Another Entrant Into The Commission-Free ETF Game

Firstrade, the New York-based discount broker formerly known as First Flushing Securities, is the latest brokerage firm to throw its hat into the commission-free ETF, announcing it will offer 10 well-known ETFs to its clients free of trading charges. The list of ETFs Firstrade selected is interesting to say the least. Six of them are Vanguard funds and all of those can be traded free of charge at Vanguard. Several other members of the Firstrade list can also be traded commission-free at Fidelity and TD Ameritrade AMTD. Firstrade's commission-free is as follows: Vanguard Long Term Bond ETF BLV Vanguard Intermediate Term Bond ETF BIV Vanguard Short Term Bond ETF BSV Vanguard Small Cap Growth ETF VBK iShares S&P MidCap 400 Index Fund IJH Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF VIG Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF VWO iShares S&P 500 Index Fund IVV PowerShares DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund DBC iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Fund FXI Firstrade clients must hold the ETFs for more than 30 days or be subject to a $6.95 commission if they close their positions before that time. Scottrade and Charles Schwab SCHW also offer commission-free trades on select ETFs.