Stock Trading Grade: B
Note: This is our review of stock trading in the standard web based E*TRADE platform. For our review of stock trading in Power E*TRADE Pro click here.
Overview:
Trading at E*TRADE is an enjoyable experience. The buying and selling interface is well done. Changing and canceling orders works very well and execution from the portfolio view is also well done. There is also a nice selection of order types. Trade confirmations include transaction time down to the second.
Order Types:
See our Order Types page for an explanation of order types
- Market
- Limit
- Stop Loss
- Stop Limit
- Trailing Stop Loss $
- Trailing Stop Loss %
- Market On Close
- Contingent/Conditional
- One Cancels All (OCA)
- One Triggers All (OTA)
- One Triggers One Cancels Other (OTOCO)
- Bracketed
Details:
From my portfolio view users can select to buy or sell more shares of an existing holding. Below we selected to sell my XBI shares (click on images for larger views):
This brought us to the trading screen with the symbol name, transaction type of sell and the quantity pre-populated. This functionality is convenient and often overlooked by much of the competition. We entered a sell order for 10 shares of XBI at the limit price of $59.50. At E*TRADE, good until canceled orders are maintained for 60 calendar days:
We were asked to confirm our order:
Our order was entered successfully, though we were prompted by a warning message notifying us that our order was entered before the market open:
Once orders are submitted, their status can be checked on the orders status page. If the trade has not yet executed, users can change or cancel orders. Both features work well, with modified and canceled orders updating on the order status page instantly. Once order execute, trade confirmations are shown accurate to the second.
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