If you missed our January 26, 2012 post on commission-free ETFs, click over to the Forbes Intelligent Investing blog and read NoLoad FundX editor Janet Brown’s latest contribution, Are Commission-Free ETFs Really Cheaper?
Janet looked at how much it costs to trade ETFs at eight common brokers and how many ETFs are available without commissions. But the bigger question is whether commission-free ETFs are really useful. “Free commissions are a good thing,” Janet wrote, “but there are other costs involved in buying and selling ETFs besides trading costs.”
In her Forbes post, she explores some of the other costs of trading ETFs, like the bid-ask spread. “When the spread is wide, you can end up paying more for an ETF than it is actually worth–and this can easily add up to more than a broker’s $10 trading fee,” she explained.
Click here to read the full post.
(To read all of Janet’s posts on the Forbes Intelligent Investing blog, click here).