The Offer
TradeKing is offering a deposit bonus in the form of $1,000 of free trade commissions for customers who open a new TradeKing brokerage account and fund it with $5,000 or more within the qualifying period.
What’s the cost of a standard trade at TradeKing? For stocks: $4.95 per trade, and for options: $0.65 per contract plus $4.95 per trade. If you’ve been following our IRA and brokerage bonus series, you will note that this is by far the lowest trade fee of the brokers we have discussed, and indeed, one of the lowest offered in the industry.
$1,000 In Free Trade Commissions
To receive the free trades offer, you must do the following:
- Open a new TradeKing brokerage account by June 30, 2015 using promo code FREE1000.
- Fund the account with $5,000 or more within 30 days of opening.
Rules:
- Offer expires 06/30/2015.
- Offer valid for new TradeKing clients only.
- Commission credits are valid 60 days from the award date.
- Commission credit covers equity, ETF and option orders including the per contract commission.
- New accounts will receive $1,000 in commission credit for equity, ETF and option trades executed within 60 days of funding the account. Commission credits take 1 business day from the funding date to be applied.
- Exercise and assignment fees do apply.
- You will not be compensated for any unused free trade commissions.
- Offer is not transferable or valid in combination with any other offer.
- Offer for US residents who are not employees of TradeKing or its affiliates.
- You must maintain the minimum funding of $5,000 (minus trading losses) in the account for a minimum of 6 months or you may be charged for the award.
- Limit one per customer.
- Options always involve risk so are not suitable for all investors.
The Verdict
For the average investor who is keen to find a low-fee broker, TradeKing’s $1,000 free trade offer provides a reasonable barrier to entry at a $5,000 minimum qualifying deposit. You could receive a small cash bonus with Capital One ShareBuilder for this same deposit amount, but if investing for the long-term, note that ShareBuilder’s standard trade fee is significantly higher at $6.95.
In addition to the fee structure, there are other monetary reasons to consider TradeKing:
- Refer a Friend Program: If you refer a friend to TradeKing and they open and fund an account with $3,000 or more and execute at least 3 trades within 90 days of opening the account, both you and your friend will receive $50 in your account. TradeKing notes “The more friends you refer, the more you can earn – there’s no limit.” So here is your opportunity to receive a decent cash bonus to account for what you may have otherwise earned at ShareBuilder. Note that certain account types do not qualify for the referral program: Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, Rollover IRA, SEP IRA, Simple IRA, Solo 401K, Coverdell IRA and TradeKing Advisors Accounts.
- $150 Transfer Fee Reimbursement: If you switch your existing brokerage account to TradeKing, TradeKing will reimburse you for up to $150 of the fees imposed by your former broker. You will need to complete and send an Account Transfer Form.
- $25 Wire Transfer Fee Reimbursement: If you use wire transfer to fund your TradeKing brokerage account, TradeKing will reimburse the wiring fee up to $25. Note that retirement accounts do not qualify for this reimbursement.
TradeKing received 4 out of 5 stars in Barron’s 19th (2014) annual rankings of the Best Online Brokers.
Do you have experience with TradeKing’s platform? Let us know in the comments below!
Seems like a good deal, but you have to use the $1,000 in free trades within 60 days. That rules out most casual investors.