Comparing Brokerages

I haven't written about online brokerages in a while now. The landscape for online brokers is constantly changing. Nevertheless, I wanted to present to my readers a comparison of some of the major online brokers out there.

Since I am mostly interested in stock trades (as opposed to options, mutual funds, or bonds), I have compiled a list of brokers sorted by the commission that they charge for stock trades. Using this handy table, readers can see the comparison, as well as any bonus offers that are currently being offered for new accounts:

Brokerage	Stock Trade Commission	Special Offers and Bonuses
Options House	$3.95	Free Dell Monitor, Free Morningstar Investing Newsletters, free one-year subscription to FT.com
Zecco	$4.95	Zecco
Scottrade	$7.00	Scottrade.com
tradeMonster	$7.50	tradeMONSTER
Options Xpress	$8.95	get $100 when you open an optionsXpress account
E*TRADE	$9.99
TD Ameritrade	$9.99

I have confirmed the commissions with each brokerage (as of 4/23/12). Personally, I have accounts with TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, and OptionsHouse. A while back, I got a free Dell Monitor by opening an OptionsHouse account. The OptionsHouse Free Kindle Fire offer also looks good to me, but is no longer available.

I also requested information from Scottrade, but never opened an account at Scottrade.com. If anybody has their opinions on these brokers, please share them here.

DC