Other brokerages are also offering appealing deals. TD Ameritrade charges $9.99 a trade, E*Trade charges $12.99 to customers with less than $5,000 in assets. [How low can fees go?]
Fidelity’s announcement could be a harbinger of what’s to come: there’s going to be a race with the big discount brokers to offer competitive pricing because ETFs are no longer small fry. In fact, ETF trading now accounts for 50% of all trading on exchanges.
Brokerages are in heated competition for ETF assets from both advisors and individual investors.
We’re getting ever closer to having discount brokerages offer “ETF supermarkets,” where you’ll eventually be able to trade a majority of ETF commission-free.