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Zecco Drops Minimum Balance to $0
By Stock Charts | June 6, 2007
Zecco, the discount brokerage already offering free trades has sweetened the deal, dropping their minimum balance to $0! Zecco offers free stock trades and cheap commissions on options as well. You can make up to 10 free trades a day and up to 40 free trades per month before they start charging you $3.50 per trade - which is still a great deal! Margin trading requires a $2000 balance. You can fund your account through check, ACH, or wire transfer.
From what I’ve heard thus far, it seems like Zecco had a few problems initially, but I’ve talked to a few of my friends that currently have a Zecco account and the general consensus seems to be positive. As a discount brokerage, Zecco obviously doesn’t have the same level of resources as eTrade or Ameritrade, so that’s something to take into consideration. Heres a few comments from Eric over at TheFreshTrader.com:
- Customer service is difficult to contact and slow to respond
- You don’t have all the sophisticated tools and reports that most other brokerages offer
- Zecco is not supported by TurboTax at the moment (although this may be fixed by next year), so I had to manually enter my trades into the tax forms
- It may be more difficult to short stocks than at the other major brokerages because there are fewer people to borrow from
- Your account information will sometimes display incorrectly because they are constantly updating the website and will mess up on occasion
I’ve been meaning to switch over from Scottrade for a while now (or at least open an account with Zecco as well) and I think this latest promotion is enough to win me over. I will post a review and my thoughts on Zecco once I make the switch. If you’re interested, head over to Zecco.com and check them out.
*Update* 10/1/07:
Zecco has just changed their pricing for new accounts from 40 free trades/month to 10 trades/month, and there is a new requirement that you must have $2,500 in account equity (cash + value of stocks). If you have less than $2,500, then trades cost $4.50. However, existing customers and anyone who applied before 10/1 will keep the old pricing until the beginning of 2008. After that, everyone will be at 10 free trades/month. Here’s their reasoning behind it:
Instead of paying for free trades you may not use, we’re investing that money in the tools and functionality that you will. Over the coming months you can expect:
- Significant investments in the number of service representatives and training.
- Addition of 3 and 4 legged options strategies so you can trade butterflies, condors, and more.
- Release of a sophisticated options analytics platform.
- Access to ZeccoShare, the ground-breaking investor social network at zecco.com.
This really won’t affect most investors, who should probably have more than $2,500 invested, and would probably make less than 10 trades a month. It looks like the free trading is starting to take a toll on Zecco’s bottom line. Still, this is one of the best deals available in terms of brokerage commissions. For more information visit their signup page.
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RIMM Stock Followup
By Stock Charts | April 25, 2008
I posted a bullish breakout chart on Research In Motion (RIMM) last month. Since then RIMM has completed the reversal and has gained about 20%. I’m considering selling my position soon depending on RIMM’s movement in the next few days. Congrats to those that picked up shares.
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RF Micro Devices Breakout
By Stock Charts | April 24, 2008
RF Micro Devices, Inc. (RFMD) surged upwards again today on large volume, furthering the breakout formed yesterday. RF Micro has been on a downtrend for a while now but broke out of it’s resistance around $3.00 with heavy volume, carrying the stock past it’s 50 DMA. With MACD looking up, RFMD could be a good swing trade. I’m planning on taking a position in RFMD sometime within the next week.
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Ebay Reconsidering Skype Purchase
By Stock Charts | April 19, 2008
Ebay, Inc. (EBAY) is currently reconsidering it’s ill-advised $3.1 billion acquisition of Skype after the auction company has continually failed to find ways to find synergies between Skype and it’s core e-commerce business.
“What we’re testing this year are the synergies,” Mr Donahoe told the Financial Times this week after Ebay reported its latest earnings. “If the synergies are strong, we’ll keep it in our portfolio. If not, we’ll reassess it.” That could lead to the disposal of the business, he indicated.
Despite the lack of synergy between the two companies, Skype has continued to grow in both user base and revenues, reaching 309 million users and $126 million in revenues.
Ebay’s stock chart has been recently buoyed by positive earnings and outlooks in the tech sector after a steady decline in 2007. If Skype does indeed spinoff into a separate company, this would allow eBay to streamline it’s focus on it’s core business.
Source (Financial Times)
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Bullish on RIMM Chart
By Stock Charts | March 3, 2008
Research in Motion (RIMM) looks like it could be headed higher, with a recent breakout on strong volume from the past few months’ downtrend.
I expect to see resistance around 100, if the general market sentiment drags RIMM down this week.
Related Posts:Topics: Stock Charts | RSS Feed | 1 Comment »
Bearish on JP Morgan
By Stock Charts | March 3, 2008
JP Morgan, Inc.’s (JPM) stock chart looks pretty bearish at the moment, along with the rest of the financial sector. In Friday’s trading session the stock dropped below support levels, and the MACD is turning down. With a recession looming on the horizon, it could be a good short opportunity.
