TD Ameritrade is the largest American online broker that is focused on beginners and advanced traders. Established in 1975, the company is the leading investment and broker of the No. 1 in the United States. Uses well-balanced online and mobile platforms that are backed up by excellent customer support.
The main advantages of the broker are a huge selection of investments, quality trading platforms, lack of a minimum deposit, a decent selection of free exchange-traded funds and more than 350 branches to support customers. The number of free materials from experts and recommendations on the formation of the portfolio is also impressive. The disadvantages include: high commission, expensive trades with the participation of a broker, high short-term ETF trading fee.
TD Ameritrade offers trading stocks, options, more than 300 ETFs without commission, investment funds, futures and annuities. In 2019, the broker said that it will offer spot contracts for cryptocurrencies and futures contracts on a single exchange through its partnership with ErisX, a regulated cryptocurrency trading exchange.
The broker is considered one of the most expensive, the fixed commission is $6.95 per transaction. Although commissions are not the cheapest, the positive thing is access to high-quality service. In addition, you can put $2,000 into the account and trade without a commission of 2 months.
The absence of a minimum deposit allows everyone who is interested to start investing. TD does not use the low minimum as an excuse to charge for account inactivity, it does not restrict access to training materials and tools for those who do not have large funds in their account.
The broker's educational offers are incredibly huge: videos, articles, cards, online seminars, presentations. TD offers a curriculum according to the skill level and skills you have. For a more specific guide, there is a chatbot. He answers questions about the broker's tools.
TD Ameritrade offers a paperMoney virtual trading simulator, a desktop platform that provides $100,000 in dollars and access to a margin account. The simulator is designed to test strategies. Available for free through the platforms and the Mobile Trader app. Those who have not yet become a customer can register for a free 60-day trial.
Platform
The broker's main trading platforms are TDAmeritrade.com and Thinkorswim. The first offers almost everything that the average investor needs for analysis and trading.
With the GainsKeeper platform tool, you can track capital gains and losses. This helps to create an asset allocation plan to build a balanced portfolio. There are two options for using the tool – creating an individual model and choosing a pre-created one.
The Thinkorswim PC platform is designed for serious trading in stocks, ETFs, options, futures and currencies. It has advanced trading capabilities, a wide range of tools and research for technical analysis, customizable screeners and graphs, testing capabilities, real-time news feed, quotes, market maps and so on.
You can also place any open code transactions through third-party platforms such as Twitter Direct Messages, Facebook Messenger and Apple Business Chat. In addition to conventional platforms, there are also mobile: TD Ameritrade Mobile and TD Ameritrade Mobile Trader. TD Ameritrade Mobile has significant trading functionality of the web platform, as well as provides Level II quotes that are not available on the web version. TD Ameritrade Mobile Trader includes futures and forex trading, the ability to order complex options and support for chat in the TD trading table.
Conclusion
TD Ameritrade covers all the major benefits of a quality broker and does it well. Not the cheapest option in terms of trade costs, but for that money you get a lot. Free access to a significant list of services, including portfolio recommendations, practical investment courses, market expert analysis, trading tools and a wide range of ETFs without commission and transactions.
In the past, the broker made several mistakes: broke data in 2007 and had problems with his account in the money market during the financial crisis. But still, it is respected by customers and seriously competes with other large discount brokers. Whether it is right for you depends on how often you trade, as no one wants to overpay for commissions. We hope that the review of the broker TD Ameritrade helped to determine the choice of a worthy reseller.