Best Brokers for Cheap Trading Online 2011

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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. The top three broker results 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 by SmartMoney in 2010**.
  • 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 $.00395 per share.
  • A leading provider of direct market access trading technology.
Stock Trades* Options Base* Options Contract* Minimum Deposit
$3.00 $0.00 $0.60 $5,000.00

MB Trading

MB Trading Review

  • Top Rated 4.5 out of 5 Stars in the Barron's 2010 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
For our review of cheap brokers OptionsHouse came out on top because of its ultra competitive commissions rates for both stocks and options. Neither Zecco or TradeKing could match these discounted trades.

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

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

20 Contracts would cost the following:

OptionsHouse - $11.95
TradeKing - $11.95
Zecco - $17.95

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.

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