Best Stock Brokers for Long Term Trading

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As part of our 2012 broker review we took a close look at the best brokers for long term trading. Investing long term is about having access to quality 3rd party research, comprehensive trade tools, and an overall feature rich website. Compare our four recommendations below:

TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade Review

Trade free for 60 days and receive up to $600 cash with any new account.
Gain access to over 100 commission free ETFs.

Stock Trades*	Options Base*	Options Contract*	Minimum Deposit
$9.99	$9.99	$0.75	$2,500.00

ETRADE

ETRADE Review

Trade for free your first 60 days (up to 500 free trades) with any newly funded account of atleast $2,000 (Learn more).
Rated the #1 Online Broker by SmartMoney for three straight years**

Stock Trades*	Options Base*	Options Contract*	Minimum Deposit
$9.99	$9.99	$0.75	$500.00

optionsXpress

optionsXpress Review

Acquired by Charles Schwab, giving clients an even more thorough broker offering.
Receive $100 when you fund a new optionsXpress account with $500 (Learn More).

Stock Trades*	Options Base*	Options Contract*	Minimum Deposit
$8.95	$0.00	$1.50	$0.00

Scottrade

Scottrade Review

Straight forward commissions for both stocks and options.
Gain access to over 500 local branch offices throughout the United States.

Stock Trades*	Options Base*	Options Contract*	Minimum Deposit
$7.00	$7.00	$1.25	$500.00

We found that TD Ameritrade had the best overall offering for long term investors. TD Ameritrade was crowned the champion in our 2012 broker survey because of its all around feature rich experience provided to clients. A vast offering of 3rd party research, 24/7 customer service, over 100 commission free ETFs, and two award winning platforms - thinkorswim and Trade Architect - round out an A+ client experience.

All of the above top brokers - TD Ameritrade, ETRADE, optionsXpress, and Scottrade - had very similar commission plans, with the edge however going to Scottrade. All four brokers charge around $10 per equity trade ($9.99, $9.99, $9.95, and $7 respectively). While more pricey than their discount broker competitors, it was the overall offerings that made the biggest statement. Some of the most common differences between one of these brokers versus a discount competitor include depth of research, customer service, mobile trading support, and most importantly the quality of offerred platforms and tools.

In our testing we found it to be a close matchup as each broker had specific features they really shined with. For example ETRADE had the best mobile application with ETRADE Mobile Pro while TD Ameritrade and optionsXpress offer their clients access to trading stocks, etfs, mutual funds, bonds, forex, and even futures. TD Ameritrade also boasts two best in class platforms, thinkorswim and Trade Architect. Then there is Scottrade, who won our award this year for the Best Overall Client Experience, giving clients access to over 500 local branch offices.

Current Offers:
Latly, as far as new account offers go, both ETRADE and TD Ameritrade currently offer the best incentives for opening a new account with 60 days free trading alongside up to $500 in cash depending on your deposit amount.

Comparison Tool:
Still not sure which broker to choose? Compare TD Ameritrade vs ETRADE vs optionsXpress vs Scottrade using our comparison tool.