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Commission Notes
Firstrade offers commission-free trading for both stocks and options.
Stock Trades - $0. Stocks priced under $1 per share are also $0 per trade. Broker-assisted phone trades cost $19.95 for stock trades and $19.95 + $.50 per contract for options trades.
Options Trades - $0 per contract. Exercise & assignments are also free.
Mutual Funds - All no-load mutual funds cost $0 per trade. There is no commission for load-funds and NTF (no transaction fee) funds. Additional fees may apply depending on the fund.
Trade Commissions Breakdown
| Feature | Value | |
| Minimum Deposit | $0.00 | |
| Stock Trades | $0.00 | |
| Stock Trades (Per Share) | N/A | |
| ETF Trade Fee | $0.00 | |
| Mutual Fund Trade Fee | $0.00 | |
| Options (Base Fee) | $0.00 | |
| Options (Per Contract) | $0.00 | |
| Options Exercise Fee | $0.00 | |
| Options Assignment Fee | $0.00 | |
| Futures (Per Contract) | N/A | |
| Broker Assisted Trade Fee | $19.95 |
Margin Rates
| Feature | Value | |
| Margin Rate Under $24,999.99 | 8.75% | |
| Margin Rate $25,000.00 to $49,999.99 | 8.25% | |
| Margin Rate $50,000.00 to $99,999.99 | 7.75% | |
| Margin Rate $100,000.00 to $249,999.99 | 7.25% | |
| Margin Rate $250,000.00 to $499,999.99 | 7.00% | |
| Margin Rate $500,000.00 to $999,999.99 | 5.10% | |
| Margin Rate Above $1,000,000.00 | 4.50% |
Miscellaneous Fees
| Feature | Value | |
| IRA Annual Fee | $0.00 | |
| IRA Closure Fee | $0.00 | |
| Account Transfer Out (Partial) | $55.00 | Fee for a partial account transfer (ACAT) of cash or securities to another brokerage. |
| Account Transfer Out (Full) | $75.00 | Fee for a full account transfer (ACAT) of cash or securities to another brokerage. |
Account Features
Offering of Investments
| Feature | Value | Definition |
| Stock Trading | Yes | Offers stock trading. |
| Fractional Shares | No | Customers buy and sell fractional shares, e.g. 1/2 a share of Apple (AAPL). |
| OTCBB / Pink Sheets | Yes | Offers OTCBB / Pink Sheet stocks trading. |
| International Trading | No | Provides customers the ability to purchase shares of stock that trade on exchanges located outside of the United States. If you live overseas, please use this tool - https://www.stockbrokers.com/guides/best-international-brokers. |
| Direct Market Routing - Stocks | No | Ability to route stock orders directly to a specific exchange designated by the client. |
| Options Trading | Yes | Offers options trading. |
| Complex Options Max Legs | 4 | The max number of individual legs supported when trading options (0 - 4). For example, Iron Condor has four total legs. |
| Options Exercising (Web) | No | Exercise an option via the website or platform. |
| Options Exercising (Phone) | No | Exercise an option via phone. |
| Advisor Services | No | Offers formal investment advisory services. |
| Bonds (Corporate) | Yes | Offers corporate bonds. |
| Bonds (Municipal) | Yes | Offers municipal bonds. |
| Bonds (US Treasury) | Yes | Offers US treasury bonds. |
| CDs | Yes | Offers certificates of deposit (CDs). |
| DRIPs | Yes | Offers dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs). |
| Mutual Funds | Yes | Offers mutual funds trading. |
| Mutual Funds (No Load) | 13777 | Total number of No Load mutual funds offered. |
| Mutual Funds (NTF) | 3767 | Total number of No Transaction Fee (NTF) mutual funds offered. |
| Mutual Funds (Total) | 19027 | Total number of mutual funds offered. |
| Mutual Funds Phone Trades | Yes | Can place mutual fund trades via phone. |
| Mutual Funds Web Trades | Yes | Can place mutual fund trades via the website or platform. |
| Crypto Trading | No | Offers cryptocurrency trading. |
| Futures Trading | No | Offers futures trading. |
| Forex Trading | No | Offers forex trading. |
| No Fee IRAs | Yes | Offers no fee IRAs. Requirement: no annual maintenance fee. |
| No Inactivity Fees | Yes | Charges no yearly inactivity fee for not placing a trade or not actively engaging in the account. |
| Member FINRA | Yes | Member of FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) - finra.org. |
| Member SIPC | Yes | Member of SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation) - sipc.org. |
| Clearing Firm | Apex Clearing | The broker's clearing firm. |
Customer Service
| Feature | Value | Definition |
| Phone Support (Prospect Customers) | Yes | Offers phone support for prospective customers. |
| Phone Support (Current Customers) | Yes | Offers phone support for current customers (includes click to call back). |
| Email Support | Yes | Email support for clients. |
| Live Chat (Current Customers) | Yes | Live chat support for current customers. |
