By Alexander Green Many brokers are slashing commissions down to zero to remain competitive with one another, but the question remains: How will they make money?
Today, Alexander Green explains the upside – and downside – of commission-free trading for wealth builders.
The cost of trading stocks has been coming down for decades.
It started in 1975, when regulators abolished fixed trading commissions. (Until then, you had to pay a minimum commission of $49, equal to $176 today.)
Charles Schwab responded by immediately slashing trading costs for its clients, becoming the first true “discount broker.”
Merrill Lynch – surprise, surprise – used deregulation as an opportunity to raise …read more