If you have maxed out your current trading platform, TD Ameritrade is your next step up. This broker can provide retail investors, traders and independent registered investment advisors the best trading platforms available. This online options broker manages over 5.5 million funded accounts and averages nearly 400,000 trades per day. They employ over 5,000 full-time associates to provide 24/7 customer service, and it's this focus on serving their customers that earns them our TopTenREVIEWS Bronze Award.
TD Ameritrade can support any type of options order you want to place, and you can place orders via trading software, online, with your mobile phone or even using your iPad. Stock analysts who like to do their homework can take advantage of the powerful Thinkorswim platform, and their mobile site can even support complex option orders, including multi-leg orders.
If you look at many user reviews you will notice that many of them berate TD Ameritrade for continuing to hold on to their higher prices. Most brokers entering the discount broker market have embraced lower flat-fee trades and broker-assisted order fees. Some discount brokers charge less than $5 per trade and don't charge anything for broker-assisted orders. TD Ameritrade charges $9.99 for trades and starts at $44.99 for broker-assisted orders.
Options orders with this broker are $9.99 each plus $0.75 per contract, $34.99 plus $0.75 per contract for interactive voice response orders, and $44.99 plus $0.75 per contract for broker-assisted orders. Commissions on exercise and assignments are $19.99. For smaller orders of 5-10 contracts, the fees add up to about 40% higher than other discount brokers, and large orders of 100 or more are nearly three times as much. However, in their defense TD Ameritrade does offer some of the best trade and research tools we have seen.
Margin rates are also a bit higher than our top ranked discount brokers. Currently, using the base rate of 7.75%, the margin rate ranges from 6.25% to 9%. Cash sweep accounts earn an interest rate of 0.00999%. Other fees TD Ameritrade charges include $75 for full outgoing account transfers, $25 for outbound domestic wires and $2 for paper monthly statements (though certain fees do not apply to Apex clients). You can qualify as an Apex client if you average five or more traders per month or maintain a total account value of at least $100,000.
TD Ameritrade provides a wide range of trade tools, from powerful analytic software to mobile phone trading. With this broker you can trade online, with your mobile phone, via trading software, through your online account or through a broker. So, whether you are new to the market or a skillful investor, you can choose the trading platform that suits your trading style the best.
Their online platform is rather typical and similar to what you will see offered by other brokers. However, their software is more in tune with traditional trading software and provides complex analytic tools. TD Ameritrade obtained this software when they acquired the Thinkorswim Group in 2009. This stock research tool has continued to evolve through the years and now has a cleaner interface and more media and social media elements. We think experienced traders who have been using trade software for years will appreciate the tools provided by Thinkorswim. This software as well as their Mobile Trader provide virtual trading environments that allow you to test strategies risk free. Unlike most software, Thinkorswim also works with Mac and Linux operating systems.
This broker also provides a tool called Trade Architect, which is a trade platform that incorporates streaming market data, traditional analytics and powerful web-based ordering. In terms of complexity, it sits between simple online ordering and Thinkorswim. This platform includes access to their interactive myTrade community, through which you can post questions and read comments. You can also access myTrade through the Thinkorswim platform.
TD Ameritrade provides tools for trading on all mobile devices. With their mobile tools you can manage your portfolio, access research and quotes, and place trade orders. They provide specific apps for Android, Blackberry, Windows and iPhone platforms. You can also download their iPad app from the Apple App Store. For other devices, they provide an optimized mobile website where you can place standard trade orders as well as ETFs, futures, forex trades and complex options orders.
As a full service broker, TD Ameritrade is capable of providing customer service ranging from a dedicated account representative to a virtual assistant. They provide 24/7 telephone support in English, Cantonese and Mandarin and support in Spanish during standard business hours. You can also correspond with them via email, fax, standard mail or through your online message center. You can also visit with an account representative face to face at one of over 120 of their branch locations. They have numerous offices located in such states as California, Texas, New York, Florida and Pennsylvania.
Indirect support and education options include online courses, webcasts, live workshops, articles and video tutorials. Their online courses include beginner topics in basic investing and expert classes in forex and options trading. Webcasts include free webcasts, archived webcasts and recent webcasts. Live workshops cover basic trading and advanced strategies in larger cities such as Dallas, San Jose and Washington, D.C.
TD Ameritrade has cast a wide net and has the ability to provide trade tools for all types of options traders, from those that have become accustomed to broker-assisted orders to those that want to be able to place an order from their iPhone within seconds. They have also evolved to include social media elements that contemporary traders utilize as well as sophisticated, data-intense analytic software that market experts capitalize upon.
