®

The Executioner

Day Trading broker offering instant executions with confirmations in as few as two seconds along with access to all the leading ECN's, NASDAQ Level II and NYSE's DOT system. Free "dynamic" real-time quotes and Free intra-day charting.

• RJT.com [R.J. Thompson Securities] (1-800-273-3212):
  Penny stock (limit and market orders) (online): $5 per trade for any number of shares.
  Penny stock (limit & market orders) (touch-tone): $10 per trade for any number of shares.
  Penny stock (broker-assisted): $15 per trade for any number of shares.
  Bulletin Board, Canadian, foreign stock: not known for sure. Website does not exclude OTC-BB stocks.
  Account minimum: $2000.
  IRA annual fee: $35. Opening and closing fees not known.
  Comments: This firm is now our lowest-cost penny stock broker. Feedback has been pretty good so far. We don't know for sure whether they offer Canadian or foreign stock. Margin rates are very high. First 5 trades free, says one client. Realtime quotes available @$25/month.
• Success Trade Securities (1-800-597-8767):
  Important note: For penny stock, we recommend the non-daytrading wing of Success Trade only. With Level II software, you will pay not only ECN and exchange fees, but .02/share extra for all listed stock. This is unacceptable for penny stock. Penny stock (limit & market orders) (online): $9.95 for any trade.
  Penny stock (broker-assisted): $25 for any trade.
  Account minimum: no minimum for non-daytrading accounts.
  Comments: Again, do not use this firm's daytrading equipment to trade penny stocks, unless you limit yourself to OTC stocks only. No feedback as yet on Success Trade. We also list this firm in our "deep discount brokers" and "best for daytrading" reports.
• Web Street Securities (1-800-WEB-TRADE):
  Penny stock (limit & market orders) (online): $14.95 for any trade.
  Low-cost stock (Nasdaq) (1000+ shares, $2+): free.
  Penny stock (broker-assisted): $24.95 for any trade.
  Bulletin Board stock: $14.95 per order; $14.95 for 20000 shares @.50.
  Account minimum: no minimum.
  Comments: Web Street is very good for penny stock, although some customers have complained about excess commissions for stock trades - including penny stock. On 6/11/98, one customer claimed that Web Street was still charging an extra 1 cent per share for penny stock: "Not only that, but I place an Internet trade and was charged the phone rate ($24.95)." Feedback on Web Street has been very good to excellent, but there have been numerous complaints about glitches in their web system (especially on the Mac), problems with bulletin board orders, system crashes, problems with its Level II quote system (which costs $50 per month) such as inaccurate and static quotes, execution of cancelled orders, mishandling of trades, slow executions, and sloppy record-keeping. At the same time, many customers complimented Web Street as late as August 1998 for its "excellent," "courteous," and/or "professional" service. Same commission as above for non-penny stock. Commissions for options and mutual funds are reasonable, but margin rates are high. Read the entire review in "Discount Brokers Ranked" report on Web Street before you open an account.
• Freedom Investments (1-800-381-1481):
  Penny stock (with valid NYSE, ASE, or Nasdaq symbol) (limit/stop & market orders) (online): $15 for any number of shares.
  Penny stock (limit & market orders) (touch-tone): $25 for any number of shares.
  Canadian and foreign stock (with valid listed or Nasdaq symbol): same rates as above: $15-$25 for 20000 shares @.50.
  Account minimum: $2000.
  Comments: If you've got a valid U.S. symbol for the stock, Freedom will sell you any number of shares for $15. We have very little feedback on Freedom, but what little we do have suggests that it is very good. Same low commission for non-penny stock. Commissions for options are fairly high. Margin rates are very high.
• Investex (1-800-822-2050): for OTC stocks only:
  Note: Investex's penny stock rate is acceptable for OTC stocks only.
  Penny stock (limit orders) (OTC): $17.95 for any number shares.
  Penny stock (market orders) (OTC): $13.95 for any number shares.
  Account minimum: no minimum.
  Comments: Investex gets pretty good feedback on its customer service. Same rates for non-penny stock. Options commissions are fairly good. Margin rates are high.
• Newport Discount (1-800-999-FAST):
  Penny stock (limit & market orders) (online): $19 for any number of shares.
  Penny stock (touch-tone): $29 for any number of shares.
  Account minimum: no minimum.
  Comments: We have almost no feedback on Newport. Commissions for options are fairly high. Same low commissions for non-penny stocks. Margin rates are high.
• NDB - National Discount Brokers (1-800-888-3999): for OTC stocks only:
  Note: NDB's penny stock rate is acceptable for OTC - including OTC-BB - stocks only.
