Recent Cuts In Commissions

[jeb9999]

Some brokers have lowered their commissions.

On February 3, 2017 Schwab cut its commissions from $8.95 to $6.95.

On February 16, 2017 Firstrade cut its commissions from $6.95 to $4.95. They also dropped options from $0.75 to $0.65 per contract.

Which broker will be next to drop rates?


When was the last time Interactive Brokers lowered their commissions?

In 2016 IB's Electronic Brokerage pretax profit margin was 61%, up from 49% in 2015.

IB has plenty of room to cut commissions if they are interested in shaking up the brokerage marketplace.

Maybe they are content with 2016 profits of $756 million and DARTS growth of 2%.

 

[Robert Morse]

If you like ticket charges for equity trades, we charge $4.50.

 

[Handle123]

Well, I look at commissions as insurance, it is nice if low but at what expense. Time is money, and when something goes wrong, I want to know they will answer by 3rd ring so I can get out, and should they experience problems, I want to know they going to text me.

IB is so large, you think they care if some leave to pay a nickel less elsewhere? And I doubt shaking up marketplace, brokerages have costs they have pay and they not open to make losses. Actually, fees I believe are pretty low.

 

[Sweet Bobby]

I think tastyworks is shaking things up and will be a disruptor in this space. I am enjoying my low commissions. 1.15 to open an options trade and 0.15 to close!

 

[m22au]

https://finance.yahoo.com/quotes/amtd,etfc,schw

http://www.investors.com/etfs-and-f...online-stock-etf-commission-to-4-95-a-38-cut/
On 28 February, Fidelity announced a reduction in commissions to $4.95.

Schwab announced $4.95 stock trades and ($4.95 ticket + $0.65 per contract) option trades at 9.26am:
http://pressroom.aboutschwab.com/pr...ces-trade-commissions-495-and-lowers-contract
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/schwab-reduces-trade-commissions-4-142600626.html
The lower fees take effect from 3 March.

TD Amertrade announced $6.95 stock trades and ($6.95 + $0.75 per contract) option trades at 8.22pm.
http://www.amtd.com/newsroom/press-...-to-695-for-Online-Equity-Trades/default.aspx
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/td-ameritrade-reduces-client-pricing-012200390.html
The lower fees take effect from 6 March.

Etrade has not yet cut their prices. They charge $9.99 for stock trades.

Scottrade is being bought by TD Ameritrade, and the transaction is expected to close by 30 September.
http://www.amtd.com/files/doc_downloads/financial/Scottrade/Scottrade_Announcement-Release.pdf
https://www.scottrade.com/online-brokerage/trading-fees-commissions.html

OptionsXpress is owned by Charles Schwab. OptionsXpress customers will be migrated to the Charles Schwab platform later this year.
http://www.optionsxpress.com/about_us/pricing_commissions.aspx

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[Robert Morse]

Our base rates:https://www.lightspeed.com/pricing/commission/

 

[truetype]

Options Per Contract $0.60

Just to clarify, there's no added ticket charge, right? Also, is there a cap? Presumably you wouldn't charge $600 to execute a 1000 lot.

 

[Robert Morse]

No ticket change on the DMA software. No cap. Our commission rates also included the OCC fee of $0.05/side but not ORF and a few other smaller fees. If you are trading 1000 lots, I can do a lot better than $0.60/side. I can also offer SMART and DMA for the same cost on some software. Our SMART route can avoid the maker taker fees on many equity and etf options.

 

[m22au]

https://finance.yahoo.com/quotes/amtd,etfc,schw

http://www.investors.com/etfs-and-f...online-stock-etf-commission-to-4-95-a-38-cut/
On 28 February, Fidelity announced a reduction in commissions to $4.95.

Schwab announced $4.95 stock trades and ($4.95 ticket + $0.65 per contract) option trades at 9.26am:
http://pressroom.aboutschwab.com/pr...ces-trade-commissions-495-and-lowers-contract
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/schwab-reduces-trade-commissions-4-142600626.html
The lower fees take effect from 3 March.

TD Amertrade announced $6.95 stock trades and ($6.95 + $0.75 per contract) option trades at 8.22pm.
http://www.amtd.com/newsroom/press-...-to-695-for-Online-Equity-Trades/default.aspx
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/td-ameritrade-reduces-client-pricing-012200390.html
The lower fees take effect from 6 March.

Etrade has not yet cut their prices. They charge $9.99 for stock trades.

Scottrade is being bought by TD Ameritrade, and the transaction is expected to close by 30 September.
http://www.amtd.com/files/doc_downloads/financial/Scottrade/Scottrade_Announcement-Release.pdf
https://www.scottrade.com/online-brokerage/trading-fees-commissions.html

OptionsXpress is owned by Charles Schwab. OptionsXpress customers will be migrated to the Charles Schwab platform later this year.
http://www.optionsxpress.com/about_us/pricing_commissions.aspx

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On 2 March 2017, Etrade reduced commissions to a similar level as those proposed by TD Ameritrade.
$6.95 stock trades
($6.95 ticket + $0.75 per contract) options trades

"Active trader" (30 trades per quarter):
$4.95 stock trades
($4.95 ticket + $0.50 per contract) options trades
https://about.etrade.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=1015484

These changes will take effect from 13 March 2017.

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[m22au]

"Why a Big eBroker Merger Seems Likely"
www.barrons.com/articles/why-a-big-ebroker-merger-seems-likely-1489155867

ETFC mentioned as a possible target

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