TD Ameritrade Joins the Commission-Free ETF Train

TD Ameritrade has followed the leads of Charles Schwab, Fidelity, and Vanguard to offer commission-free ETFs to its customers.  The firm will now offer over 100 ETFs commission free if held for at least 30 days.  These include the following: 47 iShare funds, 32 Vanguard funds, 12 State Street Global Advisors funds, 3 PowerShares funds, 2 Van Eck funds, 2 iPath funds, 1 WisdomTree fund, 1 Barclays Bank PLC fund, and 1 Deutsche Bank AG fund.  If held for less than 30 days (which should not happen for long-term investors anyways), TD Ameritrade will charge $19.99.  Competitive pressures are really getting to these firms!  This marks the only of the aforementioned four that is offering investors more than just funds from one particular family.  (You should have ample selection from the other three to create a low-cost diversified portfolio, so I wouldn't fret.)  Although WellsTrade has done this for the past few years - offering 100 commission-free online trades (any stock or ETF) as long as it's linked to a PMA package (requires a $25,000 minimum).  Lots of great choices of brokerage firms now for the low-cost ETF investor.