TD Ameritrade (Introducing: thinkorswim®)
For new investors looking to make a splash in day trading, TD Ameritrade can offer the user-friendly, powerful solutions that could help you make smart choices. One of these solutions is the premiere trading and analysis platform, thinkorswim®. The platform offers innovative technology combined with state of the art features geared towards strategy and analysis – made possible through a plethora of educational resources and technical studies. TD Ameritrade and thinkorswim® could have you buying and selling like a pro in no time. You could have the power that professional day traders are looking for, and if you’re a newcomer, the resources and guidance that could help you begin several exciting new financial pursuits.
History
Founded in Omaha, Nebraska in 1971 as a small brokerage firm, TD Ameritrade has grown to become one of the largest online stock trading companies around. In the late ‘80s, TD Ameritrade introduced an innovative quote and order system that utilized touch-tone phones to conduct trades. Using the profits from this initiative, TD Ameritrade acquired more companies and eventually purchased a platform for online investing. Shortly thereafter, TD Ameritrade became a publicly traded corporation itself, and very little seems to be standing in the way of the company’s run-away success.
Platform highlight: thinkorswim®
This amazing platform, provided through TD Ameritrade, allows traders to trade multiple markets and leverage market opportunities with a bevy of analytical tools. One of the first things that stands out about thinkorswim® is its compatibility with a number of different TD Ameritrade account types, including individual and joint accounts, education savings accounts, retirement accounts, and more.
- Stock Trade Fee $6.95
- Options Base Fee $6.95
- Options Per Contract Fee $0.75
- Mutual Fund Trade Fee $49.99
- Number of Mutual Funds 13,000+
- Broker Assisted Trade Fee $44.99
- Broker Assisted Per Contract Fee $0.75
- Commission Free ETFs 101
- Minimum Deposit No
The features and analysis tools are completely tailorable. TD Ameritrade and thinkorswim® makes it possible to find trading insights that are moving the way the trader wants. Those insights can then be drilled down further using a plethora of indicators and intelligent chart graphics that show everything from moving averages to oscillators. Traders can also isolate fundamental data and see updated news, stock splits, earning announcements, etc.
thinkorswim® has so many unique and profitable features that it could be at first intimidating, but there are tons of resources available online and via live help representatives that make learning the platform a breeze.
Pricing
To help make your trading as neat and simple as possible, TD Ameritrade offers flat-rate trading for online equity trades. Additionally, you’ll have no limits on the shares you trade with each transaction. While normal commissions, service fees and exception fees will still apply, TD Ameritrade offers over 100 commission-free ETFs to help you get started. TD Ameritrade also doesn’t require a minimum balance to open an account, meaning that larger investors and small investors will have the same access to the same great trading features.
Interface
To accommodate several different trading styles and lots of people’s differing schedules, TD Ameritrade offers multiple trading platforms to put you in control of your commodities. Whether you’re at home or on the go, the company can work with your online, desktop and mobile needs to put your options at your fingertips.
Beginning with its intuitive Trade Architect® platform, you can access your stocks and other commodities from any computer browser. Utilizing free 3rd party research from within the myTRADE community, you can connect with like-minded investors and see in-depth analysis and history of various commodities before you make any trades. Trade Architect® is also amazingly customizable, offering interactive charting and real-time streaming video from various news outlets while you conduct your research—which means you can keep an eye on crucial trading events while you plan your future moves.
TD Ameritrade’s proprietary desktop app, thinkorswim®, offers an even more advanced option for people looking to really delve into the possibilities of their commodities, including built-in complex analytics. You can set automatic buy/sell levels for your stocks, futures, options, forex or other commodities all in one place, as well as see estimates of how different strategies might affect your risk factors. With lighting speed and a striking readability, TD Ameritrade promises a trading platform as complex as your strategies.
For people that want to take their day trading techniques with them wherever they go, TD Ameritrade also offers mobile trading options to keep up with you. Offering both the TD Ameritrade Mobile App and the Mobile Trader, you can decide exactly how serious you want to get. The regular Mobile App will be best for people trying to analyze individual stocks and trade them one at a time, while the Mobile Trader App will allow you to implement some more complex buying, selling and tracking techniques. Either way, you can move your commodities wherever you go.
Resources
When you’re new to trading, it can be easy to get lost or confused by all the new terminology or complex concepts you’re trying to wrap your head around, but TD Ameritrade has your back. Seemingly with a specialist for almost any commodity you want to trade, you can always ask TD Ameritrade’s support specialists for anything you need. For instance, if you want advice on how to plan for your retirement, you could meet with a specialist in-person or by phone, email or chat to learn more about your options.
Before you even need support, though, TD Ameritrade hooks you up with tons of educational tools to show you how investing works. Everything from in-person workshops to exclusive video tutorials to online trader courses are at your disposal to help you feel like a pro—fast. You’ll also have access to a wealth of independent research from trusted trading insiders like Morningstar, S&P Capital IQ and Thomson Reuters, offering valuable market insights that could help you make a splash
Customers can also test out their strategies without wagering any of their actual income, thanks to TD Ameritrade’s paperMoney platform. Using up to $100,000 of "play money," you can sample certain stocks or implement strategies risk-free before you start trying your luck for real.
The Good
Geared toward helping new traders while also providing the power that veteran traders demand
Offers thinkorswim®, which provides a multitude of trading and analysis tools in its own right.
The Bad
Mutual fund trade fee is slightly higher than some of its competitors
The Ugly
None
TD Ameritrade, Inc. (“TD Ameritrade”) has entered into a Marketing Partner Agreement with Centerfield Media Holdings, LLC (“Marketing Representative”) whereby TD Ameritrade compensates Centerfield Media Holdings, LLC for recommending TD Ameritrade as an executing broker. The existence of this Marketing Partner Agreement should not be deemed as an endorsement or recommendation of Centerfield Media Holdings, LLC by TD Ameritrade and/or any of its affiliated companies. Neither TD Ameritrade nor any of its affiliated companies is responsible for the privacy practices of Centerfield Media Holdings, LLC or this website. TD Ameritrade does not warrant the accuracy or content of the products or services offered by Centerfield Media Holdings, LLC or this website. Use of this website and its services and/or products is the decision of and at the discretion of the individual or entity choosing this service and/or product. TD Ameritrade makes no guarantees or warranties of any kind of the products or services offered by Centerfield Media Holdings, LLC or by or through this website and shall have no liability therefore.
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