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Merrill Edge Review

March 18, 2024

Merrill Edge and its corporate parent, Bank of America, make a strong case to be your cradle-to-grave financial services partner. Other than Red Bull-fueled day trading, this broker does almost everything well and some tools are game changers.

Merrill Edge
4.5/5 Stars Overall
  • Minimum Deposit: $0.00
  • Stock Trades: $0.00
  • Options (Per Contract): $0.65

thumb_up_off_alt Pros

  • Portfolio Story, Dynamic Insights, and the Stock and Fund Stories are the best features for everyday investors since $0 commission stock trades.
  • Merrill Edge gives access to high-quality Bank of America Securities proprietary research.
  • Clients can view their Merrill Edge account via the Bank of America app, making Bank of America and Merrill Edge a very convenient combination.
  • Bank of America’s Preferred Rewards program, which contributed to Merrill Edge’s Best In Class rating for high net worth investors, counts Merrill Edge assets alongside banking assets for reward tiers.
  • Merrill has the best user experience for everyday investors out of all the brokers I tested. It has one of the best stock trading apps; both the app and Merrill's browser platform are attractive, informative, and easy to navigate.

thumb_down_off_alt Cons

  • This is my second year testing Merrill and I still haven’t been able to get a direct answer what their margin rates are. Reps say the rates are based on the overall relationship. I prefer straightforward pricing.
  • Merrill, like Fidelity, isn’t super geared toward active traders. Its desktop app, MarketPro, seems better suited for fundamental research than trading, or at least that’s how I prefer using it.
  • Edge doesn’t offer cryptocurrencies, futures, foreign exchange, fractional shares, or paper trading.
  • The cost of Merrill’s beautiful design is occasionally long page load times, especially when skimming through Stories.
  • Calling Merrill’s customer service about anything other than a routine issue can become an exercise in futility.

Overall summary

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Overall 4.5/5 Stars
Investment Options 4.5/5 Stars
Commissions & Fees 4.5/5 Stars
Mobile Trading Apps 5/5 Stars
Platforms & Tools 4.5/5 Stars
Research 5/5 Stars
Customer Service 4.0/5 Stars
Education 5/5 Stars
Ease Of Use 5/5 Stars

Investment options

Merrill Edge provides ample investment choices and the available services of a megabank. On offer are stocks, ETFs, options, mutual funds and bonds. Fractional shares, paper trading, futures, forex, and cryptos are not available.

To get the full capabilities of Merrill Edge, plan on e-signing a few documents and seeing a ton of disclosure boilerplate. Other brokers demand less paperwork to accomplish the same tasks. It’s not overwhelming, but it’s noticeable.

Investment guidance: In addition to do-it-yourself investing, Merrill Edge and its corporate parent, Bank of America, offer a full range of investment guidance solutions.

For those looking for set-and-forget investing, Merrill offers automated (robo) portfolio management with only a $1,000 minimum.

Limited advisory services with an advisor ($20,000 minimum investment) are also available through its Guided Investing program. Guided Investing has what I think is a high annual base fee of 0.85%, but there are introductory offers and discounts based on your Preferred Rewards tier (see below). Guided Investing isn’t intended for clients with advanced planning needs.

High net worth clients of Bank of America and its investing divisions are eligible for curated experiences, lower fees and rates, and, of course, higher priority service. Money doesn’t solve all problems, but the more you have, the less time you’ll spend listening to hold music on your phone.

Cryptocurrency: Merrill Edge does not offer cryptocurrency. You will have to sign up with a crypto exchange to trade popular tokens such as Bitcoin, Ethereum or Dogecoin.

Retirement services: Merrill offers traditional, Roth and rollover IRAs, and placed among the best IRA accounts for 2024.

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Stock Trading info Yes
Margin Trading Yes
OTC Stocks info Yes
Options Trading info Yes
Complex Options Max Legs info 4
Bonds (US Treasury) info Yes
Futures Trading info No
Forex Trading info No
Mutual Funds (Total) info 3466
Crypto Trading info No
Crypto Trading - Total Coins info 0
Traditional IRAs info Yes
Roth IRAs info Yes
Advisor Services info Yes
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account_balance One of the best for high net worth

We analyzed online brokers' offerings for clients with over $1 million of liquid, investable assets. See our guide to the Best Brokerage Firms for High Net Worth Individuals.

