Best Brokers for Cheap Trading Online 2012

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When choosing an online discount broker for cheap stock trading online the cost of placing trades is in focus. For this review we looked at the lowest broker commissions for both stocks and options. Several of our top broker recommendations are below.

OptionsHouse

OptionsHouse Review

Receive 100 commission free stock trades for opening a new account (Learn More).
Trade Options up to 5 contracts for $5 ($1 each thereafter) or $8.50 + $.15 per contract.

Stock Trades*	Options Base*	Options Contract*	Minimum Deposit
$3.95	$8.50	$0.15	$1,000.00

TradeKing

TradeKing Review

Rated #1 Online Broker for Customer Service in the StockBrokers.com 2012 Review.
Transfer your broker account to TradeKing and have up to $150 in transfer fees reimbursed (Learn More).

Stock Trades*	Options Base*	Options Contract*	Minimum Deposit
$4.95	$4.95	$0.65	$0.00

Lightspeed Trading

Lightspeed Trading Review

Stock trades as low as $.0045 per share.
A leading provider of direct market access trading technology.

Stock Trades*	Options Base*	Options Contract*	Minimum Deposit
$4.50	$0.00	$0.60	$5,000.00

MB Trading

MB Trading Review

Top Rated 4.5 out of 5 Stars in the Barron's 2012 Review of Online Brokers.
One of few online brokers offering flat per contract options trades with no base fees.

Stock Trades*	Options Base*	Options Contract*	Minimum Deposit
$4.95	$0.00	$0.95	$1,000.00

Zecco

Zecco Review

$4.95 equity trades.
ZeccoShare Community home to over 200,000 traders sharing investment research and ideas.

Stock Trades*	Options Base*	Options Contract*	Minimum Deposit
$4.95	$4.95	$0.65	$0.00

Interactive Brokers

Interactive Brokers Review

Trade on over 80 different exchanges and market centers in 19 countries.
Equity trades are $.005 per share with a minimum of $1.00 and a maximum of .5% of trade value.

Stock Trades*	Options Base*	Options Contract*	Minimum Deposit
$2.50	$0.00	$0.70	$10,000.00

For our review of cheap brokers OptionsHouse came out on top because of its flexible commissions rates for both stocks and options.

Optionshouse separates itself by offering $3.95 flat rate stock trades and two commission plans for options trades. The first is a straight forward "5 for $5" rate; trade up to 5 contracts for $5 with any further contracts costing just $1 each. The second plan is $8.95 base rate with each contract costing $.15. Read our OptionsHouse Review for full rate details.

Cheap Stock Trades:
Placing a single round-trip (2 trades) for 100 shares of a $30 stock will cost the following for each broker:

OptionsHouse - $7.90
TradeKing - $9.90
Zecco - $9.90
MB Trading - $9.90

Cheap Options Trades:
Placing an options trade for 5 contracts will cost the following for each broker:

OptionsHouse - $5
TradeKing - $8.20
Zecco - $8.20
MB Trading - $4.75

20 Contracts would cost the following:

OptionsHouse - $11.95
TradeKing - $17.95
Zecco - $17.95
MB Trading - $19.00

50 Contracts would cost the following:

OptionsHouse - $16.00
TradeKing - $37.45
Zecco - $37.45
MB Trading - $47.50

To see exactly how much money could be saved by switching to one of the brokers featured above use the trade cost calculator to calculate potential savings over a 1, 2, or 3 year period.