FWIW, a few days ago I noticed that on-line trading tabs had been added to my CPC JPM account on-line interface. I discussed it with a CPC telephone rep and with my CPC Advisor (not banker) and both said it was new in the past 2-3 months. Previously I could not trade in the account on-line and would have had to place any trades via the CPC Advisor. (I’ve never actually made a trade in my CPC JPM account.)

I asked about commissions and fees for no-load mutual funds, was told there are none. I did not ask about stock commissions and fees. (I’ve become a quasi Warren Buffet style investor, buy-and-hold forever and mostly I’ve been buying leveraged index mutual funds like Profunds Ultra and UltraSector funds which are, to say the least, volatile and not for the faint of heart.) My CPC advisor agreed that with no fee or commission mutual fund trades JPM is targeting discount and deep discount brokerage clientele.

This makes a JPM account more attractive. Now when Ameritrade accounts are merged to Schwab probably sometime next year (after last year's USAA to Schwab merger) there’s another option for those who don’t like to “keep all their eggs in one basket”.