Commissions and fees

Merrill Edge, like other discount brokers, provides customers unlimited free stock trading ($0) and exchange-traded fund (ETF) trading. Options trades cost $0.65 per contract, a common price among top-tier brokers. Broker-assisted trades are a reasonable $19.95.

Margin rates: We ask every broker that we review for their current margin rates. The firm keeps it vague, saying that a client’s margin rate depends on the relationship. I looked on the site. I called in to telephone support. No dice. No one at Merrill would give me specific numbers to share with potential clients.

Penny stocks: Merrill Edge does not typically allow trading of OTC stocks with market caps of $300 million or less and are priced below $5 per share, though I was told there are exceptions. In practice, those restrictions mean that there is essentially no penny stock trading.

Preferred Rewards: Merrill’s rewards system makes for a top-notch combination of banking and brokerage. To qualify for the base tier, Gold, customers must maintain a three-month average combined balance in their bank and brokerage accounts of at least $20,000. Benefits through the Preferred Rewards program include money market savings interest-rate boosts, credit card bonuses, investment discounts and more.

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Minimum Deposit $0.00
Stock Trades $0.00
Penny Stock Fees (OTC) info N/A
ETF Trade Fee $0.00
Options (Base Fee) $0.00
Options (Per Contract) $0.65
Options Exercise Fee $0.00
Options Assignment Fee $0.00
Futures (Per Contract) (Not offered)
Mutual Fund Trade Fee $19.95
Broker Assisted Trade Fee $29.95
View More

Mobile trading apps

Merrill Edge's mobile app is easy to use, great for research and exceeds the industry standard experience. For existing Bank of America customers, the universal account access and functionality make the app an easy winner.

Ease of use: Apple Face ID and fingerprint login, coupled with a cleanly designed dashboard, makes it very easy to jump in and check in on your portfolio. Research is excellent for stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds, thanks to the inclusion of Stock Story and Fund Story, though sometimes pages are slow to load.

Charting: Charting is comprehensive and includes a variety of customizations. The default view is attractive, but I found navigating and customizing mobile charts to be awkward. Scrolling and zooming in and out was frustrating, because my finger movements never accomplished what I expected. There are 34 optional technical indicators.

Merrill Edge Mobile app gallery


The Stock Story feature on the Merrill Edge mobile app. Press play for a demo.


Charting: Charting is comprehensive and includes a variety of customizations. However, the interface itself is outdated and not HTML 5, making it difficult to read, especially when using any of the 34 optional technical indicators, which are only supported in landscape mode.

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
iPhone App info Yes
Android App info Yes
Apple Watch App info Yes
Stock Alerts info Yes
Charting - After-Hours info No
Charting - Technical Studies info 34
Charting - Study Customizations info Yes
Watch List (Streaming) info Yes
Watch Lists - Create & Manage info Yes
Watch Lists - Column Customization info No

Other trading platforms and tools

Merrill Edge offers everyday investors access to everything they need (and more) to manage an investment portfolio through the Merrill Edge website. For active traders, Merrill Edge offers its MarketPro desktop trading platform, which is feature-rich but not suitable for day trading.

Dynamic Insights: Merrill Edge’s AI powered account dashboard, called Dynamic Insights, again won our industry award for No. 1 Client Dashboard. Dynamic Insights pulls all your data into one spot and uses AI to personalize it, making it the ultimate launching pad for your Merrill Edge account.

After opening Dynamic Insights, you will find a high-level summary of your brokerage and bank accounts. Below that, realized gains and losses, portfolio performance against the market, holdings insights including news events, tax events, movers, and ratings changes, are all included. A high-level market overview for the day is also present.

Trading tools: MarketPro is built for active traders and has a variety of bells and whistles. Highlights include close to 300 optional columns for watch lists, easy-to-use charting, automated technical analysis through Trading Central (Recognia), and numerous options tools, including the idea generation tool OptionsPlay.

On the downside, MarketPro has three drawbacks that might deter day traders. First, there are no one-click buy and sell buttons for speedy order entry, nor is there an option to disable the order confirmation window. Second, direct market routing or advanced order types, such as conditional orders, are not supported. And, third, some of the widgets felt as if they were taking forever to load.

