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What are the features of TD Ameritrade?

Kelly Avatar By: Kelly | Last updated February 2, 2020

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TD Ameritrade is one of the largest and most reputable companies you can find in the online stock trading industry. The company has been around for 45 years and it keeps on growing from year to year.

In 2017, TD Ameritrade acquired Scottrade, another reputable name in the online stock trading industry.

TD Ameritrade processes more than 900,000 trades every day and houses over $1 trillion in customer assets.

Online stock trading services allow anyone to become a stock trader. All they have to do is have an internet connection and sign up for a service. Most providers offer mobile apps as well, so you can conduct your entire trading straight from your smartphone.

What are the fees of TD Ameritrade?

Here are the main fees charged by TD Ameritrade:

  • Account minimum: $0
  • Stock trade fee and options base fee: $6.95
  • Options per contract: $0.75
  • Mutual fund trade fee: $49.99
  • Broker assisted trades fee: $44.99
  • Options exercise fee: $19.99
  • Margin rate under $24,999.99: 10.25%
  • Margin rate $25,000 to $49.999.99: 10.00%
  • Margin rate above $1,000,000.00 – 7.75%

What are the main features of TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade offers several types of investments: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, futures, options, Forex, foreign ADRs.

With this online stock trading service you have access to several trading platforms. You can use the web trading platform, where you can enter trades, view your account and more.

One of the biggest strengths of TD Ameritrade is its Thinkorswim platform, which is mostly tailored for active traders. The Thinkorswim has to be installed on your desktop and comes with several useful features: variety of charts supported (the charting feature that has more than 300 tech indicators so you can tune your trading strategies to the tiniest detail), advanced forecasting tools, 15 pre-programmed strategies like condor and butterfly, dozens of template watch lists to choose from, a customizable search option, advanced analytics.

You can also use one of their mobile apps, compatible with both iOS and Android devices.

TD Ameritrade offers streaming of real-time quotes, you can get recommendations from former CBOE traders, you can screen for stocks and choose between over 300 commission-free ETFs and over 4,000 no-transaction-fee mutual funds.

Some of the securities can be traded on a 24 hour basis, 5 days a week.

TD Ameritrade offers a trading simulator that is useful for beginners that want to improve or simply practice their trading strategies. You get $100,000 in virtual money and a margin account. Users that are not customers of the TD Ameritrade can use the simulator, too, for 60 days, as a free trial.

Another great quality of TD Ameritrade is the company’s focus on education and research. TD Ameritrade offers a lot of valuable resources, from news and guides to live webcasts on a variety of stock trading related topics. In-house sessions for investors are also hosted at its branch locations.

TD Ameritrade has mobile apps too and they pretty much offer the same functionality as the desktop app. The mobile apps are compatible with iOS and Android and even support Apple Watch.

TD Ameritrade offers all the major types of assets you can think of and it doesn’t require a minimum investment on your part, when you want to open an account. That is why it is a great option not just for large investors but for smaller ones, as well.

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