Only some of the best discount brokers are penny stock friendly for 2018
This site is for the self-directed penny stock trader, which is why I include the following vital information. . .
The bold print I include under some of the brokers expose the extra fees and restrictions that they place on penny stock trading.
My Broker List concentrates on just trading stocks
As you view this list, you are familiarizing yourself with the services offered for those persons who just want to trade stocks (specifically penny stocks) - without attention to IRA accounts, checking accounts, credit cards, etc.
If you are interested in any of these extra services, then do further research from a narrowed down "Best" list. Determine the extra services you desire and compare the charges for top brokers that best meet your trading goals.
Best Discount Brokers - The List
Okay, ready? Here is my list of the top discount brokers
Charles Schwab (High End Discount Broker)
My opinion: Charles Schwab has made some serious improvements to stay competitive. I like the changes. I like this broker. This broker is penny stock friendly.
This broker is reliable and one of the best discount brokers for trading stocks.
***TD Ameritrade (High End Discount Broker - Penny Stock friendly and very stable.)
My opinion: Despite the safety restriction on 'very risky' penny stocks and the very high broker assisted trades, this is a very solid brokerage with few complaints. Trade orders are executed lightening fast.
Their ThinkorSwim software trading platform is top of the line with free streaming real-time quotes and charts - more than you will need to trade penny stocks as an extraordinary investor. This trading platform alone at a flat $6.95 fee easily makes my list as one of the best discount brokers.
But the advantages don't end here....
Once you learn how to use it, which is difficult to learn, the platform is better than the rest - stable, quirk free, fast, and loaded with all sorts programs for your stock research and analysis.
TD Ameritrade is probably the best trading experience for the money because of the quality of services and in depth research tools for the flat $6.95 fee.
The trustworthiness of the broker and the stability and quality of its trading platform is unmatched.
Plus, any fees for extra services such as IRA, check writing and credit cards are reasonable.
Definitely one of the best discount brokers.
I give TD Ameritrade a penny stock friendly recommendation too.
***optionsXpress
Use to be one of my top picks for penny stock friendly brokers. But no longer. They now penalize you for trading penny stocks.
***mbtrading.com
Use to be a super great penny stock and foreign stock trading site. However, they now penalize you for trading penny stocks. So, I no longer can recommend them. But for all other trading, mbtrading is one of the best with an excellent trading platform.
***Just2Trade [https://l.just2trade.com]
The BEST Deep Discount Broker for Penny Stock Trading
Best discount broker for Canadian Stocks and other foreign stocks
With their comprehensive real-time streaming charts you get an accurate picture of the market and identify trade opportunities.
My Opinions:
Just2Trade was off my radar for a while because of their surcharge for penny stocks and their prohibition for purchasing shares at 5 cent or less.
However, Just2Trade has made so many improvements, and offers 3 super nice free trading platforms to meet your needs. Not to mention On-the-go platforms for iOS and Android
Broker-assisted trades placed directly on a foreign exchange (including Canada) cost $2.50 per trade plus a $75.00 foreign transaction.
Although the $75 may seem high per trade for foreign stocks. . .
Remember that mbtrading charges 0.01 cents per share which is the lowest fee anywhere EXCEPT for Just2Trade.
Consider the huge fees you will pay at even the very low 1 cent per share commission that mbtrading charges for penny stock trading! For instance only 30,000 shares X .01 cent fee per share = $300 charges. Or 50,000 shares X .01 cent = $500.
Which would you rather pay? $75 flat fee for all foreign stock trades as a penny stock trader? or $300/$500 per trade?
If you think 30,000 shares is an extreme number of shares to trade at one time, or would be too rich for your blood, consider that many good penny stocks in Canada (especially mining stocks) trade between 7 cents and 40 cents. 10 cents per share X 30,000 shares = only $3000. This is common. Keep in mind that Canadian Penny Stocks - especially mining shares - are the best you can find anywhere.
Just2Trade has a really smooth trading experience with excellent trading tools well designed for penny stock trading.
Some sites are still penalyzing Just2Trade for past perceived errors that were not actually the fault of Just2Trade.
Serious complaints regarding account balance errors in 2012 - either plus or minus the actual amount. Not everyone appeared to have this problem with Just2Trade, but if it happens at all, that is not good.
Even so, the temptation is to go with this broker anyway and at least recommend it as one of the best discount brokers and the best deep-discount broker.
Some reviews that GTC (Good-til-Cancelled) orders were, on a particular day, arbitarily cancelled before due date creating some negative reviews for those who had GTC order during that time.
Just2Trade Mr. Christian Baez - Media Dept.
Okay, I was concerned about the complaints because I really like this broker - everything it offers seems a perfect fit for the extraordinary investor. I really wanted to have no regrets offering this broker to you as right up there among the best discount brokers, with a strong emphasis on penny stocks.
I wanted to know the reasons and extent of such complaints. So I wrote to Christian Baez of the Media Department for Just2Trade regarding those issues.
My letter is below followed by a response letter from Mr. Christian Baez.
Start -----------------------------------------------
Dear Mr. Christian Baez,
I am building an extensive free educational financial website specializing in micro and nano cap stocks called extraordinaryinvestor.com.
I am presently working on the broker section of the site and am now building a page called, Best Discount Brokers. Just2Trade is my next and last brokerage to review...
I would not be contacting you at all if I did not truly love the entire concept and tools offered with Just2Trade.
Just2Trade benefits shine for those who just want to trade stocks... Traders who know how to trade correctly, and are adaptable self-directed traders (without someone holding their hand). Yet, your research and screening tools, and the ease of use, are a definite plus.
