Yes, the online broker pricing war is still on. Fidelity Investments announced today that it is cutting its commissions for online stock trades from $8-$19.95 per trade to a flat $7.95 fee. This news comes just a month after Charles Schwab (SCHW) announced it would be cutting its own stock-trade price down to $8.95 a trade.
Fidelity also said it is waiving commissions on 25 ETF’s from BlackRock’s (BLK) iShares division. If you recall, Schwab announced eight commission-free ETF’s back in November.
However, even with its new $7.95 per-trade commission, Fidelity is still charging much more than smaller competitors like TradeKing and Thinkorswim.
So if you’re looking for the absolute cheapest trading commissions, you’ll have to look elsewhere. That said, Fidelity is offering a better deal for stock traders than E*Trade and Ameritrade – and it does have the benefit of a branch network.
Nonetheless, when choosing an online broker, commissions should never be your primary focus – unless you’re moving heavy volumes.
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