Scottrade

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Description

Scottrade is one of the top online brokerage firms, offering $7 Online Trading and a full line of investment products, as well as the SmartMoney 5-Star award winning online Scottrade Bank. The subsidiaries of Scottrade Financial Services, Inc. offer self-directed and broker-assisted investing in stocks, exchange-traded funds, mutual funds, options trading, bonds, margin trading and certificates of deposit through trading accounts, retirement investing accounts, and custodial services for registered investment advisors (RIAs).

Never mind any other brokerage firms, Scottrade offers four different trading platforms within its own system with Scottrade, Scottrader, Scottrade Mobile and Socttrade Elite. Here are a brief description of each:

  • Scottrade – The standard platform that works within the website. No software, no plugins, nothing needs to be installed. The usual limitations apply though: no streaming quotes (though real time quotes are available), less than instant response time (although it’s bearable most of the time). For most investors, this is adequate.
  • Scottrader – The introduction for customers to streaming quotes, customizable trading screens and others like top 10 lists and real time updated account balances, positions and order execution.
  • Scottrade Mobile – I have no idea why you want to trade using your phone, but basic options are there if you really need it. The software works on all versions of iPhone, Blackberries and any device that is Internet capable.
  • Scottrade Elite – The most flexible and feature rich trading platform, but there’s a $25,000 balance requirement to get this free. Be careful because there’s an option to NASDAQ TotalView and Level II, which costs extra unless you do enough trades per month (15 and 10 respectively).

Commissions and Other Fees

For years, Scottrade cleaned shop with just $7 a trade. In fact, the commissions were so good that everyone thought it was just a Scottrade promotion. However, recent competitors like TradeKing bring new meaning to the word “discount brokers. Nevertheless, $7 a trade is still very attractive for most, promotion or not.

Same story with options. Commissions are at $7 plus $1.25 per contract. Not earth shatteringly low prices but still reasonable.

Unlike the bigger brokerage firms, there are $0 fees to maintain the account no matter how much you have in your accounts. The only requirement is that it takes $500 to open an account ($2,000 for a margin account).

Full Broker information

Status
Foundation Year 1980
License
Trading Platforms Scottrade Trading Web Site, ScottradeELITE Advanced Trading Platform, Scottrader Streaming Quotes, Scottrade OptionsFirst, Scottrade Mobile Application, Scottrade Mobile Website
Reliability Rate BBB
Authorised Capital
Brocker Fee 7
Exchange Fee
Withdrawal Fee
Minimum Deposit 2500
Mobile Trading
Daily Analytics
Bonuses & Discounts
Seminars, Education
Manager Support
Assets Management

Contact information

Phone: 800 619 7283
Address: Town and Country, Missouri, United States
Website: https://www.scottrade.com

Rating

40% 60%

User Reviews

I love Scottrade, there is an office just down the street from where I live.
&nbsp jason &nbsp 2016/10/10 12:43 &nbsp &nbsp
I went to a Scottrade location today. They are certainly happy, and I like the fact that I can see someone face to face if anything were to happen to the phones or website. I wish they would do other services like retirement planning though. As it stands, they can do everything, but nothing more, than what could be done over the phone.
jason 2016/10/10 12:43


I just did some research on Scottrade vs. Etrade and I JUST opened up a Scottrade account this morning. I am still learning how to deposit the initial 500 into my account, but I can definitely tell you what is and what is not B.S. about the promotion codes. Scottrade actually DOES have a referral program right now where if you pass around the code (mine is WAOR6466) and someone uses it, the person who opens the account AND the person who supplied the code both get three free trades. The free trades DO have an expiration date (12/29/11). So, to be totally honest, I am hoping that a whole bunch of people use my code so I can get a few more free trades. I picked my code to get the original 3 free trades online. That DID work for me, but maybe it’s because I picked the right one. I have also seen online that people complained that they got burned by someone saying you get more than 3 trades… It’s not true, they are only giving 3 away per referral. Thanks, Kev P.S. Please hook me up!! My code is WAOR6466
jason 2016/10/10 12:43


NEW FOR 2012 USE Code : ZGQJ6742 Works 100%. Get 3 Free Trades When You Open Account = $21 Free I tried it and it is wonderful……Love the streaming quotes….. NEW FOR 2012 USE Code : ZGQJ6742 Works 100%. Get 3 Free Trades When You Open Account = $21 Free I tried it and it is wonderful……Love the streaming quotes…..
jason 2016/10/10 12:43


