OptionsHouse Brokerage – $2.95 Commision on Stocks

EDIT: Their latest promo can be found HERE.

This morning, in my everquest to find a cheaper discount broker, I stumbled upon another online brokerage called OptionsHouse Brokerage and noticed that they have a commission of only $2.95 on stock purchases. After reviewing this, this is not an OptionsHouse promo. This is the standard commission and there is no limit on the number of shares you can buy for 2.95!!! For those of you that want to invest a little money over a time, a $3 commission can really lower the percentage of each purchase you make.

After looking into this a little deeper, I also noticed that their commisions on options is great since they don’t charge you per contract. Most brokerages charge you a trade commission as well as a per contract fee. If you are a big options trader this could add up to huge cost savings.

OptionsHouse Brokerage does not charge any monthly maintenance fees or has any minimum balance to worry about. They even will reimburse you up to $100 on transfer fees when you transfer your account from another brokerage to OptionsHouse.

OptionsHouse is a member of SIPC, which will cover customers of its members up to $500,000 of which $100,000 can be cash. Also they maintain SIPC Insurance over all customer accounts, so you can be sure your money is safe with them.

I don’t not have an account with these guys, but will be openeing one shortly. I will post about the process once I have a chance to sign up. If you are a beginning trader and don’t have a lot of money to invest, OptionsHouse brokerage may be  a good fit, with no fees and lower commissions it will allow you to invest more money with a lower overall cost.

Check out OptionsHouse’s Web Site for more details.

TD Ameritrade Promo – $100 Bonus + 500 Free Trades

TDAmeritrade is having a promo where you can get a $100 bonus and 500 free trades in the first 30 days when opening a new account.

You must open a new account by September 30th, 2009 and fund it with at least $25,000 within the first 30 days of opening the account.

The $500 in free trades need to be executed within the first 30 days of account opening. How this works is that any trades that you make during that time will be free as a credit to your account.

You must keep this account open for 9 months if you receive the $100 bonus or the credit for the free trades.

There are no details on when the $100 bonus will be deposited, however TDAmeritrade bonuses are usually paid out pretty quickly.

Check out the Offer Page for more information.

Free $150 from Sony Visa Card with $299 Purchase

Chase is offering a $150 sign up bonus for their Sony Visa Card after your first purchase of $299 or greater at SonyStyle.com.

This card is good for long term use if you buy a lot of Sony items. If you don’t, you may just consider signing up for the $150 bonus and keep the card for emergencies. For a long term rewards card, check out my Chase Freedom Rewards Visa post

Here is the earnings breakdown:

• Earn 5 points per dolar at Sony Style Stores, SonyStyle.com and ImageStation.com
• Earn 3 points per dollar spent on Sony Products at authorized Sony retailers
• Earn 1 point per dollar everywhere else

What you need to do: Sign up for the Sony Visa Card
Obligation: None
Initial Reward (if any): $150 after first purchase made at SonyStyle.com
Money to get started: $299
Things to Note: There will be hard credit inquiry applied to your credit report when applying for the card

NCUA and FDIC Limits Increased Until 2013

It’s official, the NCUA (National Credit Union Administration) and the FDIC have increased the insurance limits on accounts to $250,000 until December 31st, 2013.

For many years, the limit was $100,000 per account, until the emergency limit raising to $250,000 until the end of this year was done to help the bank crisis situation. Well it looks like they have decided to keep it at that level until the end of 2013.

Per the FDIC Fact Sheet it says “On January 1, 2014, the standard insurance amount will return to $100,000 per depositor for all account categories except IRAs and other certain retirement accounts, which will remain at $250,000 per depositor.” My thoughts on this is that it will be very hard for them in 2013 to lower it since everyone will be acustomed to it that have that kind of money. Now as for all of those that don’t have anywhere near that amount in the bank, me included, you probably don’t really care about this. The only nice thing about it is that this will allow rich people to keep their money in the bank, which should hopefully solve this bank failure issue.

If you have even more than $250,000 and you don’t want to give me any, there are ways to be insured on more than $250,000 in the same account depending on how you set it up. You can always open an account at another bank which would also allow you to insure up to another $250,000.

Here’s to having that kind of money some day!

Ally Bank – Best Savings Account

(Note: all rates are as of 01/12/12)

In my quest to find the best savings account, I think I can finally give the crown to Ally Bank’s High Yield Savings. For those of you that haven’t heard, Ally Bank is the new name for GMAC Bank. GMAC Bank always had competitive rates on its savings account, but now that all other banks have lowered their rates, Ally Bank is one of the highest out there.

Ally Bank’s High Yield Savings currently offers .84% APY for any balance in the account. There is no minimum balance or any fees associated with this account. Ally Bank has a very fast ACH transfer system which allows you to link your checking account to your Ally savings account to move money in and out quickly and easily. You can link multiple accounts. I am not sure if there is a max, but I have 5 different bank accounts linked at the moment. The transfer feature also allows you to set up automated withdrawals to your account which makes saving over time easy. You can also open multiple savings account so that you can keep your savings separate. I currently have 3 open. One holds my savings, one holds the savings for my property taxes and the third holds my vacation fund. I have all three accounts automatically deduct money from my checking account each month.

One thing to note that since the High Yield Savings is a savings account, you are limited to 6 withdrawls per month which is based on a federal law governing savings accounts. Deposits are unlimited.

You can compare Ally bank to the likes of ING Direct. It has all the same features but compared to the 1.00% rate they ING is offering, Ally Bank is definitely the clear winner. Ally Bank deposits are FDIC insured up to $250,000 per account, so you can feel safe in the fact that your money is protected.

Ally Bank also has other high yield products. They have a money market product which allows check writing and has a debit card with ATM rebates. The current rate on this account is .84% APY. This account is great if you want access to your savings via writing a check or going to an ATM. The money market account has no fees as well, you just need to make sure you stay under the 6 withdrawals per month.

They also offer an extremely high one year CD Rate of .99%. Again, no fees and no cost to open.

So you can see with banks dropping interest rates everyday, Ally Bank has an impressive suite of products that can help your savings grow. Definitely take a look at the best high yield savings account out there if you are earning a mediocre rate at your current bank!