ING Electric Orange Checking $25 Bonus Reference Code
Here a ING Direct Electric Orange Checking Account bonus offer I just received in the mail, though I don’t use that checking account.
The offer is $25 bonus when you open an ING Electric Orange account before October 31, 2009. However, this is not the only condition that you have to meet in order to get the bonus. In addition, you will also have to use the free Debit Card to make 3 signature transactions within the first 45 days after the account is opened. Once you make the transactions, the bonus will be posted in your account on day 50.
Like the Orange Savings account, the rates of Electric Orange is pretty dismal if you have a small balance. Currently, the yield is only 0.25% APY for balance up to $50,000. And even if you have $100,000 or more and you want to put the money in the checking account (I don’t know why somebody would have $100K in a checking account), then you can earn 1.50% APY, still not very attractive. With that kind of money, you can get a better deal by putting them in a savings account at, for example, Ally Bank, to earn 1.70% return.
Besides, bearing interest, Electric Orange also has some other features that look pretty attractive, such as no minimum balance, no monthly fee, not ATM surcharge, and no overdraft fee, etc.
Anyway, if you are interested, use reference code EL596 to open a Electric Orange Checking Account and get the bonus.
Firstrade Stock Trading Platform
Firstrade is another popular online discount broker. It offers investors a wide range of investment products, from stock and options trading to mutual fund and fixed income investments. The cost of trading with Firstrade, isn’t low compared with what other discount brokers charge. For example, the commission for stock trade is $6.95 at Firstrade, which is lower than Scottrade’s $7.00 per trade, but significantly higher than Zecco’s $4.50 commission and TradeKing’s $4.95. Options trading at Firstrade will add another $1.95 per contract, where at Zecco and TradKing, the extra cost is $0.50/contract. However, Firstrade does have an edge over these brokers when it comes mutual fund investment: Firstrade $9.95, Zecco $10.00, TradeKing $14.95, and Scottrade $17.95 for each no-transaction fee mutual fund order.
Now let’s take a look at Firstrade online stock trading platform.
What I really don’t like about Firstrade’s account main web page is that the Important Notices section, which is supposed to list important announcement to users, takes a large space right in the center of the platform. I don’t find those notices very important at all and many of them are outdated and rarely updated. In my opinion, that place can be used for information that’s more useful for investors.
Overall, I can’t do much on the account homepage alone because, as you can see, what displayed on the homepage are not all related to trading, or even investor’s personal account information. There are only four pre-determined indices and two index charts to display. There’ s a list of stocks to watch, but it looks like I can only enter up to seven symbols. There’s even no list of positions on the homepage, only an account number with the current market value.
If you want to make a trade, you will have to go to a different page to place your order by entering transaction type (buy or sell), symbol, shares, and order type (market or limit). Though there’s no streaming quotes on its homepage, Firstrade does have another tool, called X-Stream, that provides real-time streaming quotes, which can launched by clicking the Real-time Streaming on the top right corner of the main page.
Firstrades java-based X-Stream allows you to track up to 20 stocks simultaneously. Every field and color is fully customizable and all quotes are updated in real-time as the market moves. In addition to quotes, you also have access to streaming charts with real-time technical analytics, streaming time and sale information, quick order entry, company profiles, and many other features. What I find weird is that though there’s a TRADE button in X-Stream, I can’t really trade from it. If I click the button, it takes right back to the same web page to make the trade. Not very convenient at all.
In addition, Firstrade also has another tool that allows you to track multiple portfolios in real-time and updates your profits or losses on each position and the entire portfolio in real-time without having to refresh. It’s called MarketAce Portfolio Manager. MarketAce shows you each stock’s performance for that day and from the purchase price. You can specify your portfolio name and customize all the positions for each portfolio. You may also enter the cash balance of your portfolio to get the total value of your account updated in real-time. This is a unique tool to Firstrade as far as I know.
So overall, Firstrade isn’t very competitive in terms of trading cost, unless you also want to buy mutual funds through the broker. However, it does have some features that you won’t find at other brokers. If you are interested in trading with Firstrade, the broker is running a triple-bonus promotion that will give you 100 free trades when opening a new account, plus $100 account transfer reimbursement (if you transfer from another broker to Firstrade) and $100 cash back, depending on your account value. Check it out to get more details on how you can earn the bonuses.
Chase Freedom Card $50 Bonus Offer
How does $50 free money sounds? If you like it, you can get it when you apply for a Chase Freedom Card, get approved, and use the card, to make a purchase or transfer a balance. Very simple.
Chase Freedom Card Rewards Summary
The Chase Freedom Card is designed for those who have good or excellent credit and who plan to take advantage of the cash rewards program. The card currently offers 1% cash back for each dollar spent on every purchase, regardless of the category of the purchase. If you use the card to purchase airline tickets online through the program booking tool, you will earn an additional 1% rebate for each $1 spent. In addition, the card also has a rotating rewards program that will let you earn 3% cash back for every dollar in selected categories, such as gas, home improvement and department stores. If you use the card to make purchases through Chase’s online shopping network, you can earn up to 10% cash back, even up to 20% cash back at select merchants.
As many card issuers have cut back cash rewards of their credit cards, Chase Freedom Card is one of the cards that has kept its rewards program stable. Best of all, there is no maximum number of rebates that you can accumulate in the program, so you don’t have to worry about your unused rewards as they will never expire, as long as you keep your account in good standing.
The Freedom Card has no annual membership fee. Other benefits of the card include 0% introductory rate on purchases for up to 12 months (the exact length of the introductory rate period depends on your credit history) and Zero Liability Protection that protects you from any unauthorized charge.
