Scottrade vs. Firstrade - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

soma · 06-12-2005, 03:01 PM

I'm in the process of cleaning out my Ameritrade account and moving to another online broker. I've heard good things about Scottrade's low comissions, but have also heard that some of their trading tools are really terrible. And then there is Firstrade, which charges the same amount of money per trade as Scottrade and seems to be a good broker. Does anyone have experience with these companies. Which would you recommend? Are there other brokers I should be looking at?

Thanks.

kcme · 06-13-2005, 07:06 PM

May I ask why you are moving from Ameritrade? I've been thinking of opening an account there

soma · 06-14-2005, 08:41 AM

Paying Ameritrade's comission seems unreasonable when there are much better prices out there. Also, Ameritrade's tradings tools I found to be useless considering the many free alternatives that are out there. The only trading tool I really used were the real time quotes, which you can get with just about any other broker. If I were you, I'd recommend going with Scottrade.

soma · 06-16-2005, 05:34 PM

For anyone interested in learning more about both brokerages, here are some links and my opinion on both:

Scottrade Demo
Firstrade Demo

Scottrade vs. Firstrade
Overall, I'd say that Scottrade's the winner and that's where I'm headed. IMHO, they have a nicer site interface and I'm interested in using their price alerts. Although other sites have price alerts, I think this would be especially convenient to have this included with my brokerage account. The only thing going for Firstrade are their free mutual fund trading, their stock screener, and their ever so slightly lower trading commission. I especially like their stock screener because it isn't too big or too small and very useable. Fortunately, the free screener at Businessweek.com is even more comprehensive, so I won't feel too bad about not choosing Firstrade. I also don't invest in mutual funds and won't loose sleep over paying 5 cents more per trade with Scottrade.

Edit: I shouldn't completely dismiss Ameritrade as an online broker. They do have another business called Izone which offers 5$ market & limit orders. The commission is really great, but you have to qualify for it (2 years of online brokerage experience and a $5000 initial deposit). I don't know how legit this is, but it seems to be the most highly regarded online broker among the online investing community.

AVoiceOfReason · 06-20-2005, 12:50 PM

I'm looking for an online broker, too; the price per transaction isn't that big a deal to me, since I won't be day-trading. What I'm interested in is how good the information is at the end of the year for tax computations. I hate trying to keep up with my cost basis and gains/losses. I want a nice printout, telling me the day I bought, sold, and the profit/loss.

How are Scottrade, Firstrade, Ameritrade and others on this point?

CMH · 06-20-2005, 12:59 PM

Firstrade is my first shot at trading stocks, so I have nothing to compare it to. Works great for me.

I hate trying to keep up with my cost basis and gains/losses. I want a nice printout, telling me the day I bought, sold, and the profit/loss.

Firstrade does this pretty well, although it is online, not a printout.

soma · 06-20-2005, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AVoiceOfReason

I'm looking for an online broker, too; the price per transaction isn't that big a deal to me, since I won't be day-trading. What I'm interested in is how good the information is at the end of the year for tax computations. I hate trying to keep up with my cost basis and gains/losses. I want a nice printout, telling me the day I bought, sold, and the profit/loss.

How are Scottrade, Firstrade, Ameritrade and others on this point?

Probably the best way to do this is call or email the brokers you are interested in. Here is a list of brokers reviewed by forbes:

http://www.forbes.com/bow/b2c/category.jhtml?id=5

AVoiceOfReason · 06-20-2005, 07:05 PM

Thanks, Soma and CMH, I'll look into this.

View Poll Results: Which Broker?
Scottrade	2	50.00%
Firstrade	2	50.00%
Other	0	0%
Voters: 4. You may not vote on this poll

06-12-2005, 03:01 PM	#1 (permalink)
soma Addict Location: USA	Scottrade vs. Firstrade I'm in the process of cleaning out my Ameritrade account and moving to another online broker. I've heard good things about Scottrade's low comissions, but have also heard that some of their trading tools are really terrible. And then there is Firstrade, which charges the same amount of money per trade as Scottrade and seems to be a good broker. Does anyone have experience with these companies. Which would you recommend? Are there other brokers I should be looking at? Thanks. __________________ Having Girl Problems?

06-14-2005, 08:41 AM	#3 (permalink)
soma Addict Location: USA	Paying Ameritrade's comission seems unreasonable when there are much better prices out there. Also, Ameritrade's tradings tools I found to be useless considering the many free alternatives that are out there. The only trading tool I really used were the real time quotes, which you can get with just about any other broker. If I were you, I'd recommend going with Scottrade. __________________ Having Girl Problems?

06-16-2005, 05:34 PM	#4 (permalink)
soma Addict Location: USA	For anyone interested in learning more about both brokerages, here are some links and my opinion on both: Scottrade Demo Firstrade Demo Scottrade vs. Firstrade Overall, I'd say that Scottrade's the winner and that's where I'm headed. IMHO, they have a nicer site interface and I'm interested in using their price alerts. Although other sites have price alerts, I think this would be especially convenient to have this included with my brokerage account. The only thing going for Firstrade are their free mutual fund trading, their stock screener, and their ever so slightly lower trading commission. I especially like their stock screener because it isn't too big or too small and very useable. Fortunately, the free screener at Businessweek.com is even more comprehensive, so I won't feel too bad about not choosing Firstrade. I also don't invest in mutual funds and won't loose sleep over paying 5 cents more per trade with Scottrade. Edit: I shouldn't completely dismiss Ameritrade as an online broker. They do have another business called Izone which offers 5$ market & limit orders. The commission is really great, but you have to qualify for it (2 years of online brokerage experience and a $5000 initial deposit). I don't know how legit this is, but it seems to be the most highly regarded online broker among the online investing community. __________________ Having Girl Problems? Last edited by soma; 06-16-2005 at 05:51 PM..

06-20-2005, 12:50 PM	#5 (permalink)
AVoiceOfReason Psycho Location: Greenwood, Arkansas	I'm looking for an online broker, too; the price per transaction isn't that big a deal to me, since I won't be day-trading. What I'm interested in is how good the information is at the end of the year for tax computations. I hate trying to keep up with my cost basis and gains/losses. I want a nice printout, telling me the day I bought, sold, and the profit/loss. How are Scottrade, Firstrade, Ameritrade and others on this point? __________________ AVOR A Voice Of Reason, not necessarily the ONLY one.

06-13-2005, 07:06 PM	#2 (permalink)
kcme Upright	May I ask why you are moving from Ameritrade? I've been thinking of opening an account there

06-20-2005, 12:59 PM	#6 (permalink)
CMH Upright	Firstrade is my first shot at trading stocks, so I have nothing to compare it to. Works great for me. I hate trying to keep up with my cost basis and gains/losses. I want a nice printout, telling me the day I bought, sold, and the profit/loss. Firstrade does this pretty well, although it is online, not a printout.

06-20-2005, 07:05 PM	#8 (permalink)
AVoiceOfReason Psycho Location: Greenwood, Arkansas	Thanks, Soma and CMH, I'll look into this. __________________ AVOR A Voice Of Reason, not necessarily the ONLY one.