I am a beginner... thanks

jake2011 said:

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Brokerage is at Merrill, pay zero in commissions as long as you hold a very size minimum balance with them.

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jake2011 said:

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Brokerage is at Merrill, pay zero in commissions as long as you hold a very size minimum balance with them.

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this makes no sense, why would they provide a core service for free? a $10MM brokerage account that pays no commission is worth less than the account that only has $1,000 but pays $8/trade.

are they charging you an asset based fee? is the "very sizable minimum balance" in a sweep/deposit product? is it leveraged (i.e. are they getting interest income on a margin loan)?

Merrill Edge user here for stocks and etf's. The BoA preferred rewards program is one of the best values in personal finance. TD Ameritrade for any options trading - will be giving the new tastyworks a try in that department.

jake2011 said:

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Football&Finance said:

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jake2011 said:

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DBrokerage is at Merrill, pay zero in commissions as long as you hold a very size minimum balance with them.

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this makes no sense, why would they provide a core service for free? a $10MM brokerage account that pays no commission is worth less than the account that only has $1,000 but pays $8/trade.

are they charging you an asset based fee? is the "very sizable minimum balance" in a sweep/deposit product? is it leveraged (i.e. are they getting interest income on a margin loan)?

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No asset based fee and doesn't require leverage. Just have to keep $25K in combined BofA checking and Merrill cash sweep to get 30 free trades per month and $50K combines gets you 100 free trades per month. My checking is at BofA too so pretty easy for me to do.

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Does that include option trades? My checking is at BoA.


And I use interactive brokers.

TradeKing

I have TD Ameritrade for the Roth but the fees kind of kill it and Optionshouse for my other account, but I am not a fan of the interface.

Wow, that's a pretty great deal assuming you'll trade fairly actively. Using rough/conservative assumptions for BAML cost of funds, $25k in a non-interest bearing DDA could net them effectively $625-750 in deposit spread/interest savings/FTP annually. So in order to make money on the product (setting aside cross-sell opportunities) they need you to trade < 5x per month on average.

That said, I guess the whole point of the offer is to retain the majority of your wallet: a big chunk of your cash position and then keeping your brokerage in house by making it commission-free. So I guess the whole point of the product is to keep you inside BAML to sell you products/services that will actually make them money.

if you are just starting I'd use tastyworks (even if you aren't, I'm about to switch myself)
very low commissions schedule


1. Clearing fees will apply on opening and closing trades.

2. Futures trading coming soon! Futures options will be the same price as futures.

these prices are a game changer for a good modern platform (don't be fooled by antiquated ones out there that have cheap rates but poor technology behind their platform or positional stipulations)

very easy visual interface to employ stock plays or options strategies (which I highly recommend in putting probability in your favor vs. only 50/50 stock plays), coupled with education and research of the joint tastytrade team (I learned from them free of charge over the past several years and am now full time)

basically the guys who built thinkorswim, they sold it to TDA for $600 million, have done tastytrade as an actionable, educational investor entertainment network to counter the nonsense banter of CNBC ...thier mission after that venture was basically to educate/empower the self directed investor...they worked loosely with TDA but now have broke off and are back in the brokerage game with the tastyworks platform...life changing stuff, they charge nothing, everyone including the main guys on the tastytrade broadcast will answer literally every email inquiry...very good guys and extremely knowledgeable (no BS if a former PE coach monkey like me can make a living at it )

Robinhood

The interesting thing about TastyWorks' pricing is that you could buy a bunch of shares at $5, and then slowly "fade out" of the position since closing trades are free.

SlackerAg said:

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The interesting thing about TastyWorks' pricing is that you could buy a bunch of shares at $5, and then slowly "fade out" of the position since closing trades are free.

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also much less painful application process for beginners and those switching over....5-10 minutes and you are done...in addition they are much less restrictive in making you earn level 2,3 etc access to options/futures


yep and wisely sell calls against stock on the cheap and not just have to wait for them to expire worthless to close for free, allows you to adjust/manage positions a lot cheaper

it's a game changer, other brokerages are already lowering rates


I've opened my acct with them but won't fund until March b/c I pretty much exclusively trade /ES futures options and since they are just launching (as of Jan 3rd) won't be futures ready until then

+1

I've been a TD Ameritrade user for 12-13 years but thinking about switching to Merrill Lynch to take advantage of the free trades.

How difficult is it to close an account at another brokerage like Schwab? (Trade account and Roth IRA)

Would current positions be rolled over or would you have to exit and then re enter ?

Not a big deal if you don't mind a little paper work, processing, and a new interface... You would have the option to transfer your securities or sell and transfer over as cash. Transferring the assets will take longer than cash - maybe up to a week or so.