Right off the bat, TD Ameritrade, a prominent online stock broker site, gives investors reason to get involved: a free trial for 30 days.  Many similar services require some kind of start up fee or minimum account balance, but TD Ameritrade doesn’t, which draws in tons of consumers.

Backing up a bit, TD Ameritrade has held one of the top positions in the US stock and bond trade for decades.  Even in the late ‘80s they were ahead of the curve, offering touch-tone phone trading.  Come the early ‘90s they launched into the online boom with a Windows-based program that utilized the Internet to connect you to the trading world.

In short, during the 2000’s Ameritrade had potential to acquire several other small similar businesses, often opting to do so and eventually becoming the powerhouse that it is today.

Currently, they have over six million customers worldwide and are only continuing to expand.  They specialize in offering preferred stocks, futures, ETFs, option trades, mutual funds, fixed income, margin lending, and cash management services.

They offer $10 broker commissions on trades, which is high by some standards, but given their stronghold on the market it’s well-deserved.  Their depth into the US market is essentially unparalleled making them one of the most viable options for anyone who’s going to get serious about investing.

Typically new customers are given a free 30 day trial run, which several of their competitors also offer.  Similar to the competitors, they also offer a vast array of information so that the consumer can educate his or herself on trading and the details on various stocks and bonds.

Their website is laid out specifically with customer service in mind, running the newcomer through crucial information, providing helpful resources, and offering tutorial services.

But what Ameritrade’s website really puts its emphasis on is their fair pricing.  With access to a wider variety of stock information than most sources, Ameritrade also charges a relatively low stock broker fee which brings in traders of all kinds, with all kinds of budgets.

Ameritrade’s site lines up objective research for the trader who’s wanting insight into the market.  This information is accessible from their main page, taking you into a separate program.  Furthermore, they include frequently updated webcasts to walk you through important breaking information, online workshops where traders come together and share information, and even a sort of brainstorming room called the “Idea Generation.”

Furthermore, their site includes an interactive trading platform that allows you to access current market information.  It’s updated by the second, so you always have a leg up on what’s going on in the marketplace.

Barron’s magazine named the TD Ameritrade web platform the best in the business in 2008 and has given distinctions to the company since then in some form or another.

As far as customer reviews go, Ameritrade usually gets high marks. People are particularly fond of their easy web platform and find the vast array of stock market information accessible from the website to be extremely helpful.

People tend to feel like Ameritrade is on their side, helping them make the best choices and to otherwise become as fluent in the market as they’d like to be.  They believe Ameritrade exceeds the call of duty for what they provide their customers.

It’s possible to find cheaper overhead stock broker commissions out there at other sources, which tends to turn some people off.  But the overall consensus is that Ameritrade’s depth into the market makes up for the slightly higher (although still considered to be on the cheap side, relatively speaking) broker fees.

With a company that’s succeeded so well in the past 30 years, it’s pretty safe to say that Ameritrade is a good bet for your stock market trading needs.