| Live Chat (Prospect Customers) | Yes | Live chat support for prospective customers. |
| 24/7 Support | No | Is customer service offered 24 hours, 7 days a week? |
Trading Platforms and Tools
| Feature | Value | Definition |
| Desktop Trading Platform | No | A downloadable Windows- or Mac-based desktop trading platform. |
| Web Trading Platform | Yes | Offers a web (browser) based trading platform. |
| Active Trading Platform | Firstrade Navigator | The flagship trading platform. |
| Watch Lists - Total Fields | 47 | Total available fields when viewing a watch list. Examples: price, symbol, bid, ask, volume. |
| Charting - Corporate Events | Yes | Can show or hide multiple corporate events on a stock chart. Examples: dividends, earnings, splits, news. |
| Charting - Historical Trades | No | The ability to see past buy and sells, typically marked with a buy or sell symbol, on the stock chart. |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 102 | The total number of indicators / studies available to be included on a stock chart. Examples: SMA, MACD, RSI. |
| Charting - Drawing Tools | 8 | The number of drawing tools available for analyzing a stock chart. Examples include: pointer, trendline, arrow, note. |
| Charting - Automated Analysis | No | Can show or hide automated technical analysis (patterns) on a chart. Service provider example: Trading Central (Recognia). |
| Charting - Trade Off Chart | No | The ability to pre-populate or execute a trade from the chart. Most commonly this is done by right clicking on the chart and selecting an order. Linking the user from the chart to an empty (non pre-populated) order form does NOT count. |
| Charting - Notes | No | Add notes to any stock chart. |
| Ladder Trading | No | A ladder tool provides active trading clients the ability to one click buy and sell equities off a real-time streaming window of fanned bids and asks. |
| Level 2 Quotes - Stocks | No | Level II stock quotes available. |
| Option Chains - Streaming | No | Option chains with streaming real-time data. |
| Option Chains - Total Columns | 8 | Option chains total available columns for display. Duplicates do not count. |
| Option Chains - Greeks | 5 | When viewing an option chain, the total number of greeks that are available to be viewed as optional columns. Greeks = delta, gamma, theta, vega, rho. |
| Option Chains - Quick Analysis | No | The ability to jump straight from the option chain to a P&L chart or probability chart for deeper analysis. Viewing a summary P&L within the chain itself also qualifies. |
| Option Analysis - P&L Charts | No | When analyzing a theoretical option trade, a P&L chart is available. |
| Option Probability Analysis | No | A basic probability calculator. |
| Option Probability Analysis Adv | No | A tool to analyze a hypothetical option position. Displays a probability histogram / chart with optional customizations. |
| Option Positions - Greeks | No | View at least two different greeks for a currently open option position. |
| Option Positions - Greeks Streaming | No | View at least two different greeks for a currently open option position and have their values stream with real-time data. |
| Option Positions - Adv Analysis | No | Ability to analyze an active option position and change at least two of the three following conditions - date, stock price, volatility - and assess what happens to the value of the position. |
| Option Positions - Rolling | Yes | Ability to pre-populate a trade ticket and seamlessly roll an option position to the next relative expiration. |
| Option Positions - Grouping | No | Ability to group current option positions by the underlying strategy: covered call, vertical, etc. Can be done manually by user or automatically by the platform. |
| Short Locator | No | Tool that allows customers to view the current real-time availability of shares available to short by security. |
| Streaming Time & Sales | No | Streaming time & sales for any equity viewable. |
| Streaming TV | No | Offers live TV. Examples - CNBC, Bloomberg. |
| Trade Hot Keys | No | Ability to designate keyboard hotkeys for on the fly trading. |
| Trade Journal | No | Provides a trade journal for writing notes. All entries are dated, titled, and may be tagged with a specific stock ticker. Adding text notes to individual stock charts does NOT count. |
| Paper Trading | No | Offers the ability to use a paper (practice) portfolio to place trades. |
| Trade Ideas - Backtesting | No | A tool that backtests different investment strategies, typically focused on technical events, and displays the results. Example service providers: Trade-Ideas, Trading Central (Recognia). |