Ironically, for something that’s positioned as a trading platform, I was happiest using MarketPro for fundamentally driven, long-term stock ideas. There’s a phenomenally powerful screener, ample stock data and research, an economic calendar, and good portfolio analysis.

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Active Trading Platform info Merrill Edge Market Pro
Desktop Trading Platform info No
Desktop Platform (Mac) info No
Web Trading Platform info Yes
Paper Trading info No
Trade Journal info No
Watch Lists - Total Fields info 285
Charting - Indicators / Studies info 104
Charting - Drawing Tools info 23
Charting - Study Customizations info 8
Charting - Save Profiles info Yes
Trade Ideas - Technical Analysis info Yes
Streaming Time & Sales info Yes
Trade Ideas - Backtesting info Yes
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User experience

Merrill Edge’s design is among the best out of the brokers I review. It’s easy on the eyes and easy to navigate. Users suffering from icon and emoji overload will find a welcome refuge here. Everything is clearly labeled, there’s plenty of space, and the visual elements are appealing but not overdone. The platforms are rich with insights, data and handy explanations. Professional investment advisors would do well to look at Merrill’s Portfolio, Stock and Fund Stories and ask themselves if they do as good a job informing their clients as the job Edge does for its customers.

Merrill presents info in bite-sized chunks that frequently come with explanations and context. The five or 10 minutes it takes to read through a Portfolio Story is time well spent. Mine alerted me to which stocks and sectors are dominating my portfolio, which led me to thinking about how I could diversify further. Too many brokers emphasize short-term thinking through “what’s hot today” lists and charts. Merrill Edge has those lists too, but also encourages you to invest responsibly.

On the downside, I found Merrill Edge’s customer service to be maddening. Though the broker scored well in our third-party customer service testing, in my experience, the reps were ill-equipped to answer moderately complex questions. For example, a question about how to reset MarketPro, Merrill Edge’s browser trading platform, to its “factory default” setting led to extensive hold times, repeat calls, referrals to the wrong people (including to a third-party vendor) and ultimately filing a support ticket. This wasn’t an isolated occurrence. Instead of getting frustrated, I use my calls to Merrill’s support line as opportunities to work on being a kinder, more patient human being.

Research

Merrill Edge offers research for stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds that will satisfy the pickiest of investors. Merrill is also quite strong in environmental, social, and governance investing, or ESG.

Stock research: Merrill Edge offers several unique research tools found nowhere else, including Stock Story, Portfolio Story and Idea Builder. Also included are excellent third-party research integrations, including Trefis (company valuations), Trading Central (Recognia) for automated technical analysis, and 43 variables from MSCI ESG ratings, among others.

ETFs and mutual funds research: Merrill Edge is unique in that it uses both Morningstar and Lipper as its primary research providers. Thanks to this dual offering, Merrill Edge's ETF and mutual funds research is extremely thorough. Fund Story presents convenient, bite-sized chunks of relevant mutual fund info.

Bonds research: While the breadth of fixed income research at Merrill Edge isn’t quite as robust as at Fidelity, I found the fixed income reports from B of A Global Research to be high quality with in-depth coverage of news and fundamental analysis of the bond markets.

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Research - Stocks info Yes
Stock Research - ESG info Yes
Stock Research - PDF Reports info 3
Screener - Stocks info Yes
Research - ETFs info Yes
Screener - ETFs info Yes
Research - Mutual Funds info Yes
Screener - Mutual Funds info Yes
Research - Pink Sheets / OTCBB info Yes
Research - Bonds info Yes

Education

Learning about investing and retirement is a pleasant experience at Merrill Edge, thanks to the excellent organization, high quality, and the breadth of topics covered. If you want to test your knowledge, there are quizzes. Unlike most brokers, Merrill’s education menu is available when you are logged in. Other brokers make education publicly available to get site traffic, which is inconvenient for logged-in clients who must log out to read content when it might matter the most.

Learning center: Resources in Merrill Edge’s Investor Education section feature an assortment of articles and online courses licensed from Morningstar that can be searched according to topic or your level of investing experience. They inform, but they won’t keep you on the edge of your seat, either.

Investing basics: Merrill offers an excellent set of curated webinars on different themes, including ETFs, technical analysis and options trading. The on-demand videos can be searched through topic and/or difficulty level.

