Major brokerage firms

Disclosure: We are committed to recommending the best products for our readers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to products, but this never affects our reviews or recommendations. If you want to manage your investments, the best way to do so today is with an online stock broker. There are a handful of excellent stock brokers to choose from, so knowing which is the best for your needs may be a challenge. To help you quickly hone in on the best option for your unique needs, we reviewed some of the best online stock brokers on the market today.

Best Online Brokers 2020

Want to trade stocks? On these measures, the brokerage firms below earned their place on our list of the best online brokers for stock trading. We evaluated brokerage firms and investment companies on the services that matter most to different types of investors. For example, for active traders, we've noted online brokers with low or no commissions and robust mobile trading platforms. For people venturing into investing for the first time, we've included the best online brokers for educational resources including webinars, video tutorials and in-person seminars and on-call chat or phone support.

Read on to see our picks for the best brokers, alongside links to our investing experts' in-depth reviews on each. Show Less. Interactive Brokers' IBKR Lite is a strong option for frequent traders: The broker offers international trade capabilities, no stock-trading commission and a quality trading platform.

Zacks is a great choice for experienced and active investors who would appreciate a little extra support from a representative, but trades cost more than at competitors. Trades of up to 10, shares are commission-free. Not much. Note that many of the brokers above have no account minimums for both taxable brokerage accounts and IRAs.

Once you open an account, all it takes to get started is enough money to cover the cost of a single share of a stock and the trading commission, if charged. Trading costs definitely matter to active and high-volume traders, but many brokers now offer commission-free trades of stocks, ETFs and options.

Other factors — access to a range of investments or training tools — may be more valuable than saving a few bucks when you purchase shares. One easy way is to invest in exchange-traded funds. ETFs are essentially bite-sized mutual funds that are bought and sold just like individual stocks on a stock market exchange. Like mutual funds, each ETF contains a basket of stocks sometimes hundreds that adhere to particular criteria e.

Unlike mutual funds, which can have high investment minimums, investors can purchase as little as one share of an ETF at a time.

Your money is indeed insured, but only against the unlikely event a brokerage firm or investment company goes under. Your account choices boil down to a taxable brokerage account versus tax-favored retirement account, such as an IRA. And by that we mean taking a thoughtful and disciplined approach to investing your money for the long-term.

Some key criteria to consider when evaluating any investment company are how much money you have, what type of assets you intend to buy, your trading style and technical needs, how frequently you plan to transact and how much service you need. Promotion None. View details.

Why we like it Interactive Brokers' IBKR Lite is a strong option for frequent traders: The broker offers international trade capabilities, no stock-trading commission and a quality trading platform. Pros Large investment selection. Strong research and tools. Over 4, no-transaction-fee mutual funds. Cons Website is difficult to navigate.

Zacks Trade. Why we like it Zacks is a great choice for experienced and active investors who would appreciate a little extra support from a representative, but trades cost more than at competitors. Pros Ample research offerings. Robust trading platform. Access to international exchanges.

Cons Trails competitors on commissions. High account minimum. Pros High-quality trading platforms. Comprehensive research. Commission-free stock, ETF and options trades.

Advanced tools. Active trader community. Cons Free trading on advanced platform requires TS Select. No transaction-fee-free mutual funds. Plans and pricing can be confusing.

Want to compare more options? Last updated on May 1, Methodology NerdWallet's ratings for brokers and robo-advisors are weighted averages of several categories, including investment selection, customer support, account fees, account minimum, trading costs and more. Our survey of brokers and robo-advisors includes the largest U. Factors we consider, depending on the category, include advisory fees, branch access, user-facing technology, customer service and mobile features.

The stars represent ratings from poor one star to excellent five stars. Ratings are rounded to the nearest half-star. To recap our selections Frequently asked questions How much money do I need to start? Should I just choose the cheapest broker? How can I diversify with little money? Is my money insured? What type of brokerage account should I choose?

How quickly can I start trading? How do I decide whether a brokerage firm is right for me? We want to hear from you and encourage a lively discussion among our users.

Please help us keep our site clean and safe by following our posting guidelines , and avoid disclosing personal or sensitive information such as bank account or phone numbers. Any comments posted under NerdWallet's official account are not reviewed or endorsed by representatives of financial institutions affiliated with the reviewed products, unless explicitly stated otherwise.