Nice, pleasant people, but in my experience they are the worst brokerage firm I have done business with in the United States. They do NOT fill your orders at best prices but, instead, pass your stock orders to market makers who pay them for this order flow. While many firms do this, they do it in an especially obscure way and give you no options to opt out. With Scottrade you will not get the best prices and many of your orders won’t fill, even at times when the nationally listed offer prices for listed securities go below your bid! This just happened to an account I oversee yesterday on an NYSE listing. If you do any sophisticated investing, like shorting shares to hedge something else you would like to buy, they will buy your short position in arbitrarily without telling you and charge you a huge commission, to boot. When confronted with buy-ins they will cite SEC rules; when you speak with the SEC and offer their siting, the SEC will explain that that rule has nothing whatsoever to do with such buy-ins. They are also not familiar with the laws overseeing investing in the United states and have recently represented other Scottrade policies as federal regulations. Even though they have local offices and are personally nice people, do not invest your money here. You will be effectively cheated. TD-Ameritrade and Fidelity, as well as Vanguard, are much more honest firms to do business with. Lastly, Schwab, not Scottrade, garnered all those JD Powers awards (http://www.jdpower.com/Finance/ratings/self-directed-investor-firm-ratings).
&nbsp ScottFenton &nbsp 2016/10/10 12:50 &nbsp &nbsp
I hope you don’t have the troubles with Scottrade that I have had. Their website has issues, everybody knows that, it’s slow, it stops, it misses trades but that’s not the worst of it. Their customer service is pretty bad. Rude people who are way too casual about a customer having a problem. They are way to relaxed about being of no help, they just couldn’t care less. They can’t do this and they can’t do that and they lost the other thing. I’ve been a customer of Scottrade for a few years now. They make several thousand dollars a year off of me. But whenever I have to deal with an actual person, it’s a nightmare!
&nbsp Simeon &nbsp 2016/10/10 12:50 &nbsp &nbsp
Jeez, I don’t pay $9.99 after the first month.. I only pay $7.00 for a trade. Some companies have to give away 300 free trades t0 get people to sign up. I’ll stick with Scottrade. Referral coe: IXFV9382 will get you 3 free trades for opening an account. Dave
Simeon 2016/10/10 12:50


I’ve been using scottrade for almost a year and have had a pleasant experience do far. (Even in a crappy market) Low commission and no fees always make the experience better. They also have some great tools. If you’re a beginner when it comes to investing you should definitely open an account. Its also great if you’re an advanced trader as well. GET FREE TRADES WHEN YOU OPEN AN ACCOUNT WITH THE CODE: DJHS3215
&nbsp Matt &nbsp 2016/10/10 12:50 &nbsp &nbsp
I’m pretty new to the world of online trading and decided to open a Scottrade account and all I can say is it’s been an amazing experience. Scottrade has very useful tutorials that will guide you along so you can learn everything possible about trading and there programs. On top of all the great things Scottrade offers they have offices all around where you can go to talk to someone, No more impersonal phone calls but a dedicated group of customer service reps that will always be there for you. If anyone decides to open an account place this referral code HCMS1913 My friend works for Scottrade and gave me this code it gives 7 free trades. I request that you don’t place this on other websites though. Thanks
&nbsp Leon &nbsp 2016/10/10 12:50 &nbsp &nbsp
It’s nice that they will be giving you some free trades for the referral codes you are posting here, but Scottrade is really an inferior brokerage firm. They have nice people working locally, and it’s not their fault Scottrade is so crappy, but the they have no power with the back-office or with headquarters whatsoever. I have had a lot of experience with them, a number of discount brokers, and on the institutional side. Scottrade, as others have mentioned, sells your order flow to various market makers who game your trades and casually break all sorts of federal and state rules. The laws are so stacked in their favor, they laugh if you try to protest or file anything, no matter how much of a slam-dunk. I’ve tried. Their execution costs are inferior, their website is actually based on Windows 2000 (my developer noticed the ancient code referrals), their margin rates are some of the highest, and you have no choice where to put your trade. They also will only base your GTC on the NYSE open, so if the stock trades below your bid they often won’t fill you. The main reason for this rule, in my opinion, is so their market makers can front-run your trade. But whatever the reason, it actually violates the SEC’s intent when they stipulate “best-execution.” If for some reason you are still swayed by their feeble webinars and below-average investor-tools (please do a little bit of research and see how many other firms now offer these same tools and more and better), at least put you orders in AON, so you don’t constantly get the prison-treatment of their 3 share fills on your 1,000 share order (with supposedly low-cost $7 commission). Really don’t understand why people are still flocking with all the alternatives to this nasty piece of work.
&nbsp SteveBrooks &nbsp 2016/10/10 12:50 &nbsp &nbsp
New Scottrade Referall code — KFOK6706 — gets you 3 free trades ($21 value!) Thats a O not a zero after the F. Thanks!
&nbsp Sean &nbsp 2016/10/10 12:50 &nbsp &nbsp
If you decide to sign up with Scottrade you can use Referral Code: VSKB9108 This will give you 3 free trades when you open a new account with them, but it doesn’t work for existing accounts. Good luck trading!
&nbsp RaulG. &nbsp 2016/10/10 12:50 &nbsp &nbsp
New 2011 referral code : IXFV9382 Will get you started with 3 free trades in your new Scottrade account. Thanks for my 3 free trades also. Sammy
&nbsp Sammy &nbsp 2016/10/10 12:50 &nbsp &nbsp
Promotion code: WAOR6466 Good starting June 29, 2011!!! Hey all, I just did some research on Scottrade vs. Etrade and I JUST opened up a Scottrade account this morning. I can tell you what is and what is not B.S. about the promotion codes. Scottrade actually DOES have a referral program right now where if you pass around the code (mine is WAOR6466) and someone uses it, the person who opens the account AND the person who supplied the code both get three free trades. The free trades DO have an expiration date (12/29/11). So, to be totally honest, I am hoping that a whole bunch of people use my code so I can get a few more free trades. I picked my code to get the original 3 free trades online. That DID work for me, but maybe it’s because I picked the right one. I have also seen online that people complained that they got burned by someone saying you get more than 3 trades… It’s not true, they are only giving 3 away per referral. Thanks, Kev P.S. Please hook me up!! My code is WAOR6466
&nbsp KevinF &nbsp 2016/10/10 13:00 &nbsp &nbsp
New 2011 Scottrade referral code: IXFV9382 This new code will give you 3 free trades when you open any type of account. Ref code: IXFV9382 HAppy investing everybody.. Dave
&nbsp Dave &nbsp 2016/10/10 13:00 &nbsp &nbsp
Jeez, you guys get bought off easily. TDAmeritrade gives you up to *300* free trades for the first month when you sign up with them. And they are a real brokerage, not a sell-your-order, poor-fill shop like Scottrade.
&nbsp SteveBrooks &nbsp 2016/10/10 13:00 &nbsp &nbsp
Jeez, I don’t have to pay $9.99 after the first month. Maybe they have to give away 300 free trades for one month to get people to sign up with them. I’ll stick with Sottrade. Referral code:IXV9382 will still get anybody 3 free trades Dave
SteveBrooks 2016/10/10 13:00


