TD Ameritrade Forex Review: Analysis of a Top-Rated Broker

Nevertheless, if you are not concerned about bonuses or other free money promotions, TD Ameritrade should fit the bill perfectly. Despite the high minimum investment requirement, the cash incentive is pretty small, with the broker rewarding a meager $350 for a $250,000 deposit. The company does offer a higher bonus of $2,500, but traders are required to deposit at least $2 million to qualify for the maximum bonus. Finally, you have to verify your account by confirming your identity, which means that you should keep your identification and address documents handy at the time of signup.

Oanda, known for its low spreads, might appeal to scalpers, while TD Ameritrade’s strengths lie in its comprehensive platform and educational resources. Regarding the overall feel and design of the user interface, there are unlimited customization options to get the trading dashboard set up to the trader’s liking. The dark theme helps concentrate on the markets with minimal distractions, while the charting tools such as technical analysis tools and indicators provide excellent opportunities to analyze the markets. TD Ameritrade Forex accounts are categorized into Standard, Retirement, Education, Specialty, Managed Portfolio, and Margin Trading accounts. Except for the Margin Trading accounts, all account types are conventional brokerage accounts suitable for stock trading, portfolio management, investment schemes, and other similar investment opportunities. As with its educational offering, Schwab’s research is primarily focused on the stock market and economic news, only the latter of which applies to forex trading in a broad sense.

Use of Popular Trading Platforms

However, it has evolved over the years to build its brand as a high-ranking broker. Being one of the most popular brokers in the US, TD Ameritrade has attracted various investors with Thinkorswim, its user-friendly and exceptional trading platform, and its outstanding educational content. In essence, you do not lose a great deal of functionality when trading on the move through this mobile trading platform. It still provides for hundreds of indicators and a broad range of charting capabilities for an extremely customizable trading experience.

Do I earn interest in my account?

The trading performance of the TD Ameritrade app is also far superior to other proprietary apps offered by mainstream Forex brokers. One feature I like is that certain content in Schwab’s learning center gets tagged with applicable asset classes and categories, such as the “Order Types” article which is tagged for forex, futures, and options. There are hundreds of these types of articles across Schwab’s website and the educational content within the thinkorswim platform suite. Still, I would prefer to see content created primarily for forex-specific trading, as that would help fill the gap for this specific market in an otherwise exhaustive educational offering. The vast majority of Schwab’s educational content is focused on other primary markets with barely a dozen of forex-specific articles.

FOREX.com gives you direct access to global forex markets with low spreads, lightning-fast execution and powerful trading platforms—all under the regulation of the CFTC. However, it is important to note that TD Ameritrade’s forex trading fees are higher than some of its competitors, with a per-trade commission of $0.10 per 1,000 units, and a minimum fee of $1.00. This may not be ideal for traders who are just starting out or have smaller account balances. Traders should contact the broker directly to ascertain whether they can open an account and trade with a TD Ameritrade Forex account in their home country.

• The multi-touch chart function supports hundreds of technical indicators, providing all the tools required to identify trading opportunities.
• Traders have access to the proprietary thinkorswim trading platform, with tens of thousands of assets across multiple sectors and a focus on equity, ETF, and mutual funds.
• Like its closest competitors, TD Ameritrade offers mobile check deposit, online bill pay, and ATM fee reimbursement.

Opening an Account

• In comparison, market competitors like E-Trade and Schwab do not offer Forex pairs in their product list.
• ACH deposits are generally transferred within minutes, while bank wire transfers can take 2 days.
• Their dedication to delivering comprehensive analytical tools and instructional resources appeals to traders of all skill levels, promoting educated trading decisions.
• TD Ameritrade employs advanced security measures to protect client accounts and funds.

If another broker will serve your needs better, you should transfer your TD Ameritrade assets to that broker. TD Ameritrade has achieved an average rating of 2.1 out of 5 on Forex Peace Army (FPA). We’ve observed numerous brokers on FPA, and most brokers tend to have lower ratings. There is a complaint that FPA does not approve all positive reviews and only approves negative ones for the sake of their business.

