Website Review: E*TRADE FINANCIAL

Online stockbroking has become a popular financial option in recent years. There are many websites that provide online stockbroking options, including TD Ameritrade, Yahoo! Finance, and of coure, E*TRADE FINANCIAL. E*TRADE is best well-known for its commercials featuring the talking baby. This is supposed to represent how simple it is to trade stocks on E*TRADE's website. This review will give an in depth analysis of E*TRADE and its many functions.

To get started, you first must fill out the application. The company will make you mail them a copy of your Driver's License and social security card, which can be a bit scary for most people. However, this is a part of their policy, and I personally had no problem with it. Once they receive all of your information and you deposit money into your account, you can get started buying and selling shares. Buying and selling is extremely simple on this website; just select the stock you desire to purchase, plug in the number of shares you are willing to buy, and it is done.

However, there is one minor issue with this process. There is a $10 processing fee associated with each purchase and each sale. Therefore, you must get started with a large sum of cash or there is no chance to make money. I only invested $200 throughout the year and broke even despite the fact I made about $50. That extra $50 was eaten up buying one of the stocks ($10), buying the other stock ($10), selling one of the stocks ($10), buying another one ($10), and then selling them both ($10). One year later, I came out with $202.30, a $2.30 gain total. This will not happen if one invests around $1000 into E*TRADE, but anything lower and there will be no money to gain unless you hit the jackpot.

E*TRADE also provides very helpful analysis for all stocks available on their website. They provide hard data through line graphs that display the change in the stocks overtime and news stories regarding the company that the stock belongs to. These assist investors in making an informed decision on which stock they want to buy. E*TRADE also provides retirement plans, courses, and advanced banking options for users who desire them.

Overall, I give E*TRADE FINANCIAL an 8/10. Don't get me wrong; E*TRADE is a very thorough and helpful tool for investors. However, to truly make money on this website, you must be a hardcore investor and serious about making big money or going broke. That is the game of the stock market, and E*TRADE brings the real meaning to high risk/high reward.

Written by R. Turk
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