Entries Tagged 'Brokerages' ↓

TradeKing had been running a hot $50 TradeKing promotion promotion in October where new account holders can get $50 if they deposited $2,500 or more within 30 days and then made a trade within 180 days of opening the account. It had done so well that they decided to extend it through the end of November. The terms are easy, the bonus is deposited quickly, and the trade costs only $4.95 one-way.

TradeKing has won a couple big brokerage awards including $1 in Customer Service in Smart Money Magazine’s 2008 Best Discount Brokers and even four stars from Barron’s.

These guys have made quite a name for themselves and are now adding $50 to the pot!

At Blueprint for Financial Prosperity, I keep as current a list of Sharebuilder promotion codes as I can and I’ve recently added a few more $50 codes to the list.

• ORANGE50CASH
• INVEST50
• BONUS50
• CASH50

You have to sign up for an account, make at least one trade, and then the promotional funds will be deposited in your account. Sharebuilder is now a division of ING Direct and you can link the two accounts together to make managing them easier.

E*Trade sent me a mailing the other day marketing their rollover IRA promotional offer. Open a Rollover IRA at etrade.com/ira100free by November 28th, 2008 and get 100 commission-free stock and options trades.

It’s a decent offer and trades are usually only $9.99 a trade anyway but 100 trades is a lot and they expire in thirty days. If you’re planning on rolling things over and E*Trade is your target institution, this is a good offer; but 100 trades in thirty days should be a compelling factor in your decision. Think of it as icing on a cake you already ordered.

Here are the terms & conditions:

1. Commission-free trade offer applies to new E*TRADE Securities Traditional, Roth, or Rollover IRAs. Not eligible are investment club, business trust, custodial, or other retirement accounts, E*TRADE Bank accounts, and any accounts not identified as valid. Promotion is limited to one new account per User ID and is not valid with any other offers. Excludes E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corp. associates and non-U.S. residents. The new account holder will receive a maximum of 100 free trade commissions for stock or options trades executed within 30 days of the opening of the new account. You will pay the standard commission rate on all trades (plus all applicable options contract fees), and your IRA account will be credited the standard commission rate per stock or options trade within eight weeks of qualifying (excluding options contract fees). Accounts must be opened by 12/31/2008 to qualify for this offer.
2. There is no annual custodial fee for IRAs if you sign up for and maintain electronic delivery of statements and confirmations. If you choose paper delivery of these documents, you will be subject to a $25 annual custodial fee unless the total assets in your linked E*TRADE Bank and E*TRADE Securities brokerage accounts are $25,000 or more. Other fees may apply. May be subject to change. Please visit etrade.com/nofeeIRA for details.
3. E*TRADE Financial Advisors provide recommendations on mutual funds, bonds, preferred stocks, closed-end funds, structured products-including equity linked CDs, and asset allocation. Customers are required to complete additional forms and documentation in order to receive such services. Different commission structures may apply and in some cases may be less or more than the rates posted on the Web site.

No fee 0% balance transfer credit card offers are getting much harder and harder to find. What is someone looking to reduce their debt debt supposed to do? What is someone looking to plan a big financial expense (such as a home improvement or other large capital project) go for some quick financing? Fortunately, 0% balance transfer offers aren’t going away. Companies have simply added one-time transfer fees that make the offer less lucrative but still valuable if you’re in need of a quick credit infusion.

First, why have the best offers becoming harder to find? It’s because the tightening credit market has caused many issues to pull back their best offers. Credit is not as free flowing as is used to be and those battling debt, or looking for some other edge on their balances, are noticing. As recently as a year ago, you could find three dozen no fee 0% balance transfer offers out there… now it’s getting much harder and harder.

Second, what’s the best way to take advantage of these 0% offers? Many credit cards still offer a 0% balance transfer but now have an associated fee with them but they are still a great way for you to take a quick interest breather, to get more caught up, if you’re carrying debt or they’re valuable for financial planning reasons.

If you are saddled with debt, taking out a 0% balance transfer may be a good decision under certain circumstances. First, compare the interest rate of your debt to the one offered by the credit card after your 0% APR promotional period. If the old debt is higher than the new one, it’s a no brainer – apply for a 0% balance transfer credit card and move the debt. If the interest rate of your debt is lower or the same, how much can you pay off during the 0% period? If the answer is “not a lot,” then you may not want to move it. If the answer is “the whole thing,” and you must be certain of this, then it makes sense to move it.

Ok ok, the offer is a little rich, but if you have $100,000 to deposit or transfer, such as from some retirement accounts, into a TDAmeritrade account, you can get yourself a free Garmin nüvi 660 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator plus a $200 Shell gift card. If you have $50,000, you can transfer or deposit that sum and get just the Garmin GPS unit. The deadline for this offer is August 30th. From a straight ROI perspective, the Garmin nüvi is worth $300 so the first $50,000 deposit is worth more than the second one.

The account must remain open for 12 months with the minimum funding requirements ($50k or $100k) but otherwise the offer is pretty straight-forward.

Promotion

Zecco, which stands for Zero Cost Commissions, is a recent entrant to the cheap stock trade brokerage game and they offer the cheapest trades out there. For the first 10 trades a month, you pay $0. The only requirement is that you have $2,500 in your account to start.

Are they a scam? Not according to my research on whether Zecco was a scam but it pays for you to do your own due diligence if you are still concerned.

(Zecco used offer no minimums and unlimited trades, claiming to earn enough off advertisements and margin interest, but they’ve since taken that away)

TradeKing is a discount online brokerage company that has no minimum account requirements and no fees. They are offering a $100 bonus when you open up an account with a $2,500 deposit and one trade. What you’ll need to do is sign up for an account, deposit $2,500, then make a single trade and withdraw everything except $1,000 – that’s how much you’ll need to qualify for the bonus. Just leave that in there for 6 months to keep the $100 bonus, which should appear after your first trade. Then, after six month, cash out (or keep the account).

There are more details in the sign up link above.

Sharebuilder is a great specialty brokerage firm that specializes in the old Buy and Hold and Dollar Cost Averaging parts of the investing spectrum. For a mere $4 a scheduled trade, you can slowly build up positions, dollar cost averaging as you go, in your favorites stocks. To get you jump started, Sharebuilder offers plenty of promotional codes such as $50 free for opening up an account, depositing $50, and making a single trade.

Check out this comprehensive list of Sharebuilder promotion codes to get you started.

TDAmeritrade has a promotion on their front page for commission free trades for a whole month plus $100 if you fund a non-IRA account with at least $25,000.

Terms & Conditions:

Offer valid for one new individual or Joint TD AMERITRADE account opened by 12/31/07 and funded within 30 days with $2,000 or more. To receive $100 bonus, account must be funded with $25,000 or more within 30 days of account open date. IRA and other tax-exempt accounts are not eligible to receive the $100 cash bonus. Offer is not transferable and not valid with internal transfers, accounts using the Amerivest service, current TD AMERITRADE accounts or with other offers. Qualified commission-free Internet equity orders must execute within 30 days of account funding. Limit one offer per client. Taxes related to TD AMERITRADE offers are your responsibility. Retail values totaling $600 or more during the calendar year will be included in your consolidated Form 1099. Account must remain open with minimum funding for 9 months, or TD AMERITRADE may charge the account for the cost of the cash awarded to the account. TD AMERITRADE reserves the right to restrict or revoke this offer at any time. This is not an offer or solicitation in any jurisdiction where we are not authorized to do business.