  Penny stock (limit orders) (online only) (OTC only): $19.75 for any number shares.
  Penny stock (market orders) (online only) (OTC only): $14.75 for any number shares.
  Canadian stock: $30 plus .02 per share. Unacceptably high.
  Account minimum: $2000.
  Comments: NDB is good for penny stocks only if you confine yourself to Nasdaq and Bulletin Board issues. NDB's rates for listed stock, and for Canadian penny stock, are not acceptable. Otherwise, orders can be placed in decimals, a real advantage. Commissions on options are relatively high. Margin rates are high. Real time quotes are free, as are financial news and charts. NDB is a very good broker overall, with a reputation for good (although not excellent) service.
• E*Trade (1-800-STOCKS5): for OTC stocks only:
  Note: E*Trade is acceptable for OTC - including OTC-BB - stocks only.
  Penny stock (limit and market orders) (online, touch-tone) (OTC): $19.95 for any number of shares.
  Penny stock (limit & market orders) (broker-assisted): $34.95 for any number of shares.
  Canadian stock: available at above rates. "You just have to go into symbol lookup and get the correct symbol to use. Every Canadian issue has a symbol that you may use to place an order.(4/27)"
  Account minimum: $1000.
  Comments: E*Trade used to get a lot of criticism from its online customers, then it became very good; but lately the feedback is rather poor. There is a lot of criticism of E*Trade's new web pages. As with NDB, E*Trade is good for penny stocks only if you confine your trading to Nasdaq and Bulletin Board issues. Commissions on options are fairly low. Margin rates are high. Gomez gives E*Trade its #1 rating now, commending its research and the overall breadth of its services. Read our main "Discount Brokers Ranked" report for one E*Trade client's opinion on Gomez.
• Ameritrade (1-800-669-3900) (1-800-454-9272):
  Note: Ameritrade used to be one of the best penny stock brokers, but no more. All penny stock (less than $5 stock) must be ordered thru a live broker now.
  Penny stock (broker-assisted) (including BB) (limit orders: $23 for any number of shares.
  Penny stock (broker-assisted) (including BB) (market orders: $18 for any number of shares.
  Bulletin Board stock: must be ordered through live representative at broker-assisted rates; $18-$23 for 20000 shares @.50.
  Canadian stock (limit orders): $23 +.02 per share, $53 minimum, $173 maximum. Must be ordered thru broker.
  Canadian stock (market orders): $18 + .02 per share, $48 minimum, $173 maximum. Must be ordered thru broker.
  Account minimum: $2000.
  Comment: Customer feedback has been poor lately, though in early 2000 it seems to be getting better. We blame most of Ameritrade's problems on excessive advertising, which has resulted in too many new customers over too short a time period. Margin rates are high.
  Penny stock comments: "Ameritrade is terrible in their execution time [for penny stock]. . .an average of 10 minutes [for both limit and market orders]. . .They say a 10-15 minutes execution time is acceptable.(1/23/00)" Warning: Read the entire review of Ameritrade ( in the main "Discount Brokers Ranked" report) closely before you apply for an account here.
• InvesTrade (1-800-498-7120):
  Penny Stocks (less than $2): $29 for any number of shares; $29 for 20000 shares @.50.
  Bulletin Board & Pink Sheet stocks ($2 and up): Most can be traded online at $11.95 (limit orders) and $7.95 (market orders); otherwise $27.95 for any trade.
  Canadian, foreign stock: not available.
  Account minimum: $2000.
  Comments: InvesTrade gets mixed reviews from customers, but comments are generally good to very good. Very low commissions for non-penny stocks and for options. Margin rates are average to high. The firm seems good for mutual funds and for IRA accounts.
• NetVest [formerly Tradestar] (1-800-961-1500):
  Penny stock (limit orders) (online, broker-assisted): $29 for any number of shares.
  Penny stock (market orders) (online, broker-assisted): $24 for any number of shares.
  Canadian, foreign stock: same as above rates, which are the same as NetVest's broker-assisted rate; $29-$24 for 20000 shares @.50.
  Account minimum: $2000.
  Comments: NetVest has good rates for penny stocks. We get very little feedback, but what little we have is good. Commissions for options are about average. Margin rates are very high.
• Atlantic Financial (1-800-559-2900):
  Penny stock: (limit & market orders) (non-online): $55 flat for any number of shares.
  Account minimum: $25,000.
  Comments: This is another firm that is pretty good for penny stocks. Atlantic Financial advertises itself as a full-service discounter, and its rates on non-penny stock are among the highest. Commissions on options are also high. The firm offers a wide variety of mutual funds. We have very little feedback on Atlantic, but the little we do have is excellent.