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Best Buy, Netflix to Embrace Blue Ray
By Stock Charts | February 12, 2008
It looks like the curtain is about to fall on HD DVD’s as Blu-ray wins another round in the DVD format wars:
Best Buy Co Inc (BBY), the largest U.S. consumer electronics chain, said on Monday it will recommend that consumers choose Sony Corp’s Blu-ray high-definition video format.
The decision gives Sony yet another victory in the battle with Toshiba Corp’s HD DVD to be the high-definition DVD format of choice.
Earlier on Monday, online video rental company Netflix Inc (NFLX) said it would exclusively stock Blu-ray DVDs after some of the world’s biggest movie studios decided in favor of that format.
Best Buy said it believes consumers will benefit from the choice of one HD DVD format.
One significant advantage that Sony (SNE) has is that every Playstation 3 unit that they sell has a built in Blu-ray player in it. Sony’s stock price has fluctuated quite a bit over the last year or so as investors reacted to news of poor Playstation sales. Winning the high definition DVD wars could potentially provide a huge windfall for Sony, who seems to have learned from their Betamax fiasco.
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Yahoo Turns Down Microsoft’s Bid
By Stock Charts | February 11, 2008
The tech community has been abuzz recently with Microsoft’s (MSFT) $44 billion dollar bid for Yahoo (YHOO), a 62% premium on the share price:
The proposed deal, which would be Microsoft’s largest-ever purchase, came after Yahoo’s share price had dropped steadily since October and in the same week the company announced a disappointing 2008 outlook. So far, Microsoft executives have followed a carefully crafted script to woo Yahoo’s board and management, and particularly Jerry Yang, the company’s co-founder and chief executive officer.
Mr. Yang’s support could be critical to completing any deal and in smoothing the integration of the two companies. He has previously rejected Microsoft’s overtures, preferring that Yahoo remain independent.
After a week of consideration, Yahoo has officially rejected the bid:
Yahoo directors concluded after a meeting Friday that the unsolicited offer — worth nearly $45 billion when it was announced on Jan. 31 — “massively undervalues” Yahoo, according to a person familiar with the situation. The board plans to send a letter to Microsoft today, spelling out its position.
While a Microsoft/Yahoo alliance could have some advantages, it comes off as a desperate attempt by Microsoft to catch up with Google’s ever increasing market share in online advertising. With this rejection, Microsoft has a few options.
1. Bid higher
2. Solicit the shareholders
3. Hostile takeover
Of the three, option 2 seems the most likely to succeed. A buyout of Yahoo would result in a lot of turmoil and eventual layoffs in the Yahoo office, as well as a culture clash. A hostile takeover would probably cause much of Yahoo’s top talent to jump ship, possibly to Google. Yahoo’s shareholders have been hit hard as the overall market weakness combined with Yahoo’s lackluster performance has caused the stock price to drop from highs in the mid 30’s. This should be an interesting situation to watch; a buyout would definitely benefit Yahoo’s shareholders in the short term.
Keep your eye on Yahoo’s stock price; movement upwards could signal investor confidence in Yahoo; a downward movement after this rejection could give Microsoft more leverage.
Topics: Stock Charts | RSS Feed | 1 Comment »
E*Trade (ETFC) Stock Insider Buying
By Stock Charts | February 11, 2008
E*Trade Financial Corp (ETFC) recently broke out of its downward spiral on news on insider buying. Several E-Trade directors, in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission reported buying shares. Donald Layton reported that he purchased 245,800 shares at roughly $4.07 a share, while Ronald Fisher bought 31,806 shares at the same price. In addition, Jarret Lilien, E-Trade’s interim chief executive, reported the purchase of 7,376 shares.
After seeing its stock price battered down heavily by the subprime mortgage lending mess, it appears that E*Trade may be taking baby steps towards a recovery. E*Trade recently had two super bowl ads that may have won back some consumer confidence. Keep it on your watchlists.
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Google Stock Chart Recovery?
By Stock Charts | February 11, 2008
Google (GOOG) took a huge beatdown after it’s last earnings report missed analyst expectations. However, it looks like the internet search giant may be on it’s way to a recovery. Look for a breakout on large volume to confirm.
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RMBS Stock Chart Looks Strong
By Stock Charts | January 6, 2008
In a weak market, Rambus, Inc.’s (RMBS) stock chart still looks strong.
Topics: Stock Charts | RSS Feed | 1 Comment »
Previous Posts:
- AMD Stock in a Freefall
- Apple Stock Trending Upward
- Google (GOOG) Chart
- PSMT Stock Chart
- Baidu Breakout Coming?
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