Zacks Trade is an online broker oriented to self-directed investors who want to trade U.S. and foreign stocks, bonds and funds. The platform provides robust trading tools and a bundle of no-fee (and paid) research. However, unlike many competing brokers, you still pay per-trade commission fees.

The main selling points of Zacks Trade are that it offers sophisticated, feature-rich trading software; broker-assisted trades for no additional fee; and easy trading of foreign assets. Clients in more than 200 countries can trade on this platform, and traders can buy and sell assets on more than 90 international exchanges. Zacks Trade allows investors to open individual or joint taxable accounts, as well as retirement accounts.

The downside to Zacks Trade is the $3-per-trade minimum commission fee ($1 during the first year). If you want expert help developing a portfolio or no-fee trades, Zacks Trade isn’t the best fit for you.

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The Bottom Line: Zacks Trade provides access to dozens of international exchanges and fee-free broker-assisted trades—all on a feature-rich platform—but it still charges trading fees when many competitors don’t.

• Trade fees are per share and cost clients one penny per share for stocks and ETFs, with a $3 minimum fee.
• There’s a $2,500 minimum balance requirement, which earns you a $1-per-trade promotion, but there are no inactivity fees, and margin rates started at just 5.06% as of November 2019.
• Investors get a choice of three trading platforms and can trade on the web and on mobile devices.

Who should consider Zacks Trade ?

If you want a choice of full-featured trading platforms, you’re interested in trading on international exchanges or you prefer broker-assisted trades, Zacks Trade might be the right fit.

Zacks Trade’s per-share pricing is low, but it isn’t $0, as it is with competitors. Plus, after the first promotional year, trades go back up to a $3 minimum from the $1 introductory fee. That said, the margin rates are lower than are competitors’ rates, and foreign trading is easy and relatively affordable. Commissions when trading foreign stocks are steeper at Charles Schwab and Fidelity.

Zacks Trade clients also benefit from a massive amount of market insight: Clients have access to more than 20 subscription services for free. But if you’re hands off and won’t use the research and tools available—or you seek more guidance, as with a robo-advisor, or zero-commission stock trading—Zacks Trade probably isn’t what you want.

Zacks Trade commissions and fees

Most of Zacks Trade’s fees are related to trades. Zacks Trade has no inactivity fee, no fee for automated customer account transfer and no fee for order cancellations. Clients also get one free withdrawal per month. (All withdrawals after the first one cost $1 for an ACH, $4 for a check and $10 for a wire.)

The fees for trading are low—a penny per share for stocks and exchange traded funds (ETFs) worth $1 or more per share and 1% of trade value for those worth less than a dollar, with a $3 minimum. Also, Zacks Trade will allow new clients to trade for $1 for the first year, with a minimum balance of $2,500. These aren’t the lowest fees, however. Charles Schwab and E*TRADE have $0 trades.

Zacks Trade also has steep charges for mutual fund trades: $12.55 per trade for those valued at $1 or more per share. You can trade certain mutual funds for $0 at E*TRADE and Fidelity.

It’s notable that Zacks Trade provides broker-assisted trades for no extra charge, including for foreign stocks. Compare that with E*TRADE, which charges an additional $25 for broker-assisted trades, as does Charles Schwab. If you believe that you’ll require a broker’s assistance on a regular basis, Zacks Trade would be a good place for you.

Margin trading also is a good deal at Zacks Trade, with margin rates starting at 5.06% as of November 2019. The site even has a Margin Rate calculator, so clients can see how much they’ll save compared with other firms. Charles Schwab charges 9.325% for debit balances under $25,000, although Interactive Brokers charges just 3.06% for loans under $25,000. (Nevertheless, Interactive Brokers also charges a $10 monthly fee if you don’t pay at least $10 in commissions each month or if your account falls under $100,000. So you’ll pay at least $10 a month there in fees regardless.)

Real-time quotes cost money. Regular clients of Zacks Trade see data on their platforms on a 15-minute delay. If you want live, streaming data, you’ll have to pay at least $9.95 per month plus $3 per month to cover all exchange fees for Zacks Real Time Quotes Gold. Schwab provides real-time data for free.

Foreign Stock Commissions:

• Broker-assisted trades: no extra charge
• Canada ($1 or more CAD per share): $0.02 CAD per share ($4.50 CAD minimum)
• Canada (less than $1 CAD per share): 1% of trade value CAD ($4.50 CAD minimum)
• Mexico: 0.3% of trade value MXN (180 MXN minimum)
• Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain: 0.3% of trade value EUR (12 EUR minimum)
• Norway: 0.1% of trade value NOK (150 NOK minimum)
• Sweden: 1% of trade value SEK (100 SEK minimum)
• United Kingdom: 0.3% of trade value GPB (12 GPB minimum)
• Currency conversion from USD: $2 to $2.50 estimate

Commissions for Asian and Australian transactions are here.