I have been following the progress of your company, Just2Trade, since it launched in 2007. You have made some really nice improvements in trading tools and ease of use. You have been ironing out some issues that traders had with your site.
I genuinely desire to make Just2Trade my number one recommendation to independent traders for micro-cap trading, because I think Just2Trade is worthy of that recommendation for the type of trader/investor my site caters to...
but I need to contact you first regarding a few issues.
I have some reservations that I hope you will respond to. After reading the reviews about Just2Trade, I have learned that some acct holders may be experiencing account balance errors and some GTC orders are being arbitrarily cancelled before due date. These are the most serious deal-breaker issues I have come across, because stability of a trading platform always comes first.
Regarding the acct balance section of the site, one review site author states that it looks messy, whatever that means.
If the above stated allegations are true, then that is quite serious from a potential customer point of view and from my perspective as a reviewer of your firm to my clients - and must be dealt with.
I truly believe that the highest quality traders are those who expect a stable/reliable platform on which to trade.
I want to give you the opportunity to respond to these allegations before I include on my site. Please include detailed statistics related to these issues, if that is helpful. As well, I will include a video link on my site if you so choose to respond in that manner.
I will afford you every opportunity to be that brokerage that my clients will love and feel confident with for the long term - one of the best discount brokers.
Thank you.
Very Sincerely,
Steven E Thompson
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The following is Mr. Christian Biaz response to my letter:
Start -----------------------------------------------
From: Christian Baez <chris.baez@successtrade.com>To: 'Steven Thompson' <fute72003@yahoo.com> Sent: Tuesday, April 9, 2013 10:22 AM Subject: RE: Just2Trade - Media
Thank you for contacting us. Please find below the answers to your questions:
1. “Regarding the acct balance section of the site, one review site author states that it looks messy, whatever that means.”
Our account balances are broken down into 2 tabs: “Account Value” and “To Trade” (see screenshot). The Account Value will show the previous day and the current (realtime) value of your entire portfolio. The To Trade tab will show your available buying power and will change based on the transaction executed throughout the day.
In order to make your review process easier, I have created a demo account for you which will allow you access all the features currently offered to our clients, please feel free to play around with all the features we provide. Your log in credentials are as follows:
https://trading.just2trade.com
username: XXXX password: XXXX
Please note that this is NOT a paper trading account.
Our trading platform caters to experienced investors with at least two years of online trading experience and a good understanding of margin accounts. Clients that do not meet this criteria may encounter issues understanding the items shown on his balances and therefore may think of them as “messy”.
2. “After reading the reviews about Just2Trade, I have learned that some acct holders may be experiencing account balance errors and some GTC orders are being arbitrarily cancelled before due date. “
Last year, one of the market centers we use to route our orders had a major upgrade on their systems which required all GTC orders held with that market maker to be cancelled. Although rare, these situations may occur and clients that had open orders with that market center were properly notified about this. Our GTC orders will remain open for a period of 90 days only.
During 2012, we are only aware of 4 instances that caused balances discrepancies. These events however, were addressed and fixed the same day. Please find below a brief description of these instances:
During early and mid 2012, the morning files we received from our clearing firm contained corrupt data for a number of our margin accounts which caused, in most instances, to have their margin buying power understated. The issue was solved within an hour after market opening and before market opening for the second time around.
The third situation occurred at the end of the year and was caused due to a major upgrade made to our back end systems. One of the daily processes that runs everyday prior to market opening failed to run and was unable to price a client’s portfolio value with current market prices; however, this did not prevent clients from trading on their accounts. The issue was identified by our IT department and fixed during the day.
The fourth instance was caused due to delayed data received from our quote provider for securities listed on the NYSE and OTC exchanges. Data from these exchanges was delayed and thus, causing clients portfolio value not to be updated in realtime if they were holding securities listed on the above mentioned exchanges. Unfortunately, this issue was beyond our control but our quote provider was able to fix the issue by the end of the day.
Let me know if this addresses your questions or concerns. Additionally, if you are going to mention us on your review, please make sure that your readers understand that we do not solicit, promote or give investment advice on any type of securities and all of our accounts are self-directed.
Should you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Regards,
Christian Baez
Success Trade Securities, Inc.
(202) 466-6890 Office
(202) 466-6895 Fax
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My Final Opinion regarding best discount brokers status for Just2Trade:
In light of the response letter from Mr. Christian Baez, the account balance errors are NOT due to instability issues with the Just2Trade platform or its services, but rather are the result of major upgrades. The errors were fixed the same day - and clients were informed of this. Same is true for the GTC orders.
The "balances" section of the broker account does not look messy at all. Evidently whoever wrote that review did not understand the difference between trade balance and actual account value, which is similar to how TD Ameritrade displays account balances.
Considering the explanations for the bad reviews, as quoted in the letter, I feel that Just2Trade is Penny Stock Friendly and definitely one of the very best discount brokers despite what other review sites may say.
Keep in mind that just2trade just launched in 2007. Obviously major upgrades are inevitable for a truly serious and growing broker firm.
just2trade is one of the best discount brokers for the experienced extraordinary investor trading US and Canadian stocks.
Best Discount Brokers - the List
There are many other brokers I could consider to be included on my list.
The ones I listed I consider the best discount brokers out their. That is why I list and reviewed them here.
I wanted you to get an idea of the kind of fees, restrictions, complaints, etc that some of the best discount brokers have. I want you to get an idea of how some discount brokers are better for penny stocks than others.
If you know of any other broker that you feel is better for penny stock trading, and think should be included as one of the best discount brokers, feel free to email me and I will review it. Thanks.
You have now completed this subtopic about the best discount brokers.
When you are ready, please continue on this important topic to the next lesson, which is:
Best Penny Stock Brokers for 2018