ForexBrokers.com has been reviewing online forex brokers for over eight years, and our reviews are the most cited in the industry. Each year, we collect thousands of data points and publish tens of thousands of words of research. Blain Reinkensmeyer, co-founder of StockBrokers.com, has been investing and trading for over 25 years. After having placed over 2,000 trades in his late teens and early 20s, he became one of the first in digital media to review online brokerages. Today, Blain is widely respected as a leading expert on finance and investing, specifically the U.S. online brokerage industry. Blain has been quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Fast Company, among others.

Mobile Trading With TD Ameritrade App

After carefully examining the reviews, we found that most of them are genuine, provided by real users sharing their real-life trading experiences. Let’s explore and compare the pros and cons of TD Ameritrade, which would help you take decisive action and also help you determine if it is the best broker option for you. There are a few prominent differentiating factors when talking about TD Ameritrade for forex trading. The first is that they are one of the few brokers, and a very major one at that, who are allowed to offer such access to forex trading in the US. This makes them ideal for casual traders, and they also offer a reduced trading cost and other benefits if you qualify for their active trading program.

TD Ameritrade maintains excellent execution statistics, with improved pricing on 96.5% of placed orders, resulting in average savings of $2.62 per 100 shares. The execution speed of 0.05 seconds and deep liquidity with a 3.6 liquidity multiple is a statement of this broker’s investment into its technology infrastructure. When it comes to research, TD Ameritrade has The Ticker Tape portion of their website. The segments include Market News, Daily Market Update, Morning Futures Briefing, Portfolio Strategy, Retirement Planning, and Investing Basics. TD Ameritrade has been in the forex industry for a long time, having been established in 1971, with headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska.

The real-time TD Ameritrade Forex spread for the EUR/USD pair is around 1.2 pips on average, which is neither too expensive nor too competitive. Other major currency pairs, such as the GBP/USD, quoted around 1.5 pips on average, similar to the average spread offered by other competing brokers in the FX market. One drawback that we anticipated against the broker in this TD Ameritrade review is the absence of any promotional offers.

Moreover, margin interest rates for borrowing through margin accounts are changeable and determined by the debit balance and the firm’s base rate, indicating the cost of borrowing funds. This strategy broadens the platform’s appeal to a wider range of trading styles, reducing transaction settlement costs. Overall, the broker stands out in the financial services sector by not charging trade spreads promoting a competitive pricing philosophy. Futures – Traders interested in commodities and indices can engage in futures trading. This comprises several futures contracts that offer exposure to a wide range of markets and the possibility of leverage.

A Look into the Different TD Ameritrade Forex Account Options for Retail Trading

Before following the retail trend, where up to 85% of traders face losses, it is a fact that deserves consideration. Mobile apps offer traders a mean to monitor portfolios but are not suited for trading purposes, despite their expanding capabilities. TD Ameritrade is a US-based broker but, unlike most of its US counterparts, it accepts international clients. Founded in 1971 as Ameritrade, in 2006 the company acquired TD Waterhouse from the Canadian financial conglomerate, Toronto-Dominion Bank, which granted it a 40% minority stake.

Thanks to a pricing war in October 2019, TD Ameritrade, like a number of online brokers, slashed its $6.95 stock and ETF trades rate down to $0. We built the website to assist forex traders in finding the right td ameritrade forex review forex brokers to trade with ease. Research is provided directly through the multi-faceted trading platform with access to updated news feeds, and a detailed economic calendar.

Underlying assets include Energies, Metals, Currencies, Stock Indices, Interest Rates, Soft Commodities, Grains, Live Stock and Bitcoin. The brokerage firm allows access to several US stock exchanges and some OTC markets, including the NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX, OTCBB, etc. On this front, it matches the offerings of some of its competitors, such as E-Trade and Fidelity. TD Ameritrade does not have a minimum deposit requirement for trading on a Standard brokerage account (cash account). However, it is worth noting electronic funding does have a minimum requirement of $50. TD Ameritrade’s ThinkOrSwim offers elite-level trading tools, market insights, and a load of unique features, all of which bring trading experience to a higher level.