Trading platforms and tools

At Zacks Trade, clients can trade stocks (including penny stocks and OTC stocks), options, bonds, ETFs and mutual funds. The platform doesn’t support futures, commodities or Forex for purposes besides currency exchange.

Zacks Trade has three trading platforms, plus their mobile platform:

• Zacks Trade Pro: This is the company’s flagship trading platform and meant for active, high-volume traders. The layout is customizable, and clients can trade stocks, options, bonds and funds in 19 countries. Charting and technical analysis is available, and useful tools include SpreadTrader to handle complex option orders or Basket Trader to import baskets of stock orders and execute them quickly. This platform must be downloaded and installed on your computer.
• Client Portal: This is a console meant for placing and managing simple trades, reviewing your statements and adjusting account settings.
• Zacks Trader: This operates like a light version of Zacks Trade Pro, providing a simpler interface along with trading features and tools. If you work behind a firewall, you still can access this platform, which provides order execution, market data, charts and customization.
• Handy Trader: This mobile app, available for iOS and Android, allows users to trade stocks, options, bonds and mutual funds from their devices. You can route orders using the company’s SmartRouting technology, and you can access trade reports, and portfolio and account information.

When routing orders on any Zacks Trade platform, you can use either SmartRouting, which searches for the best price and dynamically routes and reroutes all or part of your order for maximum benefit, or you can choose the exchange you want your order to be sent to.

Trading options is easiest on Zacks Trade Pro, where you can click on the bid, or ask of an option chain. You can use Zacks Trade’s Strategy Builder feature to create spread orders or option orders that have multiple legs. Options tools, including Options Trader, Rollover Options and SpreadTrader, help you analyze and manage options orders.

Research is one area in which Zacks Trade shines. The company gives users free access to more than 20 sources, including 24/7 Wall Street, StreetInsider.com and The Motley Fool. For an additional cost, dozens of other research subscription products are available, including international ones, such as the Euronext All Indices Real-Time Data (EUR $17 per month).

Is Zacks Trade safe?

Zacks Trade requires clients to log in using two-factor authentication—the username and password on the account plus a unique code that’s generated to a free device that clients receive or to their Handy Trader app. The site also uses industry-standard 128-bit SSL encryption and has a dedicated security team monitoring for suspicious activity. Zacks Trade Pro customers also can restrict account access to specific IP addresses.

In terms of insurance, Zacks Trade is a division of LBMZ Securities, which is a member of the Securities Investment Protection Corporation (SIPC) and carries insurance on investments up to $500,000. Under Zacks Trade’s clearing firm’s excess SIPC policy, investments are insured up to an additional $30 million (with a cash sublimit of $900,000).

Final thoughts about Zacks Trade

Zacks Trade is something to consider for investors who have at least $2,500, want to trade foreign stocks and believe that they might require access to broker-assisted trades. The available research and choice of trading platforms give you flexibility and a wide pool of investments to choose from. Zacks Trade’s margin rates also are extremely competitive.

However, Zacks Trade doesn’t provide any guidance (this isn’t a robo-advisor), and you can execute nonbroker-assisted trades for $0 at other companies. Also, if you want to invest in mutual funds, other companies allow investments in no-load funds for much less.

Rates & Fees mentioned in this article are accurate as of the date of publishing.

E-Trade Core Portfolios is a robo-advisor platform that integrates with E-Trade’s main broker product and gives hands-off investors a great place to grow their money. Answer a few quick questions about your timeline and how comfortable you are with fluctuations in your investments, and E-Trade Core Portfolios suggests one of five simple portfolios to help you achieve your goals — and then manages the portfolio for you.

E-Trade Core Portfolio builds investment portfolios from low-cost ETFs. Active investors might not love the fact that E-Trade doesn’t reveal what specific ETFs they’re buying as underlying investments. If you’re a hands-off investor, E-Trade Core Portfolios handles the heavy lifting for you, rebalancing your portfolio on a regular basis and remixing your asset allocation as markets change. One caveat: E-Trade Core Portfolios doesn’t offer tax-loss harvesting, in which investments are sold at a loss to lower the investor’s taxes.

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The bottom line: Fees are a touch higher than competitors, but this robo-advisor makes investing simple and straightforward. The key things to know if you’re considering Core Portfolios are:

• There is a $500 minimum investment requirement.
• You’ll pay a 0.30% annual management fee — no matter how much money you invest.
• E-Trade customizes your investments based on a few simple questions about when you’ll need your funds and how risk-tolerant you are.

