Here’s where we keep track of TradeKing’s ongoing promotions. One of their more popular promotions is the sign up bonus for new accounts. At this time, it’s no longer available, but we keep track of their various offers here, as there could be a good opportunity to get some extra cash if you’re interested in opening a brokerage account.
You may want to consider TradeKing as your broker of choice because of the following reasons: they are recognized as one of the best brokerages around due to their extremely cheap trades (at $4.95 per trade) with no hidden costs, their tools and online community, and their awesome customer service. They’ve also received the highest honors from Smart Money and Barron’s and have a sterling reputation in the financial community.
Active Promotions From TradeKing
At this time, these are the deals available through TradeKing:
1. You can earn $50 for referring a friend. The friend you refer will also receive $50 for signing up. To become eligible, the new account you refer will need to be funded with $1,000 within the first month of being opened. At least one trade should be transacted against this account within the first three months of being activated. In order to keep the $50 credit, this account also needs to stay funded with a minimum of $1,000 for the first 3 months.
2. Transfer fees are covered. If you’re thinking of switching brokers, then your account transfer fee is reimbursable for up to $150. You can find out more through this link.
Details On TradeKing
- They offer $4.95 for each equity or option trade (with 65 cents per option contract). They will also lower your fees further if you trade more than 8 contracts. Everyone pays the same low commission regardless of account size but can receive price breaks based on frequency of trades.
- They will reimburse any transfer fees up to $150.
- No inactivity fees.
- They were awarded Smart Money’s honor of #1 Discount Broker in its annual Broker Survey of US Brokers in 2006 and 2007. The award was based on how well the brokerage rated in terms of their mutual fund catalog, banking features, investment products, fees, charges & commissions, interest rates, trading platform & tools, customer support and educational material. In 2011, they were granted a #1 Ranking for Customer Service.
- They were awarded 4 stars (the highest ranking) by Barron’s in its 12th Annual Survey of Best Browser-Based Online Brokers in 2007. TradeKing was ranked second out of fifteen online brokers for “Usability” and “Cost”. In addition, they were given 4 stars in 2011 for “Best for Long Term Investing”, “Best For Options Traders” and #1 for “Site Usability”.
- Other great features they have available: a learning center, community section, tools and research area.
- They’re known for their top-notch customer service.
That said, it is a good idea to keep checking this page for the existence of new deals from TradeKing. We will keep track of these limited time offers or any updates on their customer programs here.
Expired Promotions From TradeKing
The free money deal is no longer available through this brokerage for the time being, but may resurface later on.
Get $100 upon account open (expired).
Once you open and fund your brokerage account with a minimum of $2,500 and make a few trades, TradeKing will apply a $100 sign up bonus to your account.
Here are some details on the terms and conditions they have when their bonus program is active. You must meet these requirements in order to qualify for the bonus.
- You need to fund your account with at least $2,500 within the first month of opening your account.
- You’ll need to execute 3 trades within 180 days of account open.
- The offer is not transferable and not valid in conjunction with other offers.
- Only US residents qualify for the offer, which is limited to one bonus per household.
- You’ll need to maintain a minimum balance of $2,500 in your account apart from trading losses for the first six months in order to keep the $100 bonus.
- You’ll need to sign up through our special promotional link (button) above in order to receive a bonus during those times that this program is available. The offer won’t register if you sign up directly via the TradeKing site.
Created October 4, 2008. Updated August 8, 2011. Copyright © 2011 The Digerati Life. All Rights Reserved.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I have not tried TradeKing although I have been tempted. I have recently started some options trading and they seem to have lower rates for options trading.
I have tried numerous online brokerage sites and the all have about the same look and feel. I am guessing this one is no different.
As mentioned, I do not use TradeKing, but it sounds promising. You cannot beat a trade for under $5 bucks. All your discount brokerage sites are similar – the big advantage is the price of the trade. If you do even a few stock trades a year, it is worthwhile to get an account like TradeKing, Etrade, etc.
I currently use Sharebuilder because I had an ING Savings account. You can link them and transfer money very easily. They are $9.99 a trade, which I think is reasonable.
I prefer Zecco to TradeKing – nothing can beat 10 free trades per month..
I’ll talk about Zecco someday. 🙂 Thanks for the opinion! I wonder though, how Zecco ranks among these informal brokerage ratings bodies. I’m sure TradeKing is ranked well for more than just the trades they offer — as per Smart Money and Barron’s.
Since this article was published, I’ve written a few posts about online brokers that I hope you find helpful:
Most of the shares I trade are less than $1 so that extra penny a share won’t work for me. Any recommendations? I use Schwab right now, and they’re OK on low-priced shares, but their new website seems really clunky and slow.
$50 cash is not bad! I use Zecco for the 10 free trades per month ($25k and up accounts) or $4 per trade after that i believe.
It’s always nice to get free money. If I have to open any account, I always expect to receive some perk for my patronage, whether it’s free miles on a credit card or a gift certificate.
The new offer for August 2011 is for a free $100 cash bonus when you open a new TradeKing account — it’s a step up from past $50 bonuses. Given how badly the market is tanking at this time, it may be the perfect time to be opportunistic.