that helps traders identify trends and track market momentum.

From the press release I was sent (hat tip Patricia at Scottrade) the tool works as such:

NASDAQ Market Velocity® is a real-time visual representation of the level of market activity in individual stocks and exchange traded funds (ETFs) by measuring the frequency and share volume in aggressively-priced orders against historical averages. It can indicate changes in market direction, momentum or liquidity in each stock, enabling users to imply future price movements and trends. By measuring the intensity of the trading interest, traders can decide whether to execute their trading strategies before other traders by comparing the expected order activity in a stock with the current activity to detect surges in trading interest before the trade occurs.

Is that confusing? Just watch this video below and see the trading tool explained visually:

The downside to this investment tool? Sadly it is only available to Scottrade Elite clients.

From the press release:

” Features of Scottrade’s new Mutual Funds Center include:

- An easy-to-use mutual funds screener that can search funds by availability and other criteria, such as whether a fund is on Scottrade’s no transaction fee platform.
- Detailed Lipper Leader ratings for all mutual funds to help investors select funds that meet their individual investment styles and goals.
- Detailed expense information.
- Real-time customizable charts, with Scottrade SmartText, which describes each chart in plain English.
- A new comparison tool that easily compares up to five mutual funds at a time.”

I recently mentioned their new SmartText Analyzer tool here on the blog as well. I am currently not a Scottrade client so I cannot give my personal review of the new mutual fund center, so read the full press release or simply visit Scottrade.com for more information.

Source:
Scottrade Launches New Mutual Funds Center with Easy to Use Research Tools
Patricia Lee, Scottrade
December 12th, 2007

SmartText is designed to allow for market analysis on not only individual stock charts, but also sectors & industries, and also provides analysis of company earnings reports.

The demo gives you access to analyzing Moving Average, Bollinger Bands and MACD. And your Scottrade account will also gives you access to the following indicators: Parabolic Sar, Price Channel, Slow Stochastics, Relative Strength, On Balance Volume, Williams % R, Directional Movement Indicator and Ultimate Oscillator. SmartText is integrated into the three areas of Scottrade’s quote & research section.

Example with Intel analysis

To get an idea of what how the tool works, here is what the tool said for Intel, which can also be found in the screenshot below,

“Intel Corp. INTC is trading below its 13 day moving average. However, this moving average is trending higher which suggest that there has been interest in this stock.”

An automated system for basic users

It is very simple to figure out the system is automated, meaning all the analysis is really just default sayings with fill in the blanks for company names and tickers.

Once you have used SmartText everyday for a month or so I imagine it would become pretty repetitive and you will have most responses memorized. After a while just by looking at an ordinary stock chart and performing your own technical analysis you should be able to distinguish its relative outlook.

A focus on education

I see Scottrade SmartText more as an education tool versus an actual trade idea tool. Any investor should seek more advice beyond a simple moving average comparison to determine whether or not a stock is a buy.

For new traders though SmartText could be very useful as it could help you figure out and perform simple technical analysis.

OPEN A SCOTTRADE ACCOUNT – Click Here!

Some discount stock brokers are known for their award winning customer service while others are known for inexpensive or even free stock trades. This review will highlight some of the best stock brokers available based on trading fees.

1. Zecco

Zecco with its offering of free stock trades has become a very competitive discount broker as far as pricing.

The site is home to the ZeccoShare Community of over 150,000 investors and recently announced was Zecco forex trading which is now available for all clients.
Breakdown below:

Commissions = 10 free trades each month with $25,000 or 25 trades, otherwise $4.50 per trade and $.50 per option contract.
Known For = $0 Stock Trades.

–> Open a Zecco Account.

2. TradeKing

TradeKing offers investors fantastic customer service and extremely competitive trade commissions. All trades are $4.95 and $.65 per option contract.

TradeKing is also home to the Trader Network with over 150,000 members all sharing trade ideas, research, and market analysis. Breakdown below:

Commissions = $4.95 trades and $.65 per option contract.
Known For = Outstanding Customer Service and Discounted Trades.
Recent Awards = 4 out of 5 Stars Barron’s 2009.
Special Offers = Receive $150 when you switch to TradeKing.

–> Open a TradeKing Account.

3. Etrade

Etrade is another online broker ranked in the elite. Commonly seen on TV with its Etrade baby commercials investors can trade for as low as $7.99.

Etrade offers trading anytime, anywhere with its Etrade Mobile Pro service available on both the BlackBerry and iPhone. Day traders and active traders can take advantage of Power Etrade Pro which is its elite trading platform. Banking services are also available.
Breakdown below:

Commissions = $7.99 trades and $.75 per option contract for qualified investors.
Known For = Great Broker for Active Traders, Cutting Edge Account Security.
Recent Awards = #1 Online Broker & Best Banking Services Smart Money 2008.
Special Offers = Receive 100 Free Trades with your new account. Open a new account and receive a free BlackBerry.

–> Open a Etrade Account.

4. OptionsXpress

OptionsXpress offers investors an all inclusive quality service for a competitive price. OptionsXpress is one of the only brokers that allows investors to trade stocks, etfs, mutual funds, options, bonds, and even futures all under one brokerage account.

Recently OptionsXpress acquired Optionetics to expand its options educational offering to clients. Virtual trading is offered to clients alongside support for international investing.
Breakdown below:

Commissions = $9.95 trades and $1.25 per option contract for qualified investors.
Known For = Trade Execution, International Investing, Competitive Options Broker
Special Offers = Practice trading with a Free Virtual Trading Account.

–> Open A OptionsXpress Account.

5. TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade offers a strong combination of competitive trade prices, customer service, and research tools. TD Ameritrade offers branch services throughout the United States and is commonly seen on TV Commercials and throughout the web via its strong online advertising campaign. Breakdown below:

Commissions = $9.99 trades and $.75 per option contract.
Known For = Being a well-rounded stock broker.
Special Offers = Receive free stock trades with a new account.

Other Notes

Honorable mention goes to Scottrade which is well known for their customer service and flat fee $7 stock trades. Scottrade has a $500 minimum to open an account.

Free trading can also be attained through Bank of America and Wells Fargo with a minimum of $25k alongside other requirements. For the simplicity of this review both brokers were not included. Furthermore, brokers that do not have flat rates and instead charge per share (Interactive Brokers, Thinkorswim, etc.) were also not included.

Read Also, 12 Ways to Compare Your Online Broker and explore our Stock Broker Forum.

Full Stock Brokers Reviews:

• Zecco Review
  
• TradeKing Review
  
• ShareBuilder Review
  
• TD Ameritrade Review
  
• Scottrade Review
  
• Fidelity Review
  
• Etrade Review
  
• OptionsXpress Review
  
• Interactive Brokers Review