Scottrade has a good commission structure and some tools online for research. I like the fact that I can contact my local branch and they've always been helpful and friendly. I just signed up for Money Direct funding which makes moving money into the account a lot easier. Unfortunately, getting money out (withdrawal) isn't as easy. But the times I've had to do it, I just called the branch office and had a check within a couple of days. Trading wise, I've never had any problems.

Top notch registration process and low commissions and fees make Scottrade a winner. Trading and research tools could use some improvement.

Do not purchase bonds into your Scottrade account. They have no mechanism for selling bonds other than to check standing purchase offers from market makers. The spread is typically 5%. So your bond holdings with Scottrade are totally illiquid.

Very slow funding options, once funds are in your account they have very outdated rules that keep you from using those funds to trade. Very disappointing experience and wouldn't recommend this broker to anyone but a turtle, too slow.

Their website is easy to use, and I love Total View, which gives me an edge because I can see when someone is dumping a high volume of stocks below the current asking price. That's saved me a bunch of money.