None No promotion available at this time. Open Account on Interactive Brokers's website. None no promotion at this time. Open Account on Zacks Trade's website. Open Account on TradeStation's website. Read review. None no promotion available at this time. Open Account on Robinhood's website. None No promotion at this time.

The firm also makes it easy for clients to earn interest by sweeping uninvested TD Ameritrade, one of the largest online brokers, has made significant efforts to. Other factors, such as a track record of significant returns for clients, should be considered. Another consideration when selecting a large broker-.

With so many different types of online stock brokers available to investors, it can be tough to choose one that works best for you. When we started our online broker reviews in the fall of , no one knew how the world would change. We recognize that we all are living through a particularly volatile time as we deal with this global crisis, and financial markets have also seen unprecedented change, impacting all investors. Our analysis of the online brokerage industry is, " Commission Cuts, Consolidation, and a Coronavirus Crash. Our mission has always been to help people make the most informed decisions about how, when and where to invest.

Want to trade stocks? On these measures, the brokerage firms below earned their place on our list of the best online brokers for stock trading.

There are dozens of stock brokerage houses in the United States. But four major firms stand out because of their name, offerings, their total amount of client assets, and the number of clients they serve.

Top 15 Broker-Dealer Firms for 2019

Blain Reinkensmeyer May 7th, The StockBrokers. Here's how we tested. If so, you will need an online broker account. Choosing an online stock broker is one of the most important decisions you will make as an investor. This guide aims to introduce online trading and break down the best online brokers available today.

Best Online Brokers For Stocks in 2020

In other words, it is a broker when it trades for clients, and it is a dealer when it buys and sells for itself. Many broker-dealers are online platforms. A broker-dealer conducts the business of buying and selling securities by filling one of two roles in a transaction. A broker-dealer performs two roles. It is both a broker, when it trades for a client and charges a commission, and a dealer, when it trades for itself. If the broker acts as an agent, the broker-dealer takes the action required to trade a security. The broker does not have any of their own money at risk but connects their client with other broker-dealers for which they are paid a commission. If the broker-dealer acts as a dealer, they are a principal in a transaction.

One of the most revolutionary changes to investing in the last quarter century has been the explosion of discount brokerages, which allow individuals to buy and sell stocks inexpensively and without the need for a human stockbroker. This change has made investing more accessible to the average person and has been very beneficial to the stock market and the economy at large.

In the competition for customers, investment brokers are competing with one another fiercely. Choosing the best online broker for stock trading will really depend on what type of trading you plan to do. Some firms are more general in their investment approach. Others are niche-oriented, focused on options trading or more advanced investing.

Best Online Brokers

It might be helpful for investors to see which investment banks and broker-dealers have been the best financial performers in recent years. That information is below, based on a screen of data provided by FactSet. A screen of U. This excludes a large part of the industry. Financial conglomerates, such as the four biggest U. The list also excludes asset managers and life insurance companies, many of which provide investment management and brokerage services to their customers. These three companies have relied heavily on interest income from deposits that their brokerage customers place in their subsidiary banks. A change in Federal Reserve policy leading to three recent cuts in the federal funds rate has put pressure on this profit center. One way is to look at their returns on invested capital ROIC over the past five full years. You can click on the tickers for more about each company, including business profiles, which vary widely.

11 Best Online Brokers for Stock Trading of May 2020

Investors have a variety of options when choosing a brokerage firm to work with that is authorized to trade securities for buyers and sellers. The main duty of the company is to serve as a connection between buyers and sellers to facilitate a transaction. Once the transaction has been completed, brokerage firms receive compensation by means of commission. When choosing a brokerage firm, it is important to research the firm and your broker through BrokerCheck. As we are dedicated to providing clients with beneficial resources related to the securities industry, below is a list of the top brokerage firms around the world. We are dedicated to helping investors recover investment losses caused by negligence, incompetence, fraud, or dishonesty of stockbrokers and brokerage firms. Our attorneys have recovered millions of dollars on behalf of investors against most major Wall Street brokerage firms, including Credit Suisse First Boston, in claims involving stocks, bonds, options, auction rate securities, mutual funds, hedge funds, principal protected notes, and other structured products.