Investors Are Bullish And Bearish On Zecco With Free Trades
Maybe you joined your investment website because of those hilarious Super Bowl monkey commercials from a few years back. Or maybe you’re a “Law & Order” TiVo freak and have a thing for TD Ameritrade’s Sam Waterson.
Everyone has tried to push themselves as the alternative, affordable and expert source for D.I.Y day-trading, but Zecco actually has some features that differentiate it from the pack. With $0 trades, a cool community section and a design that’s refreshingly less stiff than a Wall Street suit, the investment newcomer has a lot going for it.
Zecco stands for “Zero Commission Cost,” and it works like this: If you’ve got at least $2,500 in your account, you get 10 free trades per month. If you haven’t reach that portfolio threshold, trades are only $4.50. Above and beyond its bread and butter trades, Zecco also accommodates calls and puts, strangles, butterflies and other fancy financial strategies, and provides all the necessary tools and resources in house.
In addition to its bargain pricing, Zecco also offers a community for investors called ZeccoShare, where users can blog, compete against each other’s portfolios, join groups and contribute to threads. Think of it as a boiler room happy hour without the $17 martinis.
Blogosphere reviews of Zecco have been mostly favorable, with a few grumbles and complaints about the customer service level and money transfer time. In fact, Smart Money Magazine’s 2008 Broker Survey ranked Zecco’s customer service the worst. But most say the low-cost service and easy sign-up more than makes up for this. And being a little guy comes with certain advantages; for example, Zecco dropped commissions for all trades in October because of the sinking economy.
Your move, E*Trade…