$50 Bonus Reward
You will receive $50 in bonus rebates with this bonus offer, which can be redeemed for a $50 check. You will qualify for and receive your bonus after your first purchase/first use of the card, including purchases, balance transfers, or any checks that are used to access your account, and excludes cash advances. After qualifying, please allow 6 to 8 weeks for bonus rebates to post to your account. This bonus offer, however, is valid only for first-time cardmembers with new accounts. If you are already a Chase Freedom Card member, then you are not eligible for this bonus offer.
Now, are you interested in the card? If so, apply for a Chase Freedom Card and get $50 free money 
Capital One $25 Bonus For Online Savings Account
Capital One Direct Banking now has a promotion for its Online Savings Account. The promotion will give a $25 bonus for every new account owner from now till November 25th when the minimum deposit requirement is met.
I like the idea that banks offer a little incentive when they try to lure new customers, though what they actually offer also plays a role when deciding whether I want to do business with the bank or not. In this case, what Capital One offers in its Online Savings Account is a annual yield of 1.60% APY. How competitive is this rate compared to other online banks’ offers? Well, it’s higher than ING Direct Orange Savings Account’s 1.30% APY, but lower than EverBank Money Market Account’s 2.51% bonus APY (which is good for the first three months after account opening). The rate is also inferior to the 1.80% APY from Ally Bank Online Savings Account. So in general, Capital One is in the middle of the rate ladder. While the rate seems to be OK, savers, especially those with a relatively small account balance are likely to stay away from the bank because, in order to earn the 1.60% return, you will have to maintain at least $10,000 in the account, a requirement that’s significantly higher than what other online banks require. If the balance falls below the mark, then you can only earn 0.60% APY for your money.
If you can meet the minimum balance requirement, here’s what you need to do in order to get the bonus:
- Open a Online Savings Account before November 25th using promotion code SAVER25DF;
- Make an initial deposit of $10,000;
- Get $25 bonus from Capital One.
Quite straightforward, right?
BTW, the bonus offer is also good for Capital One’s Money Market Account, which has an yield of 1.20% APY.
Trade Stock For Free With Scottrade
I did a quick review of online discount broker Scottrade a few weeks ago. In the post, I mentioned that Scottrade, which charges $7 for each online stock order, market or limit, isn’t the cheapest option out there for trading stocks. There are quite a few cheaper alternatives, including those I listed in the TradeKing promotion post last week.
Despite the relatively high commission cost, I have been using Scottrade for years and it’s my primary stock broker, not only because of its excellent customer service, but also that I can actually trade with Scottrade for free. That’s right, I don’t pay any a penny when trading stocks with Scottrade. No, there’s no special deal for me. Rather, I take advantage of Scottrade’s ReferAll program that allows me to earn 3 commission-free trades each time I refer a new customer to Scottrade. Three free trades don’t sound a lot, but what if you can keep earning free trades without a limit? That would mean something, right?
Actually, the best part of the ReferAll program is that it allows you earn unlimited number of free trades, as long as you keep the account active. So the more people you refer, the more free trades you earn. The only drawback of this program is that you have to use the free trades earned in 6 months; otherwise, you will lose them. However, if you have the free trades constantly coming in, this shouldn’t be a big issue. I used to use Zecco to trade stocks for free when they offered free trades to everyone with at least $2,500 in the account. Now I am using Scottrade exclusively.
Here how you can start free trades from Scottrade:
1. Open a Scottrade brokerage account if you don’t have one;
2. Use promotion code KGKP0724 to get 3 free trades for yourself;
3. Once your new account is active, use your own reference code to refer new customers to Scottrade;
4. Receive free trades and trade stocks for free.
Since there’s no limit on the number of free trades you can earn, you can keep referring new customers to Scottrade and essentially trade stocks with them for free, forever (of course, to the point when Scottrade cancels the program, if that happens). Sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it?
TradeKing Boune Promotion: Get $50 For Opening A New Account
How do you like $50 free money?
Online discount stock broker TradeKing is offering $50 bonus during the month of October for anyone who opens and funds a new brokerage account and make at least one trade when the promotion is running.
Here’s how it works:
1. Open a TradeKing account before November 30, 2009;
2. Fund the account with at least $2,500 with 30 days after the account is opened and trade at least once within 180 days of the account opening;
3. Receive $50 bonus from TradeKing;
4. Keep the initial fund in the account for 6 months.
Pretty easy, right?
TradeKing Quick Review
Now, why do you want to trade with TradeKing?
TradeKing’s commissions for stock and options trading aren’t the lowest among discount online brokers. For stock, TradeKing charges $4.95 per trade, whether it’s a market order or limit order, and there’s an additional $0.65/contract for each options trade. To have an idea where TradeKing is compared to other discount brokers, Zecco charges $4.50 commission for stock trading and each stock trade will cost you only $2.95 at OptionsHouse. However, TradeKing does offer an excellent service that was recognized in the industry. For example, TradeKing was name the No. 1 discount online broker by SmartMoney Magazine two years in a row in 2006 and 2007. In Barron’s 14th annual survey of Best Online Brokers early this year, TradeKing was awarded a four-star rating and received high marks for its options trading tools, as well as for its “Trader Network” (the TradeKing Online Community, one of the first in its kind) that enables investors to interact to share ideas, fixed income offerings, and its broad range of educational and research tools.
So, do you think TradeKing is the right broker for you? If it is, then you definitely want to take advantage of this bonus offer and get $50 to jump start your trading.
Update: The promotion has expired.