Facts that we know thus far:

1. A new joint name has not yet been announced, if one will be used at all. “TK Zecco”, “TKZ Group”, or “ZeccoKing” are all interesting possibilities.

2. Combined the new brokerage will house some 500,000 clients and several Billion in assets, making it the sixth largest.

3. Pricing will remain the same ($4.95 + $.65 per contract), as comparing TradeKing vs Zecco we can see they have similar commissions structures already.

4. Highlight addition for TradeKing clients will be gaining access to forex trading, and Zecco clients will gain access to TradeKing’s options tools, education, and fixed income investments. Some of these benefits could come into play for clients as early as Q3 2012.

5. There is no definite answers on what platforms, who’s research, who social network, etc will be used with the new joint site.

6. Penson will be used for trade clearing  in the combined firm.

7. For more M&A Questions and Answers see the Zeccc merger FAQs and the TradeKing merger FAQs.

We do not know who initiated the discussions to merge originally, nor which side will benefit the most from the deal. TradeKing has raised over $6 million total while Zecco has raised $35 million total. From what we know both brokers had over 200,000 clients as of earlier this year, so by the time this merger was announced, the sizes were most likely fairly close.

From the press release, “TradeKing and Zecco share a similar mission, applying pressure on the industry to give the individual investor a far better trading experience and a far greater value,” said Don Montanaro, CEO of TradeKing. “By merging, we have an opportunity to ratchet up our ability to influence the direction of the online brokerage industry. We believe this is great news for clients of both firms and investors as a whole.”

The merger announcement video of Don Monanaro, TradeKing’s CEO, and Mike Raneri, Zecco’s CEO, can be viewed on youtube. Furthermore, you can read Don’s blog post and Mike’s blog post on the matter. As soon as we know more we will be sure to update this page.

What do you think about the merger?

Site visitors won’t see anything visually different with this new hosting setup. The site may load slightly faster, but otherwise the switch is more for flexibility and consistency purposes. Our old host didn’t have the best uptime and was not very easy to work with.

With this transition complete, our dev team is now able to work on some other exciting improvements, including brand new review pages and some other top secret stuff.

The cloud is the future, and we are proud to now be a part of it. Onward and upward!

eToro has made yet another leap in product offerings by unveiling their latest platform upgrade.  eToro’s new webTrader interface couples a design friendly layout with functionality that will be appreciated by the trading community.   The platform comes with all the usual necessities such as price alerts, a wide variety of chart indicators, and a news feed; but where eToro really carves out their edge is by building in their open book functionality.

With the click of a button, traders instantly have access to a community of eToro traders that are active, knowledgeable, and share the same passions for the market as you or I.  The performance of the top traders is displayed for the community to see, and if one wishes, they can choose to “copy” the trades of that lead trader (your account will trade when theirs does).  Even if you’re not ready for your account to be traded by someone else, just being part of the environment and experience helps to open your eyes to different trading techniques and risk management methods.

Scottrade has recently rolled out two new trading site updates for clients. The first one, “Quick Trade Bar”, allows investors to place trades as they navigate from page to page. The bar is located at the bottom of every page on the Scottrade client website. It can be hidden or expanded too so users don’t always have to see it. The screenshot below can be expanded for a full screen view.

The second new Scottrade trading feature is the “Ratings & Reports” tab. This area allows a quick overview of analysts ratings on your current portfolio positions. This includes MarketEdge ratings, S&P ratings, and Reuters ratings. The screenshot below can be expanded for a closer look.

StockBrokers.com team member Blain Reinkensmeyer was interviewed by Zack Miller who runs Tradestreaming.com. The interview, “The Best (And Worst) Online Stockbrokers“, was regarding the release of our 2012 Online Broker Review. Blain discusses details of the eight major categories covered in the review and answers several excellent questions from Zack on the direction the brokerage industry is heading. In addition, portions of the review and testing process are explained and specific results broken down. You can listen to this interview and more at Tradestreaming.com.

Our team truly appreciates Zack’s positive feedback and support for the 2012 Review. If you haven’t yet, you need to visit his site and subscribe to his free newsletter. Read more about Zack and Tradestreaming.com here.

Zecco has finally released their much anticipated Zecco Mobile trading app for the iPhone and now Android platforms. The full feature mobile trading app is designed for speedy trade execution and research. Now investors with one of the two major smartphones can have 24/7 trading ability on the go.

“We set out to drastically improve the trading experience for both web and mobile,” said Tony Leach, Zecco’s Vice President of Product Management. “First, we wanted to develop a fully-featured online trading platform. Then, we integrated all these features into a spectacular mobile experience.”

Automatic trade population with Swipe & Trade, quotes and market data are easy to update with Shake & Refresh, and our staff favorite keep me signed in which doesn’t require a password at every login are just a few of the app features you’ll find with the new Zecco Mobile. The robust charting tool is also a nifty asset to have when conducting quick on the fly analysis. Download your app for free in the iTunes App store or the Android Market.

Here are some screenshots of the Zecco Mobile iPhone App:

The StockBrokers.com team was excited to see the Trade Cost Calculator tool surpass 8,000 uses by investors this past week. If you haven’t yet, we encourage all traders to simply input their average amounts for stocks, options, and/or mutual funds to unveil potential savings on trading commissions. It’s also advised to adjust the time window for farther out, in particular for those that are active traders or perhaps managing their IRA accounts which are not traditionally transferred to new brokerages often.

StockBrokers.com team member Blain Reinkensmeyer was recently interviewed by Mike Swanson who operates WallStreetWindow.com. The interview, “How to Pick an Online Stock Broker“, was conducted immediately following the release of our 2012 Online Broker Review. Blain discusses the eight major categories covered in the review and how new or seasoned investors can utilize this in-depth information. In addition, the review and testing process is explained and examples are provided. You can listen, download, and subscribe to this podcast and more here.

Our team truly appreciates Mike’s positive feedback and support for the 2012 Review. If you haven’t yet, you need to visit WallStreetWindow.com and subscribe to his free stock trading newsletter. With over 80,000 investors already subscribed you can be rest assured his e-newsletter is packed with solid content. Read more about Mike and WallStreetWindow.com here.

The official press release can be found here on PRWeb.

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