TradeZero Rating: 
Overview of TradeZero
TradeZero is a day-trading brokerage firm that offers a lot of advanced trading features that experienced traders can really benefit from. Combined with sister companies in Canada and the Caribbean, TradeZero is worth considering.
TradeZero Pros
New crypto service: Several coins are available thanks to a partnership with Zero Hash.
Multiple trading platforms: Some come with fees, however.
Advanced features: Experienced traders will be in good hands here.
TradeZero Cons
Excessive fees: Not all trades are $0.
Minimum deposit: Trading platforms cannot be accessed without sufficient funding.
Small investment lineup: Lots of asset classes are missing.
Investment Offerings
TradeZero has three brokerage firms: one in Canada, one in America, and another in the Bahamas. This review will focus on the American branch. Nevertheless, a lot of the services will be the same, and the software in all three cases is exactly the same, although there are a few differences in some areas.
For instance, only the firm in the Bahamas offers cryptocurrency trading at the time of publication. The other two may add crypto trading at a later time.
All three branches have stocks, options, and ETFs. The stock category includes OTC stocks but not foreign stocks. Other asset classes, such as precious metals and futures contracts, are absent.
All accounts at TradeZero are self-directed. There are no investment-advisory accounts. The company offers joint, individual, and business accounts.
Opening and Funding an Account
TradeZero has a user-friendly online application. Look for the green button to open an account in the upper-right corner of the website. Each national branch has citizenship requirements. Generally, nationals outside of Canada, America, and the Bahamas can open an account with the Bahamian branch. Although Americans and Bahamians cannot open an account with the Caribbean branch, lots of other nationalities are eligible.
TradeZero does require copies of proof of address and a government-issued photo ID. Anything not in English must be translated. Images can be uploaded on the website.
A US-based account can be funded via ACH, wire, or account transfer. A withdrawal by ACH costs $5, a notable downside.
Canadian accounts are denominated in US dollars. Deposits in Canadian currency are automatically converted to US dollars with a 1% fee. A Canadian account has a $50 fee per withdrawal.
An account with the Caribbean branch only accepts US currency. It has the same withdrawal fee as the Canadian branch.
Customer Support
TradeZero America is open for business during the week from 7 o’clock in the morning until 6 o’clock
in the afternoon, Eastern Standard Time. There are no weekend or evening hours. The company has no
branch locations.
What we do like about TradeZero is a very good live chat feature on its website. The launch location
is a green icon located in the bottom-right corner. The company also has a service email address
(support@tradezero.us).
Although there’s no internal messaging on the site, there are some useful self-help features. These
include an options application, a small list of software manuals, and a funds transfer tool.
Margin
Because it specializes in day and swing trading, TradeZero of course offers margin accounts. It has a lot of useful margin tools as well. These resources include a margin calculator and an overnight borrow calculator.
These tools will be found underneath the Tools tab on the website. Just enter a ticker symbol along with long or short and number of shares. Margin information will be returned.
TradeZero America charges a flat 9% for all margin
debits. This is simple and competitive but not great based on industry standards right now.
Website
Now it’s time to take a look at TradeZero’s software. First up is the website. It has no trading capacity, although there are some useful tools. Money can be transferred in or out, documents can be uploaded or downloaded, and an account can be monitored by balance and other particulars.
At the bottom of the dashboard is “Newsroom.” This resource has a large collection of informational posts about market and economic events.
ZeroFree
ZeroFree is the first actual trading platform we will investigate. The program is launched from under the Trading tab on the website. ZeroFree is a browser platform that is built with HTML5. It can run on either Mac or Windows.
As the name suggests, there is no charge to use the software. Despite the price tag, it does have some powerful tools. There is a short locate widget on it, for example. Other resources include:
- Level 2 quotes
- News articles
- Watchlist
- Real-time data
- Charting with some tools
- Order ticket with discrete sell short button
TradeZero America requires a $2,500 account balance to use its free platform.
ZeroWeb
Up next in the chain of platforms is ZeroWeb. This is on a slightly higher level than ZeroFree. For example, ZeroWeb can display up to ten Level 2 windows simultaneously. ZeroFree, by contrast, only gets one window for this.
ZeroWeb also gets custom layouts, more chart windows, and advanced hotkeys (the free platform can use hotkeys for $15 per month). The hotkeys are fully customizable.
Like ZeroFree, ZeroWeb sits within a browser. As such, it can function on both Windows and Mac.
The one major downside of ZeroWeb is the cost. The platform fee is $59 per month.
ZeroPro
The third and final computer platform is ZeroPro. As the name suggests, it is on a high level. It is designed for Windows, although an emulator will run it on Mac.
On ZeroPro, a row of icons appears at the very top of the platform. Clicking on one produces a small window that can be expanded to any size. It’s possible to link windows by color codes.
