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| Using . . . Ameritrade |
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Personal Finance & Tax Programs February 2001 • Vol.9 Issue 2 Page(s) 70-71 in print issue |
Using . . . Ameritrade This Site's Years Of Experience Benefit The Online Trader | ||
 Whether you love them or hate them, there is no denying the television commercials featuring the wacky Generation-X Stuart and his technologically challenged boss, Mr. P., have made Ameritrade a household name. Although the relatively recent appearance of the ads led many consumers to believe Ameritrade was just another dot-com phenomenon, the company began as a brokerage firm, First Omaha Securities Inc., in 1975. After a few name changes and expansions, Ameritrade Holding Corporation launched Ameritrade in 1997. Today, Ameritrade offers 24-hour customer service, customized stock alerts, and low commissions.  Navigating The Site. The Ameritrade home page (http://www.ameritrade.com) greets visitors with a few simple choices. Registered users can click the Customer Login button and get right down to business. New users can click Open An Account or the Tell Me More button for detailed information. The home page also highlights special offers available for new customers. As you might expect, many features are not available until you register, but the Tell Me More section includes a surprising amount of information about Ameritrade and investing in general. The Tell Me More page will introduce you to the navigation system the entire site uses, which consists of tabbed menus near the top of each page. The Tell Me More tab offers insights into Ameritrade benefits, plus information about the company's history, privacy policy, site security, investor relations, company store, and how to get a job with Ameritrade. The Getting Started tab not only walks you through the basics of how to set up an account and start trading but it also provides FAQs (frequently asked questions), account terms and conditions, and a glossary of investment terms. Next, the Products & Services tab includes an extensive list of Ameritrade's new and established products and services. The Trading Demo tab offers two ways to explore online investing at Ameritrade. You can follow the process through a series of screen shots, or click a link to go directly to a specific topic of interest. The last tab, Investing Basics, provides most of the information you need to develop your own investment strategies, including options and risks, an overview of the stock market, and a guide to the ins and outs of online trading with Ameritrade. You also can order Darwin: Survival Of The Fittest, which is a free game that simulates options trading. If you're new to investing, click the Investing Basics tab and select the Education Center link. Here, you'll find detailed information about learning to invest and several financial calculators that will help you figure the value of your stocks, mutual funds, bonds, and IRAs.
What You Need. Before you launch your career as the next Wall Street wizard, you need to open an account. Ameritrade offers a variety of account types and different methods to open them. To simplify the account setup process, have the following information ready; if you're creating a joint account, you need to provide the same information for both account holders: Full name, address, telephone number, citizenship status, residence status, employer name and address, Social Security number, and your date of birth. If you want to fund your account using electronic transfer from an existing bank account, you also must provide your driver's license or state ID number, your bank routing number, and your bank account number. In addition to standard account types, Ameritrade offers a wide range of IRAs, including traditional, SEP, SIMPLE, and Roth. The minimum deposit for a standard account is $2,000 while the minimum deposit for an IRA account is $1,000. However, Ameritrade frequently runs special offers to entice new members, so these minimums may vary. When we were at the site, you could open a standard account with a $500 deposit, with free trading (no fees) for one month or 25 trades. There are no setup fees to open an account, but charges may apply for specific trading activities or services. Online trading is generally the least expensive, but you should check the Products & Services tab for more information. Presently, market stock trades are $8 by online trade, $12 by automated telephone, and $18 with a broker's assistance. Option trading adds $1.75 per contract to these fees. Opening An Account. There are three ways to open an Ameritrade account: the Express Application, the online application, and by mail. The Express Application lets you open an account and start trading the same day; you fill your investing coffers via electronic transfer from a checking or savings account. The Express Application is limited to a cash account, but you can upgrade it later to support margin and options trading. The online application is actually a hybrid. Although you complete the application forms online, you must then print them out, sign them, and mail them to Ameritrade with your equity deposit. You can start trading as soon as your account is set up and the equity is credited. This method offers the most options, including the ability to open individual, joint, or IRA accounts, and to choose cash accounts or margin and options trading. If you prefer to handle the entire setup process through regular mail, Ameritrade will send you an account application package to complete and return with your equity deposit. You can start trading once your application is processed and the equity is credited. Business users must use this option to open an account. The process. We'll look at the procedure for opening an account using the online application. The Express Application method is similar, but you'll have to add your bank account information for electronic transfer of funds. Start by clicking the Open An Account button on the Ameritrade home page. Under the Complete Your Application Online subheading, click the Individual Account link to access the Account Application form. Near the top of the form is a field for entering special offer codes, if applicable. Complete the rest of the fields with the information requested and be sure to note required fields are marked with an asterisk (*). Clicking the orange question mark icon next to each section heading provides minimal information about that section via a pop-up window. When you've completed all required information, click the Next button in the lower-right corner of the page. If you entered any information incorrectly or if it is missing, you'll be presented with a list of fields that need correction. Once you've correctly completed the form, you'll see Ameritrade's terms and conditions. Read these terms carefully because they govern the agreement you are entering into with the company. After agreeing to the terms, you will be asked to select a four-digit PIN (personal identification number) for your account. Once you select your PIN, click the Next button to continue. An account-opening checklist will be displayed, with your account number and instructions for printing and submitting the application. Additional Tools. Once you set up your account, you can immediately take advantage of Ameritrade's services, but you won't be able to perform any trades until your account is funded. The Reports & Alerts service, which you'll find under the Quotes & Research tab, helps you keep up with changing market conditions. You can receive personalized market reports or alerts, or create a watch portfolio of prospective stocks you want to track. Click the Account tab and select OnMoney .com to organize your personal online financial accounts in one statement. You can then use this statement to pay bills online, prepare and file your taxes, and keep track of your investment portfolios. You'll need to register with OnMoney.com, so click the Register Now link and enter the basic information it requires. Free investment research tools include Market Guide, Briefing.com, and Zack's Investment Research. The Market Guide on the Quotes & Research tab features research reports for more than 10,000 publicly traded companies. Enter the stock symbol for the company you want to research in the Symbol field, select a type of report from the View drop-down menu, and click the Go button. Also on the Quotes & Research tab (via the Special Offers link) is Briefing.com, which offers live market analysis and market reports about upgrades or downgrades and stock splits. Finally, Zack's Investment Research also finds its home on the Quotes & Research tab. Zack's is a full-service research firm that provides earning estimates and fundamental data from more than 200 Wall Street brokerage firms. When you log in to the home page, Ameritrade provides daily market summaries for the Nasdaq, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and S&P 500, as well as free access to news from Business Wire, PR Newswire, Reuters, and Dow Jones News. Click the Quotes & Research tab, enter a stock symbol in the Symbol field, and select News from the View drop-down menu. Finally, for even more convenience, you can download your account information directly into Quicken or Microsoft Money.  by Tom Nelson and Mary O'Connor
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