Some of you might remember my post a few weeks back about my broker that offers 20 free stock trades a month: Freetrade. Well, I received the following e-mail this morning:

Your Freetrade account is moving to Ameritrade Izone!
Dear Valued Client, Ameritrade has launched a brand new trading platform - Ameritrade Izone. We designed Izone with some of the same great low-cost features you enjoy at Freetrade by Ameritrade like NO share limits and NO maintenance or order handling fees.1 At the end of the regular market session on April 29, 2005, Freetrade accounts are being transferred to Ameritrade Izone. What Does That Mean For You? Izone is backed by considerable technical and business resources. This will give Izone the ability to offer additional trading features and continued enhancements to Ameritrade Izoneâ„¢ clients. With Ameritrade Izone, you’ll enjoy advanced trading technology and more access to trading features including:

* FREE real-time quotes.
* The ability to create your own UserID and password.
* Enhanced stop-limit orders - At Izone, you can set a stop price and a separate limit price.
* Short selling in the Extended-Hours Trading session.2
* Customizable home page.
* The ability to create equity order defaults so your trading ticket fits your style.
* Programmable timeouts that allow you to set both the amount of time your trading site remains idle before logging you out and the length of time your review order screen is available before closing.

Even with all these extras, you’ll pay just $5 commissions for online stock trades.3 Please review the complete commissions, margin rates and service fees at our web site. Click here to find out more about Izone. What To Do Now. Nothing. Any subscriptions you have at Freetrade will be automatically transferred at the same rates. Account history, banking instructions and tax information from your Freetrade account will automatically transfer to Izone. Even your account number and PIN will stay the same. And just like Freetrade, everything at Ameritrade Izone is electronic. You’ll use the Internet to retrieve statements and trade confirmations, fund your account and contact Client Services. Once The Transfer Occurs…You’ll simply use your account number and PIN to create your own UserID and password. That means more convenience and greater account security for you. Freetrade Will Close On April 29. As the day approaches, we’ll send you more information on what’s happening. In the meantime, take a look at the links in this e-mail for more information about Izone and review the minimum system requirements for the Izone site. We’re confident that you’ll enjoy all the new trading features your Ameritrade Izone account will give you. If you have any questions before the transfer, please e-mail our Client Services department. We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you as an Ameritrade Izone client. Sincerely, James A. Ricketts Vice President Freetrade P.S. If you don’t wish to have your account converted to Izone, you must initiate your transfer to another firm by April 25.

Looks like Freetrade will be no more next month.

Free real-time quotes is nice. Freetrade charged $20 per month for those, but, then again, I got 20 free trades for month– the free quotes are worth the cost of 4.

Obviously I’m disappointed with this. But it isn’t the end of the world. I’ll try to find out a little more about this new service, and then I’ll figure out my best option. I’ll keep you posted.