Life events education: Through Merrill Edge's Guidance and Retirement Center, customers can conduct goal planning for life events, use calculators to determine areas for improvement, read educational articles, watch videos, schedule one-on-one appointments, and more.

Podcasts: It’s worth mentioning that Merrill offers audio segments. The Merrill Perspective podcast discusses themes and current news topics. Though it’s driven by current events, it educates at the same time. We like it.

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Education (Stocks) info Yes
Education (ETFs) info Yes
Education (Options) info Yes
Education (Mutual Funds) info Yes
Education (Bonds) info Yes
Education (Retirement) info Yes
Paper Trading info No
Videos info Yes
Webinars info Yes
Webinars (Archived) info Yes
Progress Tracking info No
Interactive Learning - Quizzes info Yes
View More

Customer service

To score Customer Service, StockBrokers.com partners with customer experience research firm Confero to conduct phone tests from locations throughout the United States. For this year's testing, 135 customer service tests were conducted over six weeks, with wait times logged for each call.

Customer service representatives were asked for assistance or details for prospective customers in several areas of broker services, including account opening, trading tools, apps, rollovers, active trading, and more. Here are the results for Merrill Edge.

  • Average Connection Time: <1 minute
  • Average Net Promoter Score: 9.1 / 10
  • Average Professionalism Score: 9.4 / 10
  • Overall Score: 9.3 / 10
  • Ranking: 2nd of 13 brokers

Banking services

Merrill Edge is part of Bank of America, which offers a full suite of personal banking products, including savings accounts, checking accounts and credit cards. When it comes to banking and brokerage, Merrill Edge takes the crown thanks to seamless universal account management and its Preferred Rewards program.

Online banking services with Bank of America include $250,000 in FDIC-insured account protection. I’ve found moving back and forth between bank and brokerage accounts to be easy and efficient.

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Bank (Member FDIC) info Yes
Checking Accounts info Yes
Savings Accounts info Yes
Credit Cards info Yes
Debit Cards info Yes
Mortgage Loans info Yes

Final thoughts

Overall, Merrill Edge offers customers a superb, well-rounded offering. Investors will appreciate Merrill Edge's $0 trades, robust research and reliable customer service. Similarly, Bank of America customers will discover that Merrill Edge is an excellent extension of the Bank of America brand.

Here are our top findings on Merrill Edge for 2024:

  1. Proprietary tools such as Stock Story and Portfolio Story alongside robust educational resources make Merrill Edge is a standout for research, beginners and goal-focused investors.
  2. Merrill Edge remains our top pick for investors looking to manage banking and brokerage under one roof.
  3. While Merrill Edge offers a feature-rich trading platform (MarketPro), it didn't impress us enough to make our top picks lists for day trading. It’s great for fundamental research.

Read next

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Popular Stock Broker Reviews

What's the difference between Merrill Lynch and Merrill Edge?

Merrill Lynch is not the same as Merrill Edge, but they do share many resources and both are part of Bank of America. Merrill Lynch is a traditional full-service broker with financial advisors that serve affluent and emerging affluent investors. Merrill Lynch brokers are encouraged to focus on building and retaining relationships with wealthy clients. Merrill Edge is a discount online broker that has no account minimum and $0 commission stock and ETF trades while still providing some access to Merrill Lynch’s research and tools. Both are owned by Bank of America.

Can I trust Merrill Edge?

Yes, you can trust Merrill Edge. The broker is a subsidiary of Bank of America and the assets in your account are insured against insolvency (not market losses) from the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, or SIPC; the FDIC (bank cash deposits only); and Lloyd’s of London.

Is Merrill Edge good for beginners?

Merrill Edge is a top platform for beginner investors. It placed in our top 5 brokers for this category in our 2024 Annual Awards. Its Stock Story, Fund Story, and Portfolio Story features make investing a piece of cake. The downsides are missing out on fractional shares and paper portfolios.

What are the benefits of Merrill Edge?

Merrill Edge shares many features of other popular U.S. brokers, but it’s tops in the class for how it presents its information, thanks to its Stock, Fund, and Portfolio “Story” format. Like most other upper-tier online brokers, Edge offers $0 commission stock and ETF trading, useful analytical tools, and a browser trading platform.

Is there an app for Merrill Edge?