The market depth window has integrated Level 2 quotes with an advanced order ticket at the bottom. Here, there is a discrete sell short button. Clicking on a bid or ask price in the quotes list populates the order ticket. A conditional order ticket is also available.
The charting window has lots of drawing tools and technical studies. A graph can be expanded the full width of the screen for detailed viewing. There is a right-click menu, but strangely, there’s no trade link in it.
Another disappointing feature on Pro is the lack of option spreads. Only calls and puts can be traded.
ZeroPro is included in ZeroWeb’s $59 monthly fee.
ZeroMobile
On top of the three computer platforms, TradeZero has a mobile app. The software is included with ZeroFree, which means there’s no monthly fee for it.
TradeZero’s mobile app has some, but not all, of the same tools we have already seen. There is a short locate tool, which makes this a rare mobile app. There’s also a discrete sell short button.
Multiple entries can be added and deleted on the app’s watchlist. Thanks to a partnership with Benzinga, news articles are available on individual securities.
Pricing
TradeZero America imposes no recurring fees on its brokerage accounts. While this is certainly good news, there are miscellaneous fees. These include:
- $10 for a paper statement
- $50 for a returned ACH
- $125 for an outgoing transfer
- OTC markets data ($5 for Level 1, $15 for Level 2)
Although TradeZero charges zero commissions on some trades, some transactions will be assessed fees. Any security trading below $1 has a commission between $0.99 and $7.95, depending on the share amount. Over-the-counter trades have the same commission.
Stocks traded between the hours of 4:00 am and 7:00 am are 0.3¢ per share.
Option trades have no base charge, but there is a per-contract fee of 25¢. Automatic exercises and assignments are free, although manually exercising a contract is $35.
A broker-assisted trade is an additional $30.
Education & Security Analysis
TradeZero does not provide a great deal of trading information. The articles in the Newsroom mentioned earlier are usually quite brief. Underneath the Tools tab on the website is a link to a collection of videos that demonstrate how to use the broker’s software for all sorts of tasks, like setting up alerts or changing the color of candlesticks.
Under the same tab is a blog. These are short articles on a variety of topics, like trading on margin or shorting stocks.
Unfortunately, TradeZero’s platforms have no security research tools other than news articles and top market mover lists.
Day Trading
Shorting: TradeZero permits short positions. It has a short locate tool that shows the number of shares available for shorting plus the cost to short the security.
Level 2 data: TradeZero offers Level 2 quotes.
PDT rule: It’s possible to circumvent FINRA’s pattern-day trading rule inside an account with TradeZero Bahamas.
Direct-access routing: It’s possible to send orders to specific market venues. TradeZero does require a minimum account value of $30k to gain access to this service.
Leverage: TradeZero Bahamas has a maximum of 6:1 leverage for day trading.
Routing fees and rebates: With a TradeZero America account, it’s possible to earn rebates on trades that add liquidity.
On top of all of the above features, the TradeZero website displays the number of trades available for an account before it reaches PDT status. Day-trading buying power is displayed above this information.
Other Services
DRIP Service: Not available.
IPO Service: Initial Public Offerings are also not available.
Fractional-share Trading: Only whole shares of stocks and ETFs can be traded.
IRAs: Retirement accounts are missing in action.
Extended Hours: Finally, TradeZero does succeed here. Trades can be submitted before the opening bell and after the closing bell.
Recommendations
Mutual Fund Investors: Without mutual funds, we obviously can’t defend TradeZero.
Firstrade has thousands of
funds with lots of great tools, including an effective screener and a list of All-Star funds.
Beginners: TradeZero caters to day traders and other experienced traders. And without any form
of investment advice, there is no reason for novices to consider it. We recommend a robo account with
WellsTrade, which comes with free consultations with licensed human advisors.
Individual Retirement Accounts: Schwab is a good place to open an IRA.
Active Equity Trading: It should be clear at this point that TradeZero is a very good pick for
active stock and ETF traders. However, fractional shares can’t be traded, which is one weakness. They
can be traded at
Webull.
Small Accounts: With a $2,500 minimum to start trading, we can’t endorse TradeZero. Webull has no
such minimum.
Long-Term Investors and Retirement Savers:
Charles Schwab has lots of
tax-deferred accounts, and many resources for retirement planning.
Free Firstrade Account
Open Firstrade Account
Free Webull Account
Open Webull Account
TradeZero Review Recap
Despite its name, TradeZero is more expensive than a lot of brokerage firms out there today. It’s one of the few that still charges for software, and some of its fees and minimums seem rather excessive. Nevertheless, it does have some very good tools for shorting and day trading, which means advanced traders looking for a pro-level experience may want to consider opening an account.
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