Of all the brokerages doing business online, TD Ameritrade is easily one of the most familiar. A succession of spokesmen from the TV show “Law and Order”–the latest is Sam Waterston–doesn’t hurt; neither does Ameritrade’s obvious focus on an older demographic. Ameritrade also tries to reward bigger portfolio holders while still maintaining pricing and bonuses for the “little guy.”

This can be a precarious balancing act. Trying to cater to the septuagenarian set while simultaneously attracting young, active traders can have mixed results. However, TD Ameritrade does have some of the best and most expansive web trading platforms, plus pricing that is mostly in the middle of the market. This BankShout review will look at some of the strengths of weaknesses of Ameritrade, its pricing and product offerings, and the company’s customer service options.

Ameritrade has tried (and succeeded) bringing its online trading prices in line with the rest of the market. Ameritrade charges you $9.99 per equity trade, regardless of how many shares you buy. Options contracts add $.75. Many of Ameritrade’s mutual funds are available with no transaction fee, and the company goes out of its way to let customers know that it doesn’t push its own mutuals if another fund works better for you. TD Ameritrade also has an exceptional variety of fixed-income offerings, from the most basic to the highly structured, and include everything from municipal bonds and corporate bonds to mortgage-backed securities (yes, you can still buy those). Pricing on these is at a “net-yield” basis, which is standard.

If you need assistance to go with your online trading, however, you will be paying a premium. AmeriTrade charges $34.99 for telephone assistance–and that’s interactive (voice response) action, not a live person that you’ll be talking to. Broker-assisted trades are a hefty $44.99 a pop. In addition, many of the mutual fund offerings are no-load but carry a $49.99 flat fee.

One of the big advantages I see with TD Ameritrade is in the brokerage’s variety of trading tools. The company’s website calls their trading platforms “innovative and powerful,” and it’s hard to argue differently. Not only do the different platforms give you choices on how to trade online, but they also each have specific strengths and can greatly aid both investment strategy and trade execution.

Ameritrade has four different trading platforms: Web Platform, Command Center 2.0, Strategy Desk, and Options 360. Web Platform allows you to trade everything, but lacks more complex features such as Level II quotes and “Greeks” analysis. Command Center 2.0 is only good for trading stocks and options, but works with Java and adds Level II quotes as well as streaming charts and news and multiple monitor display. Strategy Desk is a downloadable app and is designed for fans of “backtesting,” or mapping out strategies based on historical data. Options 360 is also a desktop download which features visual position analysis and volatility charts for options traders.

Ameritrade also has strength in its other services and guides. A “bond wizard” shows you the ropes with fixed-income investments. ETF screeners can guide you in bear markets, currencies, and commodities. There is also an “IPO Center,” to keep you up on new public offerings of stock, and Ameritrade’s general market overview page is kept well up-to-date with charts, graphs, and articles that are beyond what I have seen on any other online broker’s website.

On the negative side, TD Ameritrade’s branches–there are about 100–are limited mostly to big cities, leaving the company lagging behind competitors like Scottrade and Charles Schwab that have a lot more physical locations by comparison. Also, instead of including it as part of the basic service, Ameritrade seems to depend heavily on third party providers for research. That can cost you extra in the form of third party subscription fees.

• Strong trade execution
• Variety and functionality of trading platforms
• Outstanding ETF screeners
• Ameritrade website excellent as a source of market news

• High prices for telephone and broker assisted trades
• Large flat fee for no-load mutual funds
• Too few physical branches
• Third party research costs extra