No-frills trading, not for amateurs.
Written: Jul 03 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: low transactions costs, competitive margin rates, fast loading pages
Cons: margin rules change randomly, poor execution, no level II
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| xibo's Full Review: SureTrade |
I've been using Suretrade for about two years now, and generally I have been satisfied with the service. I picked Suretrade because of their low transaction costs ($9.95 for limit orders) and low margin rates. They used to have the lowest margin rates in the business, which I found especially attractive. More recently though, they have raised their margin rates (to about equal to broker's call rate) so that while they are still amongst the lowest in the business, it is no longer a differentiating factor.
This is a shame, because at the same time they have raised the margin requirements for a collection of ~200 internet or "hot" stocks. Of course, most people are interesting in investing in these, so your effective margin buying power is greatly reduced. This also means you may be subject to margin calls a lot more often here than with other brokers, and that can be annoying and painful in a hurry.
As a result I can no longer recommend Suretrade to anyone. I used to recommend them to people who didn't need customer service and handholding, as Suretrade has always been fairly light there. Their service has improved, but it still pales in comparison to a normal brokerage firm.
Order execution can also be very painful with Suretrade. Sometimes I will put in an order and end up waiting 20 minutes for the order to move from the "pending" to the "open" state. In 20 minutes the market has completely moved, usually against you. Go figure. You'd think these things would be computerized and instantaneous, but apparently a human being has to approve some orders.
For daytrading, you're better off using a daytrading broker that has direct access to the markets/ECNs. For light investing, you're better off with a company that has friendly service, like E*Trade or Schwab. For swing and position trading, I'd look to NDB, E*Trade, Datek, or anyone with reliable service.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
xibo
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Member: Xibo Excarnate
Location: New York City, NY
Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 1 member
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