Zero commissions just moved the cost. The trade is free now; the options contract fee, the margin interest, and the wire and transfer fees are where your money leaks.
- Options contracts at 65 cents each cost over $1,000 a year on twenty contracts a week; some brokers charge half, or nothing on closings - Margin interest, wire fees, transfer fees, paper statement charges: none in the ads, all in your statement - A $200 promo repaid in fees by spring is not a deal - Read the broker's payment-for-order-flow disclosure; the honest ones explain it plainly
BrokerMatch ($2.99 one-time) prices your actual trading pattern across brokers, so the cheapest broker for you is a number, not a guess.