The digital era · 2000–today
2019
Zero commissions
Major US brokers drop commissions on stock trades to $0.
Robinhood's app offered commission-free stock trades from 2015. In October 2019 Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade and E*Trade all cut their stock commissions to zero.
💡 Why it made sense then
Competition had pushed fees down for decades, and brokers could earn from interest and order flow instead.
Ideas it gave us
- 📈 Commission
A commission is a fee a broker charges for placing a trade. Most US brokers have charged $0 commission on stock trades since 2019.
- 📈 Broker
A broker is a licensed firm that places trades on an exchange for you and holds your investments in an account, like Fidelity, Schwab or Robinhood.
Practise with $10,000 in play money
Free. No real money involved.