Ameritrade

Pros: Very inexpensive. Clear and easy format.
Cons: Execution of trades is well below average

Ameritrade is a good fit for the beginner trader. For someone who is a day trader, there will be lots of frustration. The trade execution is very slow and unreliable, especially in after hours trading. In addition, the quotes are often delayed, often...

Pros: Become Rich QUICK
Cons: Can't lose Much

Hello, i am 18 yrs old when i was 16 i started investing in Stocks useing Charles Schwab, i have made about $75,000.00 Useing it now i use AmeriTrade. It's so Fun And Easy. I made trade's about 2 times a week. Some people kinda think im a geek and...

Pros: $8.00 per trade
Cons: everything else

Sure, when you are looking for an internet brokerage firm to do you trades with, $8.00 sounds like the way to go. Then you watch their commercials and think, yeah that seems simple enough. Well, I got news for you, there are no extra services that go...

Pros: customer service.
Cons: Options trading.

Opened an account last January. I have been very pleased with Ameritrade especially with the customer service. I also joined Etrade and am also a customer of Charles Shcwab. The customer service of Ameritrade greatly surpases that of any other...

Pros: Relatively low commission, and slow website prevents over-trading.
Cons: Tax team answers questions inaccurately and not available on weekends.

Its staff has very limited knowledge of what they are doing especially the tax team. On top of that, its tax team is very non-responsive.
I asked the tax team the same question 3 times but got 3 different answers. The fourth time I requested an answer from their supervisor but I have never got response since then. So far, I still do not know what my tax status is.
I also heard from other people that their cash balances are decreasing even without trading and not borrowing money from it.

Pros: Fixed, low commissions. Nice website. Automatic triggers are cool.
Cons: The java Streamer is a bit outdated.

There have been a few glitches with the recent merge with TD Waterhouse. I have reported this and have received free trades as compensation. I can't complain.

Their system works well with my favorite browser, Firefox.

The website is very clean and usable and I've had a good experience on the phone when I had to call customer service.

It was very easy to link my bank's checking account to move money in and out easily.

Pros: Low Commission trades $10.99; Options trading; Order flow rebates; IRAs.
Cons: Margin rates very uncompetitive! No Coverdell Education IRAs.

I was a Datek customer (which was bought by Ameritrade) and am now switching my account to TradingDirect because Ameritrade has a floor of 6% on the margin interest rate and I will be getting 2.75% at TradingDirect. This will make a huge difference (thousands of dollars a year in savings.)

I am a happy customer of many years other than the issue with the margin rate floor being so high with the merger.

I will retain my IRA accounts here as there is no margin trading for an IRA account.

Unfortunately, they don't offer Coverdell Educational IRA accounts as of today.

Order execution is very good and entry is fast. You can also transfer funds in and out for free using Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfers.

You must use electronic confirmations or you will pay something like $3 for each confirmation mailed to you.

Pros: None
Cons: Lots of hidden fees; Quarterly charges and poor customer service.

My personal experience with Ameritrade was horrible. I admit to being a novice and I do not have lots of money to getting started. The fees are everywhere and the customer service is poor. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this company. If you make any money in the stock market, Ameritrade will find a way to take it from you!

Pros: Cheap, Fast
Cons: Poor technical platform, poor support

Ameritrade has extremely poor technical platform. It constantly crashes. It was down for at least 4 hours the other day. Completely unprofessional. I am moving things to Etrade.

Pros: They are nice to puppies and kitties.
Cons: I'm humiliated though wiser.

The account inactivity fees went on for several years, and cost me at least $150.

Now am trying to transfer meager account to another broker
and TDAmeritrade is not cooperating because apparently
of change in signatures or whatever. This has been on-going during summer and fall months.

The account in question amounts is less than $75.

These guys are just stupendous and terrific.

Pros: Cheap trades, good customer service.
Cons: None.

I've been using Ameritrade since about 1998. Have three accounts with them.

Back before the TDW merger they were cheap and efficient, but the customer service was terrible and there were a lot of gotcha fees.

Since the TDW merger, the customer service has been great. While there are still some idiotic fees, if you call and complain about them they can/will remove them. (In the bad old days the CSRs would just tell you to take your account somewhere else if you didn't like it.)

They also have the new Apex level of service which eliminates stupid fees pretty much entirely. If you have a decent sized account or trade fairly often you'll be Apex.

Pros: Unique analytical tools. Rapid trade execution. Customer service seems very good (limited experience)
Cons: Commisions at least 10% higher than E*trade

I've been trading with E*trade for about 10 years. As a result of reviews that I read on epinions, I decided to open a small account on Ameritrade to see how I liked it.
This on line brokerage has awesome and unique tools for analysis and trading. Most of these would be most useful for a day trader. They offer advanced tools for frequent traders, and they become available with as few as 5 trades per month, and there are more of them than at E*trade. Trades are executed very quickly. My one contact with customer service was very satisfactory.
If you do a lot of trading, E*trade will save you at least 10% to 25% on commissions, depending on the volume of activity. If you are a day trader, you will find the tools available on Ameritrade very useful.

Pros: A few years ago, was a very low-price option.
Cons: Hidden fees, hidden fees, hidden fees.

Look out investors, Ameritrade will suck you in with offers for free trades and then bleed you dry when you're not looking. I've had an Ameritrade for years, but in the last year or two, I've had to constantly watch my account for hidden fees that come at you from nowhere. Is your email inbox full when they try to send you an electronic statement? There will be a fee for a paper statement they may or may not send you. Is your stock undergoing a split? Bye bye $40. There are many other examples of this kind of thing and if you don't watch your account closely enough, they might even come to you some day telling you that not only is your account worthless, YOU owe THEM money. Stay away from Ameritrade!

Pros: Average commissions, quick to pick up the phone.
Cons: Sub 1% rates on cash balances, double digit margin rates.

As CashewAndFilbert commented below, Ameritrade has average commissions and personnel who answer the phone quickly. The problem is that it pays less than 1% on cash balances, and charges a maximum margin rate of 11%. I can get better cash balance rates superior to Ameritrade's at my local bank. Some of my credit cards have lower rates than Ameritrade's margin rates.

Pros: Great is you have a large account balance or make more frequent trades
Cons: Excessive quarterly fees if you're not a frequent trader and have a lower account balance

I signed up for this service because of the inexpensive trade costs and the $500 account minimum. Too late did I realize that for any balance below $2000 you are charged $15.00 quarterly fees. (a bit much I think) You can avoid the fee if you make several trades in a given period.

I am not a day trader, I just want to own a few stocks from a few companies that I relate to.

Today I'm looking for a different provider.