| Trade Ideas - Backtesting Adv | No | A fully customizable, advanced backtesting tool provided by the broker directly. Third-party providers do not count. |
Research
| Feature | Value | Definition |
| Research - Stocks | Yes | Offers stock research. Can view quote results for 4 of the 5 following tickers: Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google. |
| Research - ETFs | Yes | Offers ETFs research. Can view quote results for 4 of the 5 following tickers: SPY, GLD, OIH, QID, FAZ. |
| Research - Mutual Funds | Yes | Offers mutual funds research. Can view quote results for all three of the following tickers: VTSAX, FXAIX, SWPPX. |
| Research - Pink Sheets / OTCBB | Yes | Offers pink sheet / OTCBB research. Can view quote results for 2 of the 3 following tickers: FNMA, IMBBY, TCEHY. |
| Research - Bonds | Yes | Offers bonds (fixed income) research. Can view quote results for fixed income securities such as individual US Treasuries. |
| Misc - Portfolio Allocation | Yes | Displays a pie graph or bullet list breakdown of the customer's current portfolio including % allocations. Examples: domestic equities, foreign equities, bonds, cash, fixed income. |
| Stock Research - Earnings | Yes | View analysis of past earnings. At least one chart / graph required. Examples: Consensus vs actual data, EPS growth, sales growth. |
| Stock Research - Insiders | Yes | View a list of recent insider transactions. |
| Stock Research - SEC Filings | Yes | View a list of recent SEC filings. |
| Stock Research - Social | No | View social sentiment analysis, eg twitter analysis (NOT just a stream of recent tweets), for individual equities. |
| Stock Research - ESG | No | Provides Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) criteria scores. |
| Stock Research - PDF Reports | 1 | Total number of downloadable PDF research report providers available for equities research (using symbol AAPL). Examples: S&P Capital IQ, Thomson Reuters, Ned Davis Research. |
| ETFs - Top 10 Holdings | Yes | A list of the ETF's top 10 holdings. |
| ETFs - Performance Analysis | Yes | The ability to view historical return % performance. For example, trailing 12 months, three year, or five year returns. |
| ETFs - Morningstar StyleMap | Yes | The infamous Morningstar Equity StyleMap (or equiv provider) which visually marks the ETF's investment strategy in one of nine boxes. |
| ETFs - Ratings | Yes | Are third party ratings available for the ETF SPY? Examples: Morningstar, Lippers. |
| ETFs - PDF Reports | Yes | Are downloadable research reports available for the ETF SPY? Examples: Morningstar, S&P Capital IQ. |
| Mutual Funds - Fees Breakdown | Yes | A clear breakdown of the fund's fees beyond just the expense ratio. 12b-1, minimum investment, total fees estimate, all examples of a detailed breakdown. |
| Mutual Funds - Top 10 Holdings | Yes | A list of the fund's top 10 holdings. |
| Mutual Funds - Performance Analysis | Yes | The ability to view multi-year historical performance. |
| Mutual Funds - Prospectus | Yes | Access to the fund's prospectus in PDF format. |
| Mutual Funds - 3rd Party Ratings | Yes | Are 3rd party ratings available for the fund VTSMX? Examples: Morningstar, Lippers. |
| Mutual Funds - PDF Reports | No | Are downloadable research reports available for the fund VTSMX? Examples: Morningstar, S&P Capital IQ. |
| Screener - Stocks | Yes | Offers a equities screener. |
| Screener - ETFs | Yes | Offers a ETF screener. |
| Screener - Mutual Funds | Yes | Offers a mutual fund screener. |
| Screener - Options | No | Offers a options screener. Commonly referred to as a spread creation tool or similar. |
| Screener - Bonds | Yes | Offers a bond screener. **Note - ETF bond screeners do NOT count. |
Education
| Feature | Value | Definition |
| Education (Stocks) | Yes | Provides a minimum of 10 educational pieces (articles, videos, archived webinars, or similar) with the primary subject being stocks. All content must be easily found within the website's Learning Center. Platform tutorials, FAQs, etc do NOT count. |
| Education (ETFs) | No | Provides a minimum of 10 educational pieces (articles, videos, archived webinars, or similar) with the primary subject being ETFs. All content must be easily found within the website's Learning Center. Platform tutorials, FAQs, etc do NOT count. |
| Education (Options) | Yes | Provides a minimum of 10 educational pieces (articles, videos, archived webinars, or similar) with the primary subject being options. All content must be easily found within the website's Learning Center. Platform tutorials, FAQs, etc do NOT count. |
