Suggestion for an online broker needed

[gojira]

I'm looking to move my online brokerage accounts to somewhere away from E*Trade. 

Opinions and FHE with alternatives would greatly be appreciated.

Thanks ahead of time!   

[ducatiz]

What don't you like about E*trade?

I've heard Scottrade is good, but I've used Etrade ever since DLJdirect went under.

[gojira]

I've been an active (multiple) account holder for 10+ years.

Unfortunately fishy activity from someone trying to hack into my account got one of them locked. In the process of working with their customer service to unlock it, by way of signed documents, faxes, personal details no one would know, notaries, and on and on and on, back and forth ad nauseam, let's just say their common sense is imbecilic and clearly non-existent. Even in documents they asked for the best number to reach me and in not once, not twice, but with THREE different phone numbers to reach me clearly spelled out in every document I sent them (home, office, cell), they STILL tried calling my old phone numbers from my previous address! And yet no where in my online account details does it show these outdated numbers. It simply got to a point I could not provide any more proof that it was me because I had already provided every possible detail! 

Not only that, but it wasn't until the last phone call with them they inform me that I could speak with a live broker to make trades in the meantime. So, I ask them "You mean to say someone else has access to my account in a way that the very primary account holder does not? And how am I supposed to know what my holdings are to make a trade when I can't even login and view them, especially since I opted for paper-less, electronic statements? Finally, doesn't a live broker cost more in fees?" Of which they reply "usually." Some serious break in logic ... "we can't verify it's you, but you can play with the account" doesn't sound very re-assuring. In meantime I rack up losses as the market tanked in some of my holdings.

Finally it wasn't until I had my long-time attorney step in that it got cleared up. And that was even a needless, repeated back and forth effort.

E*Trade: Caveat emptor.

/rant

[ducatiz]

sorry to hear that.

i've used Etrade's secur-id login for years now and no problems like that...

[darylbowden]

I use TD Ameritrade and have for the past 5 years with no problems.  I'm certainly no professional trader, so I can't tell you how good the research tools are in any meaningful way (other than they've been great for me).  The trades are a flat 9.99, so they're pretty cheap and their uptime has been really good in my experience.

I also recently opened an account with Zecco (free trades) that I'll be messing around with, but I haven't made any transactions with them yet so it's too early to say how well it works.

[Scottish]

Get a real live broker and skip the online.

[tonyj311]

Get a real live broker and skip the online.

Saw this on Bloomberg the other day http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aivW.I7zTkrc I dont work for them and am not endorsing them. Just sharing an article. If you want a live broker, PM me. I can find a good one for you in your area.

Since I threw in my .02 and have the right audience in this thread I wanted to pose an additional question- does anyone have a good recommendation for retirement funds? I am looking at Vanguard Index Funds right now due to the low cost, and the fact that it is a mindless investment that over the long term should produce the same or better results of actively managed funds.