Who should consider E-Trade Core Portfolios?

E-Trade Core Portfolios is a slam-dunk option for investors who are already E-Trade online brokerage customers, since they’re familiar with the company and they already have an account. Just open an E-Trade Core Portfolios account and transfer some or all of your other balances with the brokerage.

Compared to similar robo-advisors, E-Trade Core Portfolios isn’t the cheapest option. However, they do offer the resources and support of a very large company, plus the ability to have a hands-on brokerage account and a robo-advisor account under a single login. This is something not offered by free-standing robo-advisors, like Wealthfront and Betterment.

This is a great option for someone who wants hands-off investing together with the option to do no-fee active trading, too. If you’re looking for a robo-advisor only, or you’re not already an E-Trade customer, other choices offer portfolio design and management for slightly lower fees.

How does E-Trade Core Portfolios invest your money?

Before opening an account, E-Trade Core Portfolios allows potential clients to run through their simple eight-question form that helps the platform determine your goals and your level of risk tolerance.

After finishing the questionnaire, E-Trade Core Portfolios recommends one of five different diversified portfolios of low-cost ETFs. (It used to offer a hybrid portfolio of both ETFs and mutual funds, but that option is no longer available.) You can choose the recommended portfolio, or you can choose an alternative investment mix from the five portfolio options:

• Conservative: 20% stocks, 80% bonds
• Conservative Growth: 40% stocks, 60% bonds
• Moderate Growth: 60% stocks, 40% bonds
• Growth: 80% stocks, 20% bonds
• Aggressive Growth: 99% stocks, 1% bonds

You can further customize your portfolio by adding a socially responsible ETF, focusing on companies known for their environmental, social, and governance practices, or a smart beta ETF, which favors equities with certain characteristics that may help boost your overall returns.

E-Trade Core Portfolios bases its investing approach on Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT), which holds that portfolios be constructed from a combination of asset classes based on the expected returns and volatility that they’ve displayed previously. Though this approach leans heavily on historical data, which may not be representative of what an investment will do in the future, the goal is to limit risk and increase returns. E-Trade’s team also considers an investment’s risk, expenses, manager tenure, performance and style consistency and asset size and growth.

Notably, E-Trade Core Portfolios doesn’t disclose exactly which ETFs it uses for your portfolio, although it does state that there are no proprietary E-Trade ETFs in the mix, meaning that E-Trade isn’t including E-Trade-branded funds.

E-Trade Core Portfolios rebalance semiannually and when material deposits or withdrawals are made. Although the robo-advisor offers a “tax-sensitive” investing approach, there is no tax-loss harvesting.

Integration with E-Trade brokerage accounts

Customers who already have an account with E-Trade will find it easy to create a Core Portfolios account, as they can use their account information to pre-populate (and speed up) the application process. They can then convert a brokerage (or other) account to Core Portfolios, or transfer money from another account to fund the robo option.

Being an E-Trade customer also brings with it the option of visiting one of the brokerage’s national brick-and-mortar locations, which will appeal to people who like face-to-face interaction.

Is E-Trade Core Portfolios safe?

There’s no such thing as risk-free investing, but E-Trade has been operating as a discount broker for many years and is well-respected. It’s a FINRA member, which means that it’s met licensure and regulatory requirements. It’s also a member of SIPC, insuring customer accounts for up to $500,000. That said, your portfolio’s performance is not guaranteed, so make sure you carefully research investment options to make sure you’re comfortable investing your money with E-Trade’s robo-advisor service.

Is E-Trade Core Portfolios right for you?

While Core Portfolios gives you access to E-Trade’s extensive infrastructure, including local branches, the minimum balance requirement and management fees are slightly higher than competitors. There are no goal planning tools, and the robo doesn’t offer tax-loss harvesting.

That said, E-Trade is also a well-known brokerage name with extensive educational content and a simple investing strategy that may appeal to existing E-Trade customers and others looking for big-name reputation, customer service and security.

For new and advanced investors alike, brokers Charles Schwab and Fidelity offer very competitive features, from robust fund offerings to to helpful investment research. Fidelity and Charles Schwab charge no trading commissions for U.S. stocks and ETFs, and give users access to thousands of no-fee funds. Both offer 24/7 phone support. It’s no accident that both brokers top our list of the best online stock brokers.

