Where's The Baby: E*Trade Finally Gets Into Commission-Free ETF Game

Almost conspicuous by its absence, online brokerage firm E*Trade (Nasdaq: ETFC) is finally joining several of its main rivals in offering commission-free trading on select ETFs to its clients.The firm will offer ETFs from Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB), WisdomTree (Nasdaq: WETF) and Global X on a commission-free basis. Global X ETFs are currently offered commission-free by Interactive Brokers as well. All told, E*Trade will offer 90 ETFs from the three firms commission-free. That includes the bulk of the Global X and WisdomTree lineups. To see all the offerings go here. Among the WisdomTree offerings featured by E*Trade commission-free will be the WisdomTree Asia Local Debt ETF (NYSE: ALD), WisdomTree International LargeCap Dividend ETF (NYSE: DOL) and the WisdomTree India Earnings ETF (NYSE: EPI). Well known Global X funds available on E*Trade commission-free include the Global X Uranium ETF (NYSE: URA), the Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: SIL), the Global X FTSE Andean 40 ETF (NYSE: AND) and the Global X Norway ETF (NYSE: NORW).Ten Deutsche Bank ETFs will be available on E*Trade commission-free including five target date funds and five hedged equity international funds.Sell short, buy to cover, and buy-write orders are not commission free. Options on ETFs and options-exercise-related transactions are also not eligible. For margin customers, the ETFs purchased through the commission-free ETF program are not margin eligible for 30 days from purchase date. To discourage short-term trading, E*TRADE Securities will charge a short-term trading fee on sales of participating ETFs held less than 30 days, E*Trade said on its Web site.The company joins rivals Fidelity and TDAmeritrade (Nasdaq: AMTD) in offering ETFs from multiple issuers on a commission-free basis. Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW) and Vanguad offer their clients no commission ETF trades on their own ETFs.