Online Investing: How does Scottrade Rate?

In addition to control, those who switch to online investing want convenience. J.D. Power and Associates, in their customer rating of Scottrade, gave it five stars for convenience, based on ease of site navigation, variety of options, ease of access, and proximity of branch locations. Those ratings, however, come from investors who already have an account. What about those wanting to open an account with Scottrade?

It's easy.

Go to the site, fill out the electronic paper work, receive your password, fund your account, and begin trading. Traders can fund their account electronically with Money Direct, by writing a check, or rolling over another account. Scottrade does require a signature page to authorize transactions. Just fill it out once, and fax it or drop it off at one of Scottrade's branch offices.

Scottrade's nearly 400 branch offices, 25 years of experience, and free user summits show that online investing does not mean going it alone. It is assumed, however, that those who invest online already understand investment basics, so if you're looking for personalized investment advice, look elsewhere. If you have a specific question about how to roll over an account, what paperwork you need to complete, or how to make automatic monthly contributions to your retirement account, local branch representatives are eager to serve.

Scottrade's Knowledge Center contains information on stocks, options, mutual funds, cds and bonds, and ETFs. It covers investment basics, buying on margin, technical analysis, and retirement accounts. The information alone is worth filling out the paperwork to sign up.

In the past some day traders have criticized Scottrade's execution times. Recent site upgrades, appear to have improved the site's real-time capabilities.

Scottrade provides three trading platforms:

1. Basic platform features include:
   • personalized watch lists and stock alerts
   • stock quotes and research
   • $7 per online trade with a minimum $500 to start.
2. Scottrader, included when you open your account, features:
   • real time streaming quotes, charts, and news
   • live stock ticker
   • top 10 stocklists
   • option chains
   • personalized portfolio
3. Scottrade Elite, included with qualified accounts of $25,000 or more includes:
   • free back testing tools
   • market velocity and forces
   • Opportunities based on your trading preferences

Scottrade products include stocks, bonds, cds, options, ETFs, and mutual funds. Account types include IRAs, Coverdell ESAs, standard accounts, trust accounts, partnerships, corporate accounts, stock broker assisted accounts, and 401 (k) plans. Scottrade does not offer commodities trading or futures.

Most investors turn to online investing to save money. Customer ratings of Scottrade give it an excellent mark for low fees in comparison with comparable sites. Scottrade features

• $7 online trades
• $27 broker assisted trades
• Free real time Dow Jones News feed for Investors
• No annual account maintenance fee
• $500 minimum initial deposit
• Over 1100 no transaction fee mutual funds available