With a minimum balance of $5,000, Charles Schwab customers can take advantage of the broker’s zero-fee robo-advisor services. With Fidelity, index fund enthusiasts can sock money into the firm’s zero-expense index fund offerings. Both brokers are excellent choices, so the best one for you depends on the specific offerings from each firm. Read on for a detailed comparison.

Charles Schwab vs. Fidelity: Fees & account minimums

Neither Charles Schwab nor Fidelity charge annual or monthly fees to maintain a brokerage account. Neither charges commissions for online U.S. stock or ETF trades. Both charge trading commissions of $0.65 per options contract and $1 per bond for secondary market trades. Charles Schwab charges a $1.50 commission per futures contract — Fidelity doesn’t allow futures trading. Charles Schwab charges up to $49.95 to buy mutual funds that aren’t available via Schwab Mutual Fund OneSource, and Fidelity charges $49.95 for non-Fidelity transaction-fee funds. Fidelity’s margin rates are also lower than Schwab’s for traders with larger debit balances.

If you’d rather take a hands-off approach to your investments, Fidelity offers several different portfolio management options. Fidelity Go is the firm’s robo-advisor, which utilizes automatic trading algorithms to make investments at a very low cost for users, an annual fee of 0.35% of your account balance. Fidelity Personalized Planning and Advice uses automated trading algorithms together with expert coaching, for an annual fee of 0.50% of your account balance. With Fidelity’s Portfolio Advisory Services, professional money managers handle your investments for an annual fee of 0.50% to 1.50% of your account balance, depending on assets invested.

Charles Schwab’s robo-advisor, Charles Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, requires a minimum investment of $5,000 and charges no annual fee. Note that Intelligent Portfolios requires users to hold 6-30% of your balance deposited with the robo-advisor in its cash account, which offers an APY of 0.70%. This can hamper your overall returns in years where the market returns above 0.70%. For more personalized guidance, there is Charles Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium, which charges a one-time $300 fee and $30 a month. Your investments are managed by the robo-advisor, plus you have access to “unlimited” guidance from a certified financial planner.

Charles Schwab charges $50 for a full account transfer and $25 for a partial account transfer, while Fidelity charges no transfer fees. Neither broker has an account minimum, but both require a large deposit to qualify for bonuses. Charles Schwab requires a net deposit of $100,000 to qualify for 500 commission-free equity and options trades for up to two years. Fidelity also requires $100,000 in new account funding to land 200 commission-free domestic stock and options trades.

Charles Schwab vs. Fidelity: Tradable securities

In addition to stocks and bonds, both brokers have a robust selection of tradable securities for either the beginner or advanced investor:

• Mutual funds: If you’re interested in investing in professionally managed mutual funds, Fidelity offers more than 10,000 funds. Investors at Charles Schwab have the option of investing in more than 7,900 mutual funds, 3,900 of which have no transaction fee.
• Options trading: Fidelity and Charles Schwab both support options trading, which involves traders making contracts to sell securities at a predetermined price over a set period of time in the options market. Both brokers charge $0.65 per contract for options trading, in addition to the $0.00 normal trading commission.
• Futures: Futures trading involves selling an asset or security at a set price at a predetermined time in the future. Charles Schwab charges $1.50 per contract for futures trading, and there are no additional fees for expert-assisted trades. Fidelity does not support futures trading.
• Exchange traded funds (ETFs): Adding ETFs to your investment portfolio is a great way to diversify your holdings. Fidelity offers over 500 commision-free ETFs. Charles Schwab offers free trading in the 22 ETFs they manage under their own name, plus more than 500 other commission-free ETFs.
• Foreign exchange trading: Also known as forex trading, foreign exchange is for trading currencies. Fidelity offers forex trading, although you’ll have to sign up with Fidelity Forex LLC, a subsidiary. This service gives you access to currencies for more than 35 countries and direct transfers from your Fidelity account. Charles Schwab does not offer forex trading options.
• Certificates of deposit (CDs): Both firms let customers buy brokered CDs on their platform. Brokered CDs have similar terms and APYs as CDs bought from a bank. However, they are bought and sold more like securities, giving you more flexibility in exchange for fees.
• Cryptocurrency: Neither firm offers cryptocurrency trading.

Charles Schwab vs. Fidelity: Which is best for you?

Both Charles Schwab and Fidelity have long-standing track records, low fees or no fees, no account minimums and a diverse array of fund offerings. Preference for either broker may depend on a personal inclination, such as the desire to try Fidelity’s no-expense index funds (available only to Fidelity clients) or the desire to trade futures, available on Charles Schwab’s platform but not Fidelity’s. Charles Schwab’s robo-advisor has no annual fee (note the cash account requirement, however), compared with Fidelity Go’s 0.35% management fee.