Firstrade - $1K min, $100 additional.

Fund Symbol: MRFOX View Prospectus
Fund Type: No Load Open for Investment: Yes Settlement Period: 1 day
NAV*: $29.65 Initial Minimum Amount: $1,000.00 Cut-Off Time: 4:00 PM
NAV Change: -$0.04 Subsequent Amount: $100.00

So, what's crazy is I've been a Firstrade customer for decades with a decent balance and here is what I see:
Fund Name: MARSHFIELD CONCENTRATED OPPTY FD
Fund Symbol: MRFOX View Prospectus I have read the Prospectus
Fund Type: No Load Open for Investment: Yes Settlement Period: 1 day
NAV*: $29.71 Initial Minimum Amount: $10,000.00 Cut-Off Time: 4:00 PM
NAV Change: +$0.18 Subsequent Amount: $100.00 Redemption Fee: see prospectus
How can they have different minimums for the same account type (mine is regular, not IRA)? I also checked this some time ago and the minimum was also $10K. (Sidenote, the $49.95 at Schwab used to really bother me, but its noise in the grand scheme for a $10K or more purchase).

Well said, @yogibearbull.
On M* classifications, FMILX is surely a funny one. I recently carved into it while researching a possible replacement for an existing LCV holding.
Here are FMILX's Top Holdings as of 01/31/24.
Not quite your classic LCV fund!
Top 10 Holdings
29.95% of Total Portfolio
152 holdings as of 01/31/2024
MSFT 7.49%
AAPL 4.24%
NVDA 3.94%
AMZN 3.21%
META 2.60%
GOOGL 1.93%
LLY 1.88%
V 1.82%
UNH 1.42%
SPACE EXPLORATION TECH CORP PP 1.42%

AAII Sentiment Survey, 2/14/24
BULLISH remained the top sentiment (42.2%; above average) & bearish remained the bottom sentiment (26.8%, below average); neutral remained the middle sentiment (31.1%, average); Bull-Bear Spread was +15.4% (above average). Investor concerns: Elections, budget, inflation, economy, the Fed, dollar, Russia-Ukraine (103+ weeks), Israel-Hamas (18+ weeks), geopolitical. For the Survey week (Th-Wed), stocks were mixed (growth up, cyclicals down), bonds down, oil up, gold down, dollar up. With good economic data & stock market, the Fed won't rush to cut. Japan is in technical recession. #AAII #Sentiment #Markets
https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/post/1357/thread

@Crash- I'll tell you what- when you find the perfect broker who meets each and every one of your non-negotiable demands, and has a record of perfect service for at least ten years, please let the rest of us know.

Ain’t that the truth? 90% success / satisfaction over time is pretty good in the business world. I’ve been with probably 15 different fund houses over 50 + years. Only two became so atrocious in service that I fled on account of it: Strong Funds and T.Rowe Price. Works out to about 87% success rate. And no one else has ever even come close to sharing in the dubois distinction possessed by the two afore mentioned.

#6. Holcim/HCMLY is a giant Swiss producer of construction aggregates (concrete, gravel, etc) that is spinning off its Holcim-US (Chicago-based) operations. It has been in the list recommended by Meryl Witmer. It's probably as far as one could get from the current Magnificent 7.
"Meryl WITMER/Eagle Capital: BXSL (BDC), EEFT, DFIN, DLTR, Holcim/HCMLY, SLVM (Barron's Roundtable Part 3)"
https://fortune.com/2024/01/28/cement-giant-holcim-to-spin-off-north-america-unit-construction-boom/
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/switzerlands-holcim-spin-off-north-112826250.html

