Where to find your online stock brokers? here is the list for some stock broker comparison, you may want to check it out before you open a new account or transfer to a new broker with better benefits.

1. Zecco.com

Special offer: $0 stock trade
Account Minimum:None
Commission Schedule:
$0 online stock trade for 10 times each month with $2,500, otherwise $4.50
Broker Assisted:$19.99
online option trade: $4.50+$0.50 per contract.
Broker assisted: $19.99+$0.75 per contract
Margin rates:
$0-$49,999 Base Rate 7.20%
$50,000-$499,999 Base Rate - 0.50%=6.70% Negotiable, call 877-700-STOCK (877-700-7862).
$500,000+Base Rate - 2.50%=4.70% Negotiable, call 877-700-STOCK (877-700-7862).

2.TradeKing.com
Special Offer:TradeKing will credit your account transfer fees up to $150 charged by another brokerage firm when completing an account transfer for $2,500 or more
Account Minimum:No minimum
Commission Schedule:
online stock trade $4.95, broker assisted $4.95
online and broker assisted option trade $4.95+$0.65
Option Exercise: $9.95 Option Assignment: $4.95
Margin Rates:
3% Rate for all the margin loan amount from $0 to $5,000,000 or more.


3.OptionXpress.com
Account Minimum:no minimum deposit
Commission Schedule:
online stock trade $9.95 for up to 1,000 shares and 9 times+Trades/Quarter, $0.01/share for 1001 shares or more
$14.95 for up to 1,000 shares and 0-8 times trades/quarter. $0.015 / share for 1001 shares or more.
online option trade:1Contract 5Contract 10Contract 20Contract
35+Trades/Quarter $12.95 $12.95 $12.95 $25.00
0-34Trades/Quarter $14.95 $14.95 $15.00 $30.00
Margin Account Rates:
$0 - $49,999 6.50 % Broker call + 3.75%
$50,000 - $99,999 5.50 % Broker call + 2.75%
$100,000 - $249,000 5.25 % Broker Call +2.50%
$250,000 - $499,9995.00 % Broker Call +2.25%
$500,000 - $999,9994.75 % Broker Call +2.00%
Over $1,000,0004.25 % Broker Call +1.50%

4.Scottrade:
Special offer: Switch to Scottrade and get up to $100 back.
Minimum Account: $500 cash account. $2,000 Margin account
Commission Schedule:
Online stock trade $7
Touchtone (IVR) Phone System $17
Broker Assisted $27
Online Option Trade $ 7 + $1.25 per contract
Touchtone (IVR) Phone System $17 + $1.25 per contract
Broker Assisted $27 + $1.25 per contract
Margin Interest Rates:
$0.01 - $9,999.99 base rate(8.00%) less 0.25% = 7.75%
$10,000.00 - $24,999.99 base rate(8.00%) less 0.50% = 7.50%
$25,000.00 - $49,999.99 base rate(8.00%) less 0.75% = 7.25%
$50,000.00 - $99,999.99 base rate(8.00%) less 1.25% = 6.75%
$100,000.00 - $249,999.99 base rate(8.00%) less 1.50% = 6.50%
$250,000.00 - $499,999.99 base rate(8.00%) less 1.75% = 6.25%
$500,000.00 - $999,999.99 base rate(8.00%) less 2.25% = 5.75%
$1,000,000.00 and above base rate(8.00%) less 2.75% = 5.25%


5. TD AMERITRADE
Special offer: Trade free for 30 days + get $100!
Account Minimum: Cash account $2,000. Margin Account $2,000. Retirement Account $1,000
Commission Schedule:
online stock trade $9.99,
touchtone phone trade $34.99,
broker assisted Trade: $44.99
online option trade: $9.99+0.75% per contract
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Telephone System :$34.99 + $0.75 per contract
Broker-assisted: $44.99 + $0.75 per contract
Margin Rates:
Above $ 999,999 (base rate) 7.75%- 1.50%
$250,000 - $999,999 7.75%- 0.75%
$100,000 - $249,999 7.75%- 0.50%
$50,000 - $99,999 7.75%- 0.25%
$25,000 - $49,999 7.75%+ 0.75%
$10,000 - $24,999 7.75%+ 1.00%
Under $10,000 7.75%+1.25%


6.E*TRADE
Special offer: Get 100 commission-free stock and options trades with $6.99-$9.99 commission pricing for active traders.
Account Minimum: Savings: $1 CDs: $1,000 Checking: $5,000 Money Market: $100
Commission Schedule:
Online stock trade:1500+ Trades/Quarter$6.99
150-1499 Trades/Quarter$7.99
30-149 Trades/Quarter ($50,000+ in assets)$9.99
0-29 Trades/Quarter (<$50,000 in assets)$12.99
Touchtone Phone:1-800-ETRADE-1 (1-800-387-2331)
Broker Assisted:Same commission schedule as above, but with additional $45 fee
Online option trade: same schedule as stock trade with additional +0.75 per contract.
Option exercise/assignment: $19.99
Margin rates:
$1,000,000 or more 3.99% (Equal to base rate)
$250,000 to $999,999.99 4.99% (1.00% above base rate)
$50,000 to $249,999.99 5.99% (2.00% above base rate)
Less than $50,000 6.99% (3.00% above base rate

