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Best Online Brokers: SmartMoney’s Picks for 2009

Written by Nickel - 2 Comments

Not quite a year ago, I highlighted SmartMoney’s rating of the best online brokers. Today, I thought I’d take a closer look at the results of their 2009 survey.

As you skim through the list (reproduced below), you’ll notice that it’s quite similar to last year’s version. There are, however, some differences. Here’s a quick rundown of their most notable findings:

E*Trade retained the top spot, excelling in all categories across the board.
TradeKing slipped one spot for third to fourth, though they still shines in terms of trading tools and customer service, and their commissions are still significantly far lower than their nearest competition.
Zecco is still hanging on near the bottom of the list. They have barebones offerings, but also offer free trades if you meet their balance requirements.
ShareBuilder climbed a few spots from the bottom of the list, primarily because they added 300 new mutual funds to their offerings.

The best brokers of 2009

Here’s a full rundown of SmartMoney’s list:

Interestingly, none of Consumer Reports’ best broker picks made it onto SmartMoney’s list.

Disclaimer: Discover is a paid advertiser of this site.
Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. See the Discover online credit card application for full terms and conditions on offers and rewards.

Published on June 22nd, 2009
Modified on September 4th, 2009 - 2 Comments
Filed under: Reviews, Saving & Investing

About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!

2 Responses to “Best Online Brokers: SmartMoney’s Picks for 2009”

1
Random Deal Says:
June 22nd, 2009 at 9:19 am
Surprising that thinkorswim didn’t make it despite their low brokerage rates, 3 free MF trades a month and fast service.
2
D2S Says:
June 27th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
insane that Etrade is top spot.. they are terrible.. fidelity deserves the 2nd but TD ameritrade should be #1 with their free 500 trades on first month and $9.99 thereafter

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