Top 10 brokerage firms: compare and review best discount online investment companies in 2013

Stock market goes up, or goes down - it's not easy to make money investing in or trading stocks. Even when one manages to get a profit, it is often significantly reduced by the trading costs (commissions, fees, margin interest and subscription to market data).

For this reason, it is important to find online brokerage firm that offers the lowest fees but is still very reliable and provides excellent customer service. We compared the best discount stock brokerage companies on overall customer value. We hope that the ratings of investment brokerage houses below will be instrumental in your selection of the right company for you.

Scottrade Pricing

• Stocks/ETFs: $7 per trade
• Options: $7 + $1.25 per contract
• Mutual Funds: $17 per transaction for no-load mutual funds
• Listed Corporate Bonds: $35 fee + $3 per Bond (minimum investment $1,000)
• Unit Investment Trusts: $50 liquidation fee

Scottrade Advantages

• Truly excellent customer service
• Over 500 local branches
• Free real-time streaming quotes
• Online community
• Perfect broker for beginner investors
• Great Trade Ideas tool
• No IRA fees (setup, annual, termination)
• Low minimum to open account

Scottrade Review

Current Scottrade Promotion Offer

OptionsHouse Pricing

• Stocks/ETFs: $3.95 per trade
• Options: $5 for up to five contracts, $1 for each additional contract OR $8.50 + $0.15 per contract
• Mutual Funds: $9.95 per transaction for no-load mutual funds
• Call support to buy U.S. treasury bonds and listed corporate bonds

OptionsHouse Advantages

• Great commissions
• Very good trading tools and charts
• Virtual trading available
• Extensive educational materials

OptionsHouse Review

Current OptionsHouse Promotion Offer

TradeKing Pricing

• Stocks/ETFs: $4.95 per trade
• Options: $4.95 + $0.65 per contract
• Short options valued at 5 cents or less, can be bought to close these positions for no charge
• Mutual Funds: $9.95 per transaction for no-load mutual funds
• Bonds: $4.95 per bond, $14.95 minimum
• Treasuries: $24.95 per transaction
• Certificates of Deposit (CDs): $24.95 per transaction

TradeKing Advantages

• Very good pricing
• Competitive options tools
• Excellent customer service
• Trader Network: best investor community in the industry
• Free IRAs (no setup and annual fees)

TradeKing Review

Current TradeKing Promotion Offer

OptionsXpress Pricing

• Stocks/ETFs: $8.95 per trade
• Options for active traders: $12.95 for up to 10 contracts, $1.25 per contract for over 10 contracts
• Mutual Funds: $9.95 per transaction for no-load mutual funds
• Bonds: $5 per bond, $9.95 minimum
• Futures: 1-40 contracts $6.99; 41-100 contracts $5.99; 101-300 contracts $4.99; 301-1,000 contracts $3.99; 1,001 + contracts $2.99

OptionsXpress Advantages

• Many easy-to-use and well-designed trading tools
• Top rated customer service
• No setup and annual fee IRAs
• Great research amenities
• Free real-time streaming quotes
• Virtual trading
• $0 to open cash account
• Free online classes
• Free DRIPs

OptionsXpress Review

Current OptionsXpress Promotion Offer

Thinkorswim Pricing

• Stocks/ETFs: $9.99 per trade
• Options: $9.99 + $0.75 per contract
• Mutual funds: $49.99 per transaction for no-load mutual funds
• Treasuries at auction: $25
• Futures: $3.50 per contract, inclusive of exchange fees

Thinkorswim Advantages

• Best-in-class trading platform
• No trading platform fees
• Online autotrading management tools
• Paper trading feature (practice trading)
• Free IRAs
• Lots of local branches
• No charge for streaming quotes

Thinkorswim Review