Yes, Merrill Edge has mobile apps for Android and iOS. The apps are generally easy to use and include the Merrill Edge Stock, Fund, and Portfolio Stories, which present highly relevant investing information in an easy-to-digest format.

Is a Merrill Edge account good?

Merrill Edge is a good choice for beginners, those interested in environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing, high net worth investors, and those looking to have their banking and investing experiences under one roof. Merrill Edge’s prices aren’t the lowest, but the prices are justified in the breadth and quality of their services.

How much money do you need to open a Merrill Edge account?

There is no minimum to open a Merrill Edge account. Certain services do require a minimum account balance. The robo-advisor portfolio management requires a $1,000 investment, and fully managed advisory services with an advisor carries a $20,000 minimum.

Does Merrill Edge have hidden fees?

Merrill Edge, like most U.S. online brokers, charges nothing for stock and ETF trades and there are no account fees. There are incidental charges, which can be found on its website. Unfortunately, its margin rates are not published, as they depend on the depth of the customer’s relationship with Bank of America and Merrill.

About Merrill Edge

Launched in 2010 and headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Merrill Edge is the self-directed trading arm of Bank of America. Merrill Edge’s origins go all the way back to discount broker Quick & Reilly. Merrill Edge was originally created by Merrill Lynch, which became a subsidiary of Bank of America in 2008.

Merrill Edge 2024 Results

For the StockBrokers.com 2024 Annual Awards, announced on Jan. 23, 2024, all U.S. equity brokers we reviewed were assessed on over 200 different variables across eight areas: Commissions & Fees, Investment Options, Platforms & Tools, Research, Mobile Trading, Education, Ease of Use, and Overall.

StockBrokers.com also presented “Best in Class” awards to brokers for additional categories Beginners, Options Trading, Futures Trading, Day Trading, IRA Accounts, Investor Community, Penny Stock Trading, Bank Brokerage, High Net Worth Investors, and Customer Service. A “Best in Class” designation means finishing in the top five brokers for that category.

For more information, see how we test.

Category awards

Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge Overall Research Platforms & Tools Mobile Trading Apps Education Ease of Use Bank Brokerage Beginners Customer Service IRA Accounts Options Trading High Net Worth Investors
Rank #1 check
Streak #1 10
Best in Class check check check check check check check check check check check check
Best in Class Streak 2 11 1 2 10 2 10 4 3 5 2 1

Industry awards

Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge #1 Client Dashboard #1 Overall Client Experience
Rank #1 check check
Streak 4 7

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StockBrokers.com Review Methodology

Our mission at StockBrokers.com is simple: provide thorough and unbiased reviews of online brokers, based on an extraordinary level of hands-on testing and data collection. Our ratings and awards are based on this data and our in-house experts’ deep authority in the field; brokers cannot pay for preferential treatment. Here’s more about trustworthiness at StockBrokers.com.

Our research team conducts thorough testing on a wide range of features, products, services, and tools for U.S. investors, collecting and validating thousands of data points in the process; this makes StockBrokers.com home to the largest independent database on the web covering the online broker industry. We test all available trading platforms for each broker and evaluate them based on a host of data-driven variables. All research, writing and data collection at StockBrokers.com is done by humans, for humans. Read our generative AI policy here.

As part of our process, all brokers had the annual opportunity to provide updates and key milestones and complete an in-depth data profile, which we hand-checked for accuracy. Brokers also were offered the opportunity to provide executive time for an annual update meeting.

Our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .001% each year, providing site visitors quality data they can trust. Learn more about how we test.

Merrill Edge fees and features data

The data collection efforts at StockBrokers.com are unmatched in the industry. The following tables show a deeper dive into the offerings available at this broker. You can also compare its offerings side-by-side with those of other brokers using our Comparison Tool.

In addition to meticulous annual data collection by our in-house analyst, every broker that participates in our review is afforded the opportunity to complete an in-depth data profile. We then audit each data point to ensure its accuracy.