In trying to look for clear & concise explanation of "Y" and "F" shares, I found this:
"If the ticker ends with the letter "Y", this means that it is not an F share, but a Y share."
OK, cannot argue with that at all (-:). But seriously, from the same link (from a legal outfit),
"Y shares designate American Depositary Receipts (ADR) that are being traded in the US market. Banks or other depositary institutions will hold foreign shares and issue receipts for them. This is called an ADR. The ADR will be denominated in a ratio of one ADR to X-number of foreign shares."
"While (F share) trades are executed in US dollars by US broker-dealers, the shares are settled, cleared and custodised in your local market.
An F share is created in the US when a broker-dealer files a Form 211 with FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) to create a US ticker symbol in order to report trades in the US in your company’s shares. This is not a new share. It is a reference to your existing shares via a newly created ticker symbol in the United States for reporting and trading purposes."
My story: from YEARS ago, I had a Canadian "F" share fund. Commission/fee was high - I don't remember if it was $50, but was much higher than $6.95. It had almost 3-day turnaround for trade confirmations (not for settlement!). When I complained, I was told that those don't really trade in the US. Some US aggregator/dealer trades them in Canada when he felt like it, and my broker could confirm only when he reported back. From that time on, I have avoided tickers ending in "F". Tickers ending in "Y" do trade within the US.
https://www.carstedrosenberg.com/post/what-are-f-shares

Why should we always have to settle? Why shouldn't systems work FOR us?

While this model was created to describe goods, it also applies to services.
You want good service? You'll either pay more for it (not cheap), or you'll have to wait for it (slow service, understaffed).
You want fast service? You'll either pay more for it (sufficient, well-trained staff) or get lower quality/limited service.
You want cheap service? You'll have to give up quality (lower paid, less trained providers) or speed (understaffed).
It's just economics. Some places do better than others (e.g. economies of scale, better training methods, more productive technology, etc.), but they are all subject to the same tradeoffs.

I have a question or two for them, also, about THAT: foreign stocks incur a FEE? Even if they trade on US exchanges???? "Foreign stocks." That's what the footnote says.

I just posted a fair amount of info on foreign stock trading (in response to Yogi's similar comment about $50 fees) on another thread. Here's the post.
Short answer: Listed stocks (i.e. stocks trading on a US exchange) are charged the same regardless of whether they are domestic or foreign stocks. At Schwab, that's $0.
From Schwab pricing (online price column):
Listed Stocks and ETFs ¹    $0 online commission
Foreign stock transactions placed on the U.S. over-the-counter (OTC) market⁹    $50 foreign transaction fee
¹ Standard online $0 commission does not apply to over-the-counter (OTC) equities, transaction-fee mutual funds, futures, fixed-income investments, or trades placed directly on a foreign exchange or in the Canadian market.
⁹ Transactions in foreign ordinary shares incur additional custody, clearing, and settlement expenses. A foreign transaction fee is added to trades placed on the US over-the-counter market through the online or automated phone channels. The commission and foreign transaction fee will be combined and will appear as one line item, labeled "Commission," on the trade confirmation.

I don't think that T Rowe Price offers genuine fractional trading for stocks/ETFs (that one can enter as orders; Fido & Schwab allow that, but a different order screen may be needed). But there are fractional shares for mutual funds and dividend reinvestments, and sell-all should work. Price clears through Pershing/BNY-Mellon, so restrictions are coming from that.

TRP is still a far sight better than Merrill Edge when it comes to fractions. At Merrill, you can't enter fractions of shares, even of mutual funds, into its online form. And if you check the box "sell all", it sells only the whole shares that day. The remaining fraction gets sold somewhere around the third week of the month (likely batched together with all other account fractions), even for money market funds.

Almost all brokers charge fees of $50 or so for stocks that trade on foreign exchanges, and Canada is considered foreign. This is why use ADRs with tickers ending in "Y" that trade in the US, not those ending in "F" that trade on foreign exchanges.

The tickers ending in F are used when trading foreign stocks domestically, OTC. These trades typically incur a $50 commission as stated. (Schwab charges $6.95 for Canadian stocks.) Some foreign stocks or ETFs may be listed on a domestic exchange and trade commission-free like domestic stocks. One can also trade foreign stocks on foreign exchanges, without the OTC'ized ticker.
Schwab page on different ways of investing in foreign companies
Forbes: OTC vs listed stocks (not specific to foreign stocks)
When trading directly on a foreign exchange each broker has different fees. At Schwab, a commission is the greater of $100 or 0.75% of the amount traded (see link above). That's prohibitive if one can trade the same stock OTC.  At Fidelity, the fees are more modest (you can trade online), though there are additional costs: currency exchange fees and taxes/fees originating from the foreign country/exchange.
Fidelity suggests holding foreign currency if one is going to make several trades on a given foreign exchange. That way one avoids multiple currency exchange fees (Fidelity charges up to 1%). Fidelity's list of fees - commissions, currