ETF price war

[KevinD]

Vanguard joins the ETF price war

http://moremoney.blogs.money.cnn.com...etf-price-war/

Vanguard announced it has removed trading fees on all 46 of its exchange-traded funds. In addition, the fund group lowered its commissions for buying or selling stocks or non-Vanguard ETFs to just $7 to $2, depending on the size of your account.

With these moves, Vanguard has trumped rivals Schwab and Fidelity, at least for now. Schwab started the commission-free war last year by removing trading fees on eight of its own ETFs; it currently charges $8.95 a stock trade. Fidelity, which charges $7.95 a trade, recently waived fees on 25 iShares ETFs.

[KevinD]

Fidelity and Schwab commission price war provides free ETFs

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/...free-etfs.html

In what appears to be the beginning of a price war that will help small investors, Fidelity Investments has followed Charles Schwab's lead, and has slashed the cost of buying stocks and exchange traded funds.
Fidelity has set a $7.95 commission on trades; even for small investors who rarely buy or sell stocks or funds. Further, the firm is offering 25 iShares exchange traded funds free of any commission. The free ETF program covers the key indexes that allow individuals to assemble a diversified portfolio -- ranging from large and small U.S. stocks to international stocks.
For small customers, who do little trading, the new $7.95 commission will cut trading costs by about 60 percent. Previously, commissions were as high as $19.95. To take advantage of the new commissions, individuals must trade online at Fidelity.com, and have a minimum of $2,500 in taxable accounts, IRAs or other retirement accounts in which they trade. The new prices begin Wednesday.
Although some firms, such as Scottrade, charge lower commissions, the free ETFs are unique.
Schwab, which lowered its commissions for all customers to $8.95 recently, offers some ETFs free, but they are the company's own product rather than popular iShares funds.