How To Evaluate TD Ameritrade

When you are a day trader, one of the most important decisions you can make is to find the right online broker to use to make and execute your trades. There is no reason to just go with whatever one you start with or whatever your day trading mentors suggest. 

It pays to do you research and try to figure out the best online broker for your habits, your strategies and your trading style.

TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade could be that broker. The company has vast experience in the online trading space and could be just what you need in order to make real money as a day trader. 

The way that they organize the Thinkorswim platform for ease of use and the ability for users to customize their interface is vital to the platforms ability to attract users.

Day Traders

Day traders need to be able to react quickly and efficiently. Being able to customize your interface is a great way to make your broker work for you. Having hot keys in place that will help you make trades as soon as you can see the path is a great way to make sure that your broker makes you efficient as possible. 

Volatility is such an important way for day traders to make money in the market and being able to keep up with that vitality is essential to being a profitable trader.

Comissions On Trades

One strike against TD Ameritrade is the cost of the trades. Commissions on trades in TD Ameritrade can go from $6.99 to $9.99. Considering margins, the markup on those trades are not going to be good for your profits. 



Trade costs is just one of the factors that you need to understand when choosing a broker. The quality of the tools and the effectiveness of the research are two big items that need to be ticked off before you get to that level.

Thinkorswim Platform

The technical studies that TD Ameritrade can offer for its thinkorswim platform are some of the most numerous in the industry. That could be a real boon for day traders because of the way that those technical indicators can help inform trades. 

The real-time data available for TD Ameritrade users is robust as well. Another point for day trade users.

2 Trading Platforms

TD Ameritrade also has two seperate mobile apps for trading, one designed for casual investors and one designed for active traders. The range of options for mobile traders makes TD Ameritrade on of the most forward thinking companies in the space. 

Being able to trade on your phone gives traders great access to the market and allows traders to react quickly to breaking news and new information. Traders can even link the mobile app ro their desktop setup, so trading can be seamless and easy for those on the go.

Making the decision to go with a particular online broker can be hard for traders at first. But doing research and testing out the potential brokers is a fun and informative process.