Zero stock trading commissions is becoming the standard. It's a race to the bottom.

[Burgerwars]

I now think negative commissions could be a possibility in the future. Robinhood is losing its luster, with Schwab, which is basically a full service broker, joining the zero commission club.

 

https://www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/guid/EFB672D6-A09D-447C-93AF-0B032C8EA6BF

Edited October 2, 2019 by Burgerwars

[hegemony]

I can't wait until they start paying me to trade!!!

[Burgerwars]

7 hours ago, hegemony said:

I can't wait until they start paying me to trade!!!

My prediction it may be an itty-bitty percent, not a fixed amount.  If it was a fixed amount, like a dime a trade, I'll be buying and selling one share at a time of the lowest of the lowest penny stocks.  I'll be rich from all those dimes. 

[hegemony]

etrade on board

E*Trade Joins Rivals by Ending Commissions in Race to the Bottom

[Burgerwars]

2 hours ago, hegemony said:

etrade on board

E*Trade Joins Rivals by Ending Commissions in Race to the Bottom

We haven't yet heard from Fidelity Brokerage and Vanguard Brokerage, but their standard commissions will probably go to zero soon.

 

Interactive Brokers started this last week. What I don't like is this loss of revenue will push some brokerages to merge. Less choices for customers. I'm not looking forward to an E*Trade/TD Ameritrade merger. Those firms are already composed of previous mergers, now they may merge.

 

Edited October 2, 2019 by Burgerwars

[cv91915]

I paid Fidelity $4.95 yesterday.  

 

Trades have been free with Merrill as long as we have been customers, but I don't have a say in who my employer uses to administer its 401(k), ESPP and Deferred Compensation programs and accounts.

 

We have also had free trades with Wells Fargo for as long as I can remember.

[hegemony]

chase is free too and has been for a while.

[Burgerwars]

I think Merrill and Chase have only offered free trades based on your business/account balance. That will probably change as free becomes the norm.

 

E*Trade now offers free puppies for active traders. Not really. 

https://dealbreaker.com/2019/10/etrade-offering-puppies-for-online-trades-satire

 

[Burgerwars]

Another article:  "Low Cost Investing Can't Get Any Lower Than Free."  Actually, it can.

For Schwab, I'm trying to outline how a regular stock commission trade has gone down since the 1980's.  In the 80's, an investor would initially have to call a toll-free number to talk to a broker to make a trade.  Then came Telebroker, online services like Prodigy, and then eventually the internet.

Commissions gradually decreased from $39.95 (I think), down to zero.  While $39.95 sounds huge today, it was a big discount from calling your broker at Merrill Lynch or Dean Witter, who would charge you something north of $100 for the same trade.  Your "father's stockbroker" who would call several times a week about a hot stock to churn their account for commissions, is history.   Managing large accounts is now where it's at.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/01/your-money/charles-schwab-free-trades.html

 

Edited October 3, 2019 by Burgerwars

[Burgerwars]

Merrill Edge says they won't be following Schwab, and the like, with free trades for all, but will continue offering buckets of free trades based on balances in Merrill Edge and B of A accounts. It's possible they'll change their mind, but it looks like they want to avoid unprofitable small accounts running up loads of free trades.

 

https://advisorhub.com/merrill-edge-wont-mimic-schwabs-zero-commission-offer-executive/

[Burgerwars]

TradeStation has announced no commission trading on their TSgo platform.

 

https://www.tradestation.com/promo/tsgo/

 

[cv91915]

Grab some coffee, this could be a long night.

[hegemony]

The downside to Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade eliminating trading fees (yes, really)

[cv91915]

  Victim alert!!!

 

Inexperienced investors could overtrade or make risky stock bets, unimpeded by fees to make them stop and think a second, advisers told MarketWatch. 

[centex]

Haven't done as much since my account-opening free trades expired with TD Ameritrade, but a lack of fees can make the dalliances into penny stocks quite the afternoon-killing task LOL!  It's always fun to tell people "hang on...about to move a few hundred thousand shares...ok, done."

 

Options will still have the 65 cent fee though...

[Burgerwars]

On 10/2/2019 at 5:30 AM, Burgerwars said:

I now think negative commissions could be a possibility in the future. Robinhood is losing its luster, with Schwab, which is basically a full service broker, joining the zero commission club.

 

https://www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/guid/EFB672D6-A09D-447C-93AF-0B032C8EA6BF

The article doesn't say much.  Whether $1 million is enough is an open question.  If you also have a pension, you probably can retire comfortably with far less than a million.  Then there's inflation. With the U.S. bankrupt, $1 million in spending power today, can end up like spending Zimbabwe dollars tomorrow.  All that saving could then end up being useless.

[Burgerwars]

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/04/battle-for-zero-trading-fees-pressures-robinhoods-next-leg-of-growth.html

 

[Burgerwars]

Ally Invest joins the movement:

 

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ally-invest-joins-the-zero-commissions-movement-300931311.html

 

[IndyPoolPlayer]

On 10/4/2019 at 4:01 PM, Burgerwars said:

Then there's inflation. With the U.S. bankrupt, $1 million in spending power today, can end up like spending Zimbabwe dollars tomorrow.  All that saving could then end up being useless.

Or Venezuelan Bolivars .....

[Burgerwars]

On 10/3/2019 at 4:43 PM, cv91915 said:

Grab some coffee, this could be a long night.

Pop some more popcorn, Fidelity Investments just announced commission free trading:

 

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/fidelity-cuts-fees-to-0-as-it-jumps-on-zero-commission-bandwagon-2019-10-10

 

[Burgerwars]

BREAKING NEWS.  Ally Invest now offers $0 commissions (except for very low-priced securities).  "Wow."

 

https://www.ally.com/invest/self-directed-trading/

 

 

Edited October 11, 2019 by Burgerwars

[Burgerwars]

Like Merrill Edge, Vanguard Brokerage has yet to join the no-commissions club. Buckets of free trades does not start until a customer has $1 million in assets at Vanguard.

 

https://investor.vanguard.com/investing/transaction-fees-commissions/stocks

 

Edited October 12, 2019 by Burgerwars

[Burgerwars]

Bank of America/Merrill Edge getting closer to zero:

 

https://www.investors.com/news/bank-of-america-stock-rises-expands-zero-fee-stock-trading/

 

[Burgerwars]

Charles Schwab to support buying fractional stock shares.  While not something new as there has been ways to do that using things like stock purchase/dividend reinvestment plans, it's not something you have seen from a major brokerage.  It's probably good.  Companies don't split stocks as they used to.  For example, buying one share of McDonald's today is about $210.  That's a lot of Big Macs, and a hefty sum for many.

 

https://www.investmentnews.com/article/20191018/FREE/191019921/what-schwabs-fractional-shares-announcement-means-for-advisers

 

[cv91915]

16 hours ago, Burgerwars said:

Charles Schwab to support buying fractional stock shares.  While not something new as there has been ways to do that using things like stock purchase/dividend reinvestment plans, it's not something you have seen from a major brokerage.  It's probably good.  Companies don't split stocks as they used to.  For example, buying one share of McDonald's today is about $210.  That's a lot of Big Macs, and a hefty sum for many.

 

https://www.investmentnews.com/article/20191018/FREE/191019921/what-schwabs-fractional-shares-announcement-means-for-advisers

 

If someone wants one share of one individual stock but can't afford the entire $210...  that would suggest a sub-optimal investment approach for that person's financial situation.