Comments on: HOWTO trade commission-free with WellsTrade

By: Pat Savu

Pat Savu — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:58:23 +0000

While I like the free trades with my Wells Trade PMA account, the customer service sucks. And they mmake mistakes often so I have to call about getting the msitakes corrected. It has gotten worse since they “upgraded” their computer system in Jan 2011

By: KS

KS — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 23:47:29 +0000

Just did my transfer to Wells through this guide. Wellstrade CS reps are the most incompetent bunch. Call 3 times about the same thing and get 3 different answers.

I had some difficulty in getting my ACH set up correctly. The form that I submitted was different from the one linked on this website, might be a newer one, I don’t know. Anyway, there’s a checkbox on there that allows you to set up an “Automatic Settlement”. If anyone wants to transfer funds between multiple external bank accounts, leave this box unchecked. They didn’t quite explain that very well on the form. Basically the auto-settlement feature will automatically deposit/withdraw funds from the linked bank account for trades executed and dividends received. This is a nice feature for some people but you run the risk of overdrafting your bank account by accident. Additionally it means that ALL your cash transactions must go through this account, and not secondary bank accounts you might want to link to your brokerage.

Another thing I ran into while doing my ACAT was my old brokerage (Zecco) received dividends after my securities have transferred out. I called Zecco and they first said you have to get Wells to do a residual sweep. But for any cash left over, Zecco can apparently send you a check as well.

By: moneycone

moneycone — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 04:47:53 +0000

GG, options are not included in the 100 free trades and that costs extra. Hope this helps.

By: moneycone

moneycone — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 01:52:38 +0000

I will let you know GG. I don’t trade options, so I can’t tell you right away. I’ve contacted WellsTrade, I’ll update this once I get a reply.

Thanks for visiting!

By: GG

GG — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 16:00:54 +0000

Thanks for the step by step instructions, Moneycone! This is very helpful.

Could you tell us if this 100 free trades include option trades as well? Or is it Stocks only?

By: moneycone

moneycone — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 11:53:30 +0000

s8jljohnson, congrats on starting early! Wish I had the insight when I was young! Start slow and start with virtual trading first. If you can it is best to trade inside a ROTH IRA. In my opinion, your best bet with minimum fees would be OptionsHouse (OH also has virtual trading). The trades are $2.95, the lowest I’ve seen with maximum flexibility.

Good luck and feel free to ask questions!

By: s8jljohnson

s8jljohnson — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 04:52:12 +0000

I am a college student with somewhat limited funds and want to start trading and investing. I am completely new to it and only know what i have learned in class which isn’t a whole lot yet. Who would you recomend i use for online trading.

By: moneycone

moneycone — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 12:16:29 +0000

Completely agree ViperVin! Setting up an account with WF made me wonder if I was living in the 70s! But the 100 free trades can’t be beat.

By: ViperVin

ViperVin — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 06:21:48 +0000

Thanks for the tips moneycone. Signing up with WF is a task! Took me almost 2 weeks and a handful of calls to WF support to get everything setup. Definitely not as easy as my other accounts (e.g. Zecco and Scottrade), but 100 free trades makes it worth it.

By: moneycone

moneycone — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 17:06:57 +0000

Rex,
The investing tools are ok… kinda cluttered. I usually use Google Finance and Morningstar for research and use WT only for trading. Trades are fairly quick.

If trading tools are very important to you, I wouldn’t recommend WT.