Trading fees

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Minimum Deposit $0.00
Stock Trades $0.00
Mutual Fund Trade Fee $19.95
Options (Base Fee) $0.00
Options (Per Contract) $0.65
Futures (Per Contract) (Not offered)
Broker Assisted Trade Fee $29.95

Account fees

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
IRA Annual Fee $0.00
IRA Closure Fee $49.95
Account Transfer Out (Partial) info $0.00
Account Transfer Out (Full) info $49.95
Options Exercise Fee $0.00
Options Assignment Fee $0.00

Margin rates

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Margin Rate Under $25,000 Varies info
Margin Rate $25,000 to $49,999.99 Varies info
Margin Rate $50,000 to $99,999.99 Varies info
Margin Rate $100,000 to $249,999.99 Varies info
Margin Rate $250,000 to $499,999.99 Varies info
Margin Rate $500,000 to $999,999.99 Varies info
Margin Rate Above $1,000,000 Varies info

Investment options

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Stock Trading info Yes
Margin Trading Yes
Fractional Shares info No
OTC Stocks info Yes
Options Trading info Yes
Complex Options Max Legs info 4
Futures Trading info No
Forex Trading info No
Crypto Trading info No
Crypto Trading - Total Coins info 0
Mutual Funds (No Load) info 2952
Mutual Funds (Total) info 3466
Bonds (US Treasury) info Yes
Bonds (Corporate) info Yes
Bonds (Municipal) info Yes
Advisor Services info Yes
International Countries (Stocks) info 0
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Order types

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Order Type - Market info Yes
Order Type - Limit info Yes
Order Type - After Hours info Yes
Order Type - Stop info Yes
Order Type - Trailing Stop info Yes
Order Type - OCO info No
Order Type - OTO info No
Order Type - Broker Assisted info Yes

Beginners

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Education (Stocks) info Yes
Education (ETFs) info Yes
Education (Options) info Yes
Education (Mutual Funds) info Yes
Education (Bonds) info Yes
Education (Retirement) info Yes
Retirement Calculator info Yes
Investor Dictionary info Yes
Paper Trading info No
Videos info Yes
Webinars info Yes
Webinars (Archived) info Yes
Progress Tracking info No
Interactive Learning - Quizzes info Yes
View More

Stock trading apps

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
iPhone App info Yes
Android App info Yes
Apple Watch App info Yes
Trading - Stocks info Yes
Trading - After-Hours info Yes
Trading - Simple Options info Yes
Trading - Complex Options info Yes
Order Ticket RT Quotes info Yes
Order Ticket SRT Quotes info No

Stock app features

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Market Movers (Top Gainers) info Yes
Stream Live TV info No
Videos on Demand info No
Stock Alerts info Yes
Option Chains Viewable info Yes
Watch List (Real-time) info Yes
Watch List (Streaming) info Yes
Watch Lists - Create & Manage info Yes
Watch Lists - Column Customization info No
Watch Lists - Total Fields info 285

Stock app charting

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Charting - After-Hours info No
Charting - Can Turn Horizontally info Yes
Charting - Multiple Time Frames info Yes
Charting - Technical Studies info 34
Charting - Study Customizations info Yes
Charting - Stock Comparisons info Yes

Trading platforms overview

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Active Trading Platform info Merrill Edge Market Pro
Desktop Trading Platform info No
Desktop Platform (Mac) info No
Web Trading Platform info Yes
Paper Trading info No
Trade Journal info No
Watch Lists - Total Fields info 285

Trading platform stock chart features

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Charting - Adjust Trades on Chart info Yes
Charting - Indicators / Studies info 104
Charting - Drawing Tools info 23
Charting - Notes info Yes
Charting - Index Overlays info Yes
Charting - Historical Trades info Yes
Charting - Corporate Events info Yes
Charting - Custom Date Range info Yes
Charting - Custom Time Bars info Yes
Charting - Automated Analysis info Yes
Charting - Save Profiles info Yes
Trade Ideas - Technical Analysis info Yes
Charting - Study Customizations info 8
Charting - Custom Studies info No
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Day trading features

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Streaming Time & Sales info Yes
Streaming TV info No
Direct Market Routing - Stocks info No
Ladder Trading info No
Trade Hot Keys info No
Level 2 Quotes - Stocks info Yes
Trade Ideas - Backtesting info Yes
Trade Ideas - Backtesting Adv info No
Short Locator info No
Order Liquidity Rebates info No