I agree that $10 a trade would be a show-stopper. However, I pay $4/trade at TDA. First, I got the free trades (500 or one month), then the commission went to$5, I’ve since negotiated a buck off. For me, there’s no comparison. Also, as has been mentioned earlier, Scottrade sells your order-flow. Prices can go through your bid or offer, and you often will still not fill, and never if it happens before the stock opens on the NYSE. With TDA you can direct your trade to NASDAQ and hide to show only 100 shares at a time. A much better brokerage in almost every way. I keep accounts at both, but always go to TDA first.
SteveBrooks 2016/10/10 13:00


Scottrade Promo Code: UVTC2810 Get 3 free trades with worth $21 when you use this promo code. When Asked “How did you hear about us?” you need to select “Referred by a friend / Received a promotion code (click to enter your code)” and enter the code.
&nbsp Josh &nbsp 2016/10/10 13:00 &nbsp &nbsp
I have been using Scottrade for months now after switching from another brokerage. My experience with scottrade has been good so far. The only thing is if you are a daytrader, it would be a bit inconvenient because after selling your stock, you can purchase another stock but then you can’t sell the new stocks that you just bought within 3 days. Scottrade requires 3 days for sales and purchases settlement. So you will have to wait about 3 days to sell your new stocks. Another thing is when it’s time to withdraw your money, you can’t just do it easily online as you can do when deposit. Other than that, it’s pretty good. If you decide to sign up and start your investment, this is my referral code: SRTF6655. You’ll get 3 free trades to start with (I also get 3 trades, win-win situation here ;) . Good luck everybody!
&nbsp Ann &nbsp 2016/10/10 13:00 &nbsp &nbsp
GET FREE TRADES WHEN YOU OPEN AN ACCOUNT WITH THE CODE: NMNO6918 This works and it’s the most recent code.
&nbsp John &nbsp 2016/10/10 13:00 &nbsp &nbsp
NEW CODE 2012 SCOTTRADE USE Code : ZGQJ6742 Works 100%. Get 3 Free Tardes When You Open Account = $21 Free I tried it and it is wonderful……
&nbsp kh &nbsp 2016/10/10 13:00 &nbsp &nbsp
New 2012 Scottrade referral code: IXFV9382 will give you 3 free trades when you open any type of account with this referral code. Use this code any time in 2012 and beyond. New referral code: IXFV9382 for 3 free trades at Scottrade Terry
&nbsp Terry &nbsp 2016/10/10 13:00 &nbsp &nbsp
New 2013 and 2014 scottrade referral code that will give anybody 3 free trades when they use this new code when opeening an account. New Scottrade code: ATTJ8587 (for 3 free trades) New Scottrade code: IXFV9382 (will also give 3 free trtades) The later code is my brothers… both will work.. Use either code. Happy investing….invest in yourself….then you’ll have a plan Dave
&nbsp Dave &nbsp 2016/10/10 13:00 &nbsp &nbsp