7.ShareBuilder
Special offer: Buy Stocks for $4 & get a $25 Bonus!
Account Minimum:No account minimum
Commission Schedules:
online stock trade Real Time Buy and Sell $9.95, phone trade $29.95 per trade.
Online option trade: $9.95 per trade +$1 per contract
Margin rates:
Loan Balance/Basic/Standard/Advantage
Less than $10,000/ 8.00%/ 7.75%/ 7.50%
$10,000 - $50,000/ 7.00%/ 6.75%/ 6.50%
$50,001 - $250,000/ 6.00%/ 5.75%/ 5.50%
$250,001 and over/ 5.00%/ 4.75%/ 4.50%


8.Charles Schwab
Account Minimum:$1,000
Commission Schedules:
Online stock trade is $12.95 for first 1,000 shares 120 trades per year AND $999,999 or less in household balances. $8.95 for 120+ trades4 per year OR $1,000,000+ in household balances.. +$5 for Automated Phone Trades,+$25 for Broker-Assisted Trades
Online option trade is $8.95, plus $0.75 per contract , +$5 for Automated Phone Trades, +$25 for Broker-Assisted Trades.
Margin Interest Rates:
Debit Balance Margin Rate Effective Rate
$0-$24,999.99 Base Rate + 2.00% =8.50%
$25,000-$49,999.99 Base Rate + 1.50%= 8.00%
$50,000-$99,999.99 Base Rate + 0.50% =7.00%
$100,000-$249,999.99 Base Rate + 0.375%= 6.875%
$250,000-$999,999.99Base Rate + 0.25% =6.75%
$1,000,000-$2,499,999.99Base Rate - 0.25%=6.25%
$2,500,000+Base Rate - 0.50%=6.00%


9.FIRST TRADE
Special Offer:Refer a friend Earn $50
Account minimum:No minimum
Commissions Schedule:
online stock trade $6.95, broker assisted $26.95,Market touch $16.95
online option trade $6.95+$0.75/contract,broker assisted $26.95+$0.75/contract,market touch $16.95+$0.75/contract
Margin Rates:
Balance Rate as of 3/18/2008
$1,000,000+ 4.00%
$500,000 ~ $999,999 5.50%
$250,000 ~ $499,999 6.25%
$150,000 ~ $249,999 6.75%
$100,000 ~ $149,999 7.00%
$50,000 ~ $99,999 7.50%
$0 ~ $49,999 7.75%


10.SOGOTRADE
Special offer:Get 100 free trades when you open a new SogoTrade account.
Get 25 free trades each time you refer a friend to SogoTrade.
Get up to $100 in ACAT fee reimbursement when you transfer a qualified account to SogoTrade.
Account Minumium:$500
Commission Schedules:online stock trading $3,broker assisted $27

Margin Interest Rates
$0.01 - $9,999.99 base rate(4.25%) + 3.50% = 7.75%
$10,000.00 - $49,999.99 base rate(4.25%) + 3.00% = 7.25%
$50,000.00 - $99,999.99 base rate(4.25%) + 1.75% = 6.00%
$100,000.00 - $149,999.99 base rate(4.25%) + 1.50% = 5.75%
$150,000.00 - $249,999.99 base rate(4.25%) + 1.50% = 5.75%
$250,000.00 - $499,999.99 base rate(4.25%) + 1.25% = 5.50%
$500,000.00 - $999,999.99 base rate(4.25%) + 0.75% = 5.00%
$1,000,000.00 and above base rate(4.25%) + 0.25% = 4.50%

what does margin interest rate mean?

also, tradeking only charges about $5 for commission. how come it's ranked so low?

Has anyone used or heard about ZECCO? It looks pretty good for what I need. But if its not secure or technically inferior, who needs it.
Thx

I used Zecco when they had 25 free trades a month with a minimum of $2500 in the account. They changed their free trade structure to
10 free trades a month if one executes 25 trades in a month. I am not an expert at assessing execution speed, order filling etc, and hence cannot compare Zecco to other brokerages.

NO interactive brokers???

If you want to open a margin account, recommend to tradeking, the best rate of all.

I've been using TradeKing since early 2008 and have been mostly very happy with it, about my only real complaint is that they made the login process such a chore that it's seemingly impossible for third party sites to track your finances there, through sites like Mint or Cake.

Zecco, TradeKing and Scottrade are all pretty good. Me and all my friends use one of the three.

I use Scottrade.

I get 10 free trades with Zecco every month, which is more than enough for me since I'm not a day trader.