Speed Trader

Speedtrader"s a very good brokerage company for t most part

I was greatly satisfied with Speed Trader. I need to let you know in advance that if you are looking for great charting software, than Speed Trader is NOT your company. However, I have not used Speedtrader Pro. The commission is cheap, the customer service, and the execution are excellent. The fact that it didn"t have the best charts or the best research tools in the world, I overlooked, because it is cheaper, way cheaper, in the long run to just join Stockcharts.com for around $15 a month. Some people with their trading stradegy may need more advance packages than Stockchart.com"s $15 a month. However, when you think about it, depending on how many trades you make, a $50 or $75 membership could still be cheaper than paying $10 a trade.

Trust Score

7.9

User’s Review Ratings

Overall

Dont waste your time here

I gave these guys a shot and im not really sure why. I knew what i was getting myself into with their trading system, its one of the worst. Beyond that i just always had account issues on a day to day basis. I dont mean external things that can be dealt with at anytime. I can deal with that. I am talking system and buying power type issues, quote feeds, execution etc.

Trust Score

1.0

User’s Review Ratings

Overall

Great for Active Traders

Before I provide my opinion on ST, I need to inform you of a few things I do not use ST for:

1. Shorting.

I rarely short. Other reviews have stated with mixed opinion if ST is good for finding shares to short. No comment from me.

2. Options, Futures, Forex, etc..

I trade stocks, nothing more. Again, I can't comment on whether ST is good for anything other than trading stocks.

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With that being said, here are the best features - in my opinion - about ST:

1. Customer Service.

Whether it is live chat or e-mail, I get a reply within 24 hours. Sometimes within minutes. ST has not yet disappointed me with their CS. If they have, I wouldn't be writing this.

2. Matching commission costs, ACAT fee, ECN rebate.

My previous brokerage was Just2Trade. J2T charges 2.50/per trade and $50 for ACATs (outgoing). I informed Maria/Craig at ST about this and whether they would offer to match the 2.50/per trade and cover the ACAT. Craig agreed to both. (I've only used ST for 2 weeks, so the ACAT fee hasn't been refunded yet)

3. DAS Trader/Platform + Waived software fee (if you generate commissions equal to or greater than the total amount of fees that month)

With my commission fee being 2.50/per trade, the only thing I have to worry about is platform/software fees. Since I am an active trader, I essentially get it for free.

Overview:

Great CS, low commissions, free software/platform (I generate enough in commissions)... what else is there?

Trust Score

1.7

User’s Review Ratings

Overall

Not easy to find borrows

Tried this company out because I was hearing a lot about and my experience has in between. Their executions are pretty decent but the borrows are awful. I'm pretty impress that the company upgraded their platform but I'm still not that impress with their customer service. The only reason I'm still there is because of the trading fees which are pretty cheap. If you want to short penny stocks this is not the place to go in my opinion but I still think this broker is effective.

Trust Score

5.7

User’s Review Ratings

Overall

Add this broker to your trading arsenal

SpeedTrader is one of the many tools I use in my arsenal, it's my short-term position margin account, Scottrade is my long-term cash/IRA/With research and reports, TC2000 and FinViz for Charting, and investorshub.com for Level II Quotes.

First off SpeedTrader does not charge for orders that are not executed, because for some reason I have problems with typos when submitting orders. A trade with Scottrade ended up costing me $21+ because I kept making mistakes. I use them mostly with fun money that gets used on the OTC's, their execution speed is like lightning compared to Scottrade and I don't incur an extra fee for trading penny's (Unless the route has additional fees). Opening my account took about a week from initial paper work to funding my account (Which takes 2-3 days to clear via Penson) When I called for the first time asking if they recieved my paperwork, over the weekend, the women responded oh you must be Mr. XX.. That's great customer service. No machine asking Habla Espanol?

Now the bad, the Fees. Since Penson is sitting on your money, Speedtrader needs to collect fees, which can be offset by trading frequency, that people coming from self clearing firms normally don't pay for. $6.95 a trade is competitive but not the lowest or $.39/100 Shares Minimum $.99 is a great option if your swing trading.

I use the free DAS Web Trader (Based on Silverlight), other available software is DAS Trader, DAS Mobile, or Sterling Trader (There is also a free plain Submission form). The Web Trader is really bare-bones which has its advantages (ie: Its not bloated) and its easy to use.

With that in mind I would need to do 8 Trades a month (Based on the $6.95) to waive the monthly fee ($49.95).

Trust Score

1.3

User’s Review Ratings

Overall

Excellent Executions

I've been with Speed Trader a number of months. I prefer to use their version of DAS/Pro which is SpeedTrader Pro. They offer many order types and a multitude of routing options. Also, they have an iPhone app, iSpeedTrader. I use it to view my portfolio when I'm on the go, however, I do not use it to place trades, unless it's an emergency.

Compared to similar brokers, their commission schedule is fair, especially considering they waive the fee for SpeedTrader Pro if you place enough trades.

Their customer support is usually great, however, some of their representatives can get cranky.

Trust Score

1.0

User’s Review Ratings

Overall

Great for Trading, Awful Service

Overall I'm actually happy with Speed Trader, commissions are fantastic (although I wish you could choose if you wanted to pay per share or a flat fee each trade like ThinkorSwim). My one beef is the customer service, the first email they sent me listed the wrong account number, I had to inquire to find out status of my application, deposit, how to access platform.... basically they don't keep you updated at all you have to chase them down to get answers. When I emailed one customer service rep directly he was very quick to reply though, and I've accessed their live support chat once with no problem, but a couple days ago I left them a message when live support was unavailable and have yet to hear back. My biggest complaint is the fact that I applied for a margin account and they set me up for a cash account (due to me having less than one year trading experience) without notifying me of the change or checking to see if I still wished to set up an account.

So customer service could definitely has room for improvement, if you can stay more patient than me with that kind of stuff though you'll love this broker for the cheap commissions and flexible routing options

Trust Score

1.3

User’s Review Ratings

Overall

A very risky platform.

This site has cost me a ton! It is difficult to get timely access to them (phone or webchat) and the platform is unreliable. Examples:

1. No confirmation before order entered - you make a mistake and you get no 2nd chance to review.

2. If your order is partially filled, the display still reflects executed; if you see an execution, you have to check another screen to see what actually happened. If, e.g., your order for 1000 shares has only 40 shares filled, the cancell icon falls off and you have to call in to have the order cancelled. Of course, in a fast moving market, you may get screwed by the time you get someone there and then actually have the issue resolved.

3. Poor customer service. When they get tough questions they just try to blow you off. Today it took over 10 minutes for them to respond to the phone (put on hold).

4. No backup plan, if one server goes down you are screwed.

Trust Score

1.0

User’s Review Ratings

Overall

Nice platform and execution too pricey

I like the platform. they have good selection of short to borrow but the price is way to high. 6-7 dollars would be fair and competitive

Trust Score

5.9

User’s Review Ratings

Overall

Been a client for 3 years, Best broker ever used.

I have used about 4 brokers in the pasted, Ameritrade, etrade, scottrade and lightspeed. But SpeedTrader is the best one out there. There is always a person that picks up the phone when I call, no BS answering systems. More routing to exchanges, market makers and smart routers then any of the other guys and to top it off their are lower commissions.

Trust Score

1.0

User’s Review Ratings

Overall