Recommended for stock trading, not recommended for options trading
Company Background:
Scottrade was founded in 1980 by Rodger O. Riney in Scottsdale, Arizona. By 1982, the company began expanding outside of Scottsdale. One of Scottrade's great strengths is its network of 441 branch offices all over the US, which is the largest among online brokers. The company began offering online trading in 1996.
Scottrade is privately held and headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. The company's CEO is Rodger O. Riney. Its clearing firm is Penson Financial Services, Inc.
Platforms:
- Website: www.scottrade.com
- Advanced Trading Platforms: ScottradeELITE (Desktop Application) and Scottrader (Java Application)
- Mobile Website: m.scottrade.com
- iPhone App: Yes
- Android App: Yes
- BlackBerry App: Yes
Review Summary:
Scottrade has a good standard web based stock trading platform. The Scottrader stock trading platform is even better and ideally suited for high frequency traders. The options trading engine needs a lot of improvement (sadly, the Scottrader version is not much better) and coupled with excessive commission and fees for options traders, we do not recommend the service for options trading. Besides that, the charts and research tools are high in quality. Margin rates are merely average. Scottrade offers commission free ETF trading on company owned funds. Investors that stick to stock trading should be happy making Scottrade their broker of choice.
Detailed Reviews by Category:
- Registration: B
- Standard Stock Trading Platform: B
- Scottrader Stock Trading: B
- Standard Options Trading: D
- Scottrader Options Trading: D
- Charts: B
- Research Tools: B
- Commissions and Fees: Fails, but only for options traders
- Margin Rates
- Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRIPs): No
- Extended Hours Trading: Yes
- Commission Free ETFs
- Tax Reporting
- Mint.com Compatibility: Yes
- Wikinvest Compatibility: Yes
- Clearing Firms
See our Summary Reviews Page to compare Scottrade with other brokers