New $50 Signup Bonus For TradeKing Brokerage
Online stock brokerage firm TradeKing has a new $50 sign-up bonus for new accounts. To qualify, you must open with at least $2,500, make one trade, and not take it out for 6 months.
There is no referral required, just be sure you see the $50 offer from the link. Expires 10/31/08 Extended until 11/30/08. Selected fine print:
1) To qualify for this offer, new accounts must be opened and funded with $2,500 or more. Account opening and funding must occur within 30 days from the date this email was sent, and one trade must be executed within 180 days of account opening. [...] A minimum balance of $2,500 is required in the account (minus any trading losses) for the first six months or the credit may be surrendered. Offer applies to new non retirement accounts funding for the first time.
Background - Why pay more?
TradeKing is a discount brokerage with $4.95 trades and $0.65 option contracts. They have good customer service, with both Live Chat and phone reps with short hold times available. Won SmartMoney Magazine’s Best Discount Broker award in 2006, 2007, and 2008.
They are one of my three favorite discount brokers. To sum things up very briefly, they are between Zecco (cheaper, less refined) and Scottrade (more expensive, but has local physical branches). I don’t see any reason to be paying $10+ for a trade, given these three options.
For more information and tips on TradeKing, please check out my TradeKing Review. I have an account with them, so you can also ask questions in the comments.
Find more in Deals & Offers, Investing | 10/2/08, 5:09pm | Trackback
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Use to be $100 for a $1000 6 month hold.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Shrug, gas used to be $3 a gallon too.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Not related to this post at all.
But I remember a post from a couple of months ago, before the poop hit the fan, as they say, about goals of yours. One of yours was to run a marathon. So want to make a recomendation. Let me say, I don’t know where you live, but I am gonna assume you live in the US or Canada. So it may be a trip for you. But bring the wife, and leave the kids with grandma for a long (really long) weekend.
Try this one:
http://www.bsim.org/site3.aspx
Haven’t run it personally, but I have several running friends who run it every year, base their training calendars on it, love it. I am planning on running it in 2009. Plus, I just got back from staying for close to a week at the Tickle Pink Inn in Carmel with my husband, we both loved it. We will stay there again when we go back in April for the ‘thon. Gotta say, I’ve done marathons before. But loved the Tickle Pink Inn so much, and my friends’ recomendation of the Big Sur Marathon, I’m gonna go do it.
http://www.ticklepinkinn.com/
So extravagent, yes. But priceless. Its beautiful there, and the Tickle Pink Inn is the bomb.
Oh, I thought I was on Trip Advisor
Anyway, give thought to the marathon. Maybe I’ll see you there
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Thanks! I would try it if it was at $100 or more.
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:41 am
I have been happily improving my fitness in the last few months, but I think I’m still far away from marathon. It is still definitely a goal though!
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:20 am
I have an account with TK as well but I have never used it as the marked started to be bearish in the beginning of the year and I do not know how to trade in this type of market. Of course long but don’t know really what to buy.
How is scottrade and zecco compared to TK (aside from local branches cheaper respectively)? I’m interested in website tools, etc.
October 3rd, 2008 at 7:04 am
I personally use Tradking for last couple of years and I love it. Particulary, the Order screen and the technical analysis they provide are really good and also I like their education material too.
October 3rd, 2008 at 8:35 am
Is there a hard pull to when signing up?
Is there a decent money market fund that you can buy that will give you a competitive interest rate? I am not an active trader but will sign up for this if the bonus will beat the return I’d be getting on $2500 in my 6% reward checking account.
October 3rd, 2008 at 9:21 am
Zecco is offering unlimited free trades from Oct 1 - 31.
I’m running in the Hartford marathon next weekend (my 2nd marathon, btw).
October 3rd, 2008 at 9:45 am
This offer is not worth it for the $50 bonus. You can earn $50 off $2500 at 4% in the WaMu savings in 6 months (assuming JP Morgan doesn’t lower the rate). Not worth opening and closing a new account and giving out your DOB and SS#.
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:46 am
I forwarded the TradeKing brokerage info to a friend and he responded with this message:
“Thanks for the info.
However, I’ve been using Interactivebrokers. They charge (only) 1/2 cent per share traded - with a minimum charge of $1. So 200 shares is $1. 1000 shares is $5, etc. Most (nearly all) of my trades are $1.”
Thought you could use this info and maybe down the road write something on the pros and cons of using different methods to buy stocks.
October 3rd, 2008 at 2:04 pm
There is a $10 minimum monthly charge every month for Interactive Brokers, whether you trade or not. Sometimes I don’t make any trades for months. But if you are an active trader, they are very popular as they allow connection with fancy trading software.
October 3rd, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I also forgot to mention that I have an E*Trade account as well but I did not use it at all.
Does any of you have experience with E*Trade and how it compares to the cheaper online trading brokers?
October 3rd, 2008 at 3:29 pm
E-Trade is okay, but I don’t think they are worth the $10-$13 trades when I can get excellent customer service for $5-$7 per trade. I have also had bad experiences with their customer service, which may have improved since, but they haven’t given me a reason to try them again.
October 3rd, 2008 at 4:24 pm
I know Trade King and met with their staff in Boca Raton, FL. Nice people and great education on their options side. However, you really need to examine more than just bonus and low fees. I think people get too wrapped up in low fees and forget to be comfortable with the broker. Ten trades may save $20 at the end of the month, but you may get discouraged by they way the platform or service. Check out the following:
Platform, Customer Service, Education, Research, Handling trades from a tax standpoint, asset protection, special banking services
These are just some of the issues you should use to determine what is important to you.
Trade King is great for options trading, but others may be better suited for beginners.
October 5th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
A bit off the subject but does the cost of the trade count toward the contribution limit of a Roth IRA? For example, if I opened a Roth IRA at a discount broker, bought exactly $5000 worth of some company stock and had to pay $10 for the transaction would I have over contributed for the tax year by $10? Or is the trading fee not included as part of the IRA contribution?
October 6th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
If I had to choose between TradeKing and Zecco I would go for Zecco. Nothing could really beat 10 free trades/month. Of course if you need more extras, they will cost you ( extras such as S&P stock reports)
November 4th, 2008 at 3:39 am
[...] can still get $50 for trying out TradeKing brokerage as well. Extended until 11/30/08 Bookmark or Share: These icons link to social bookmarking sites [...]
November 27th, 2008 at 6:43 am
[...] and not take it out for 6 months. Trades are $4.95 each, with no minimums or inactivity fees. More promo information here. See my TradeKing review here. Bookmark or Share: These icons link to social bookmarking sites [...]
December 10th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
[...] Weblinks: [1] [2] [...]
March 14th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Forget Tradeking if this applies to you!
Foreign citizens with a US Tax ID number and legally living in the USA may open a TradeKing account with the exception of citizens from the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belarus, Canada, Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Cuba, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Liberia, Libya, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Netherlands, Nigeria, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Sudan, Syria, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe.