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Scottrade Trade Quality and Execution

Trading Execution

Scottrade monitors the execution quality of all the trading centers to assess whether the trading center is providing our customers best execution*. Scottrade uses various monitoring methods. These methods include a daily order-by-order exception report analysis. They also include a post trade date regular and rigorous review of execution quality. We perform this regular and rigorous review by analyzing statistics from Thomson Transaction Analytics and by reviewing the output of our proprietary patent-pending algorithm, the Scottrade Best Execution Index or SBI™.

* defined in SEC rule 605

Price Improvement

Price improvement refers to getting a price better than expected, or in other words getting a better price than the National Best Bid or Offer (NBBO) at the time you placed the trade. As part of Scottrade's commitment to quality executions, we seek opportunities for an execution of your order at a price better than the National Best Bid or Offer (NBBO).

The following charts represent percentage of orders at Scottrade that were executed at prices better than NBBO as compared to Industry Price Improvement percentages:.

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Price Improvement analysis is based on statistics provided by Thomson Transaction Analytics. Thomson Transaction Analytics is an independent company and is not affiliated with Scottrade, Inc. This analysis measures the percentage of eligible orders receiving price improvement for market orders in either NASDAQ 100 or S&P 500 stocks with an order size of 100 to 499 shares. The data does not include pre-market or after-hours orders or orders received during locked or crossed markets. It does include orders received during fast market conditions.

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Brokerage Products and Services offered by Scottrade, Inc. – Member FINRA and SIPC.

Any specific securities, or types of securities, used as examples are for demonstration purposes only. No information on this web site should be considered a recommendation or solicitation to invest in, or liquidate, a particular security or type of security.

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of a mutual fund carefully before investing. A mutual fund's prospectus contains this and other information about the mutual fund. Prospectuses are available through our trading site or through a Scottrade branch office. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing. No transaction fee (NTF) funds are subject to the terms and conditions of the NTF funds program. Scottrade is compensated by the funds participating in the NTF program through recordkeeping, shareholder, or SEC 12b-1 fees.

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of an Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) carefully before investing. A prospectus contains this and other information about the ETF can be obtained from the issuer. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

Margin trading involves interest charges and risks, including the potential to lose more than deposited or the need to deposit additional collateral in a falling market. The Margin Disclosure Statement and Agreement (PDF) is available for download, or it is available at one of our branch offices. It contains information on our lending policies, interest charges, and the risks associated with margin accounts.

Options are not appropriate for all investors. Detailed information on our policies and the risks associated with options can be found in Scottrade's Options Application and Agreement, Brokerage Account Agreement, and Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options (also available at one of our branch offices). All option accounts require prior approval by Scottrade.

Online market and limit equity orders are just $7 for stocks over $1.

Market volatility, volume, and system availability may impact account access and trade execution.

Testimonials may not be representative of the experience of other clients and are no guarantee of future performance or success.