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

ETFBLV

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

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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.