| Education (Mutual Funds) | No | Provides a minimum of 10 educational pieces (articles, videos, archived webinars, or similar) with the primary subject being mutual funds. All content must be easily found within the website's Learning Center. Platform tutorials, FAQs, etc do NOT count. |
| Education (Bonds) | No | Provides a minimum of 10 educational pieces (articles, videos, archived webinars, or similar) with the primary subject being bonds (fixed income). All content must be easily found within the website's Learning Center. Platform tutorials, FAQs, etc do NOT count. |
| Education (Retirement) | Yes | Provides a minimum of 10 educational pieces (articles, videos, archived webinars, or similar) with the primary subject being retirement. Platform tutorials, FAQs, etc do NOT count. |
| Investor Dictionary | Yes | An online dictionary of at least 50 investing terms. |
| Webinars (Monthly Avg) | 26 | Total educational client webinars hosted, on average, each month. |
| Webinars (Archived) | Yes | Provides an archived area to search and watch previously recorded client webinars. |
| Live Seminars | No | Provides at least 10 live, face-to-face educational seminars for clients each year. Must be delivered by a broker staff member. |
| Videos | Yes | Are educational videos available? At least 10. A video is a short clip, typically several minutes in duration, that explains a trading concept, term, or strategy. Archived webinars and platform demos do NOT count. |
| Retirement Calculator | Yes | Offers a retirement calculator. |
| Progress Tracking | No | Clients can track their progress and see which articles and/or videos they've completed to date. |
| Interactive Learning - Quizzes | No | Quizzes offered within the education center. Must include multiple questions and score results. Example service provider - Morningstar, InvestingTeacher.com |
Mobile Trading
| Feature | Value | Definition |
| iPhone App | Yes | Offers a downloadable iPhone app through the iOS app store. |
| Apple Watch App | No | Offers a downloadable Apple Watch app through the iOS app store. |
| Android App | Yes | An Android smartphone app available in the Google Play store. |
| Account Transfers | Yes | Ability to perform ACH deposits and withdrawals from the mobile App. |
| Quotes (Real-time) | Yes | Mobile app offers real-time quote data. |
| Quotes (Streaming) | Yes | Mobile app offers streaming (or auto refreshing) real-time stock quote results. More specifically, the quote screen must auto-refresh at least once every three seconds. |
| Watch List (Real-time) | Yes | Watch list in mobile app uses real-time quotes. |
| Watch List (Streaming) | Yes | Watch list in mobile app uses streaming real-time quotes. More specifically, the watch-list must auto-refresh at least once every three seconds. |
| Market Movers (Top Gainers) | Yes | Stocks top gainers list viewable in the mobile app. |
| Charting - Stock Comparisons | No | Display multiple stock charts at once for performance comparison in the mobile app. |
| Charting - Drawing | No | Can markup stock charts using the mobile app. Examples include: trendlines, arrows, notes. |
| Charting - Technical Studies | 81 | How many technical studies / indicators are available to add to a stock chart in the mobile app. |
| Charting - After-Hours | No | Stock charts in mobile app display after-hours trade activity. |
| Stock Alerts | No | Can set stocks alerts for individual stocks in the mobile app. For example, an alert is triggered if stock XYZ reaches price $x. |
| Stream Live TV | No | Stream live TV in the mobile app. Examples - CNBC, Bloomberg. |
| Trading - Stocks | Yes | Stocks trades supported in the mobile app. |
| Trading - After-Hours | Yes | After-hours trading supported in the mobile app. |
| Trading - Simple Options | Yes | Single-leg option trades supported in the mobile app. |
| Trading - Complex Options | Yes | Multi-legged option trades supported in the mobile app. |
Banking
| Feature | Value | Definition |
| Bank (Member FDIC) | No | Operates a regulated bank as a registered member of the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) - fdic.gov. |
| Checking Accounts | Yes | Offers formal checking accounts and checking services. To qualify, checking services must be marketed on the website as a client service. Basic checking through the clearing firm does not count. |
| Savings Accounts | No | Offers savings accounts. |
| Debit Cards | Yes | Offers debit cards as part of a formal banking service. |
| Credit Cards | No | Offers credit cards. |
| Mortgage Loans | No | Offers mortgage loans. |