Investment research overview

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Research - Stocks info Yes
Research - ETFs info Yes
Research - Mutual Funds info Yes
Research - Pink Sheets / OTCBB info Yes
Research - Bonds info Yes
Screener - Stocks info Yes
Screener - ETFs info Yes
Screener - Mutual Funds info Yes
Screener - Bonds info Yes
Misc - Portfolio Allocation info Yes

Stock research features

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Stock Research - PDF Reports info 3
Stock Research - Earnings info Yes
Stock Research - Insiders info Yes
Stock Research - Social info No
Stock Research - News info Yes
Stock Research - ESG info Yes
Stock Research - SEC Filings info Yes

ETF research features

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
ETFs - Strategy Overview info Yes
ETF Fund Facts - Inception Date info Yes
ETF Fund Facts - Expense Ratio info Yes
ETF Fund Facts - Net Assets info Yes
ETF Fund Facts - Total Holdings info Yes
ETFs - Top 10 Holdings info Yes
ETFs - Sector Exposure info Yes
ETFs - Risk Analysis info Yes
ETFs - Ratings info Yes
ETFs - Morningstar StyleMap info Yes
ETFs - PDF Reports info Yes
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Mutual fund research features

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Mutual Funds - Strategy Overview info Yes
Mutual Funds - Performance Chart info Yes
Mutual Funds - Performance Analysis info Yes
Mutual Funds - Prospectus info Yes
Mutual Funds - 3rd Party Ratings info Yes
Mutual Funds - Fees Breakdown info Yes
Mutual Funds - Top 10 Holdings info Yes
Mutual Funds - Asset Allocation info Yes
Mutual Funds - Sector Allocation info Yes
Mutual Funds - Country Allocation info Yes
Mutual Funds - StyleMap info Yes
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Options trading overview

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Option Chains - Basic View info Yes
Option Chains - Strategy View info Yes
Option Chains - Streaming info Yes
Option Chains - Total Columns info 68
Option Chains - Greeks info 5
Option Chains - Quick Analysis info Yes
Option Analysis - P&L Charts info Yes
Option Probability Analysis info Yes
Option Probability Analysis Adv info No
Option Positions - Greeks info Yes
Option Positions - Greeks Streaming info Yes
Option Positions - Adv Analysis info Yes
Option Positions - Rolling info Yes
Option Positions - Grouping info Yes
View More

Banking features

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Bank (Member FDIC) info Yes
Checking Accounts info Yes
Savings Accounts info Yes
Credit Cards info Yes
Debit Cards info Yes
Mortgage Loans info Yes

Customer service options

Feature Merrill Edge logoMerrill Edge
Phone Support (Prospect Customers) info No
Phone Support (Current Customers) info Yes
Email Support info No
Live Chat (Prospect Customers) info Yes
Live Chat (Current Customers) info Yes
24/7 Support info Yes

References

Merrill Edge's Wikipedia


About the Editorial Team

Sam Levine, CFA, CMT
Sam Levine, CFA, CMT

Sam Levine has over 30 years of experience in the investing field as a portfolio manager, financial consultant, investment strategist and writer. He also taught investing as an adjunct professor of finance at Wayne State University. Sam holds the Chartered Financial Analyst and the Chartered Market Technician designations and is pursuing a master's in personal financial planning at the College for Financial Planning. Previously, he was a contributing editor at BetterInvesting Magazine and a contributor to The Penny Hoarder and other media outlets.

Blain Reinkensmeyer
Blain Reinkensmeyer

Blain Reinkensmeyer has 20 years of trading experience with over 2,500 trades placed during that time. He heads research for all U.S.-based brokerages on StockBrokers.com and is respected by executives as the leading expert covering the online broker industry. Blain’s insights have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the Chicago Tribune, among other media outlets.

Carolyn Kimball
Carolyn Kimball

Carolyn Kimball is managing editor for Reink Media and the lead editor for the StockBrokers.com Annual Review. Carolyn has more than 20 years of writing and editing experience at major media outlets including NerdWallet, the Los Angeles Times and the San Jose Mercury News. She specializes in coverage of personal financial products and services, wielding her editing skills to clarify complex (some might say befuddling) topics to help consumers make informed decisions about their money.

Steven Hatzakis
Steven Hatzakis

Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Research for ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. Steven is an active fintech and crypto industry researcher and advises blockchain companies at the board level. Over the past 20 years, Steven has held numerous positions within the international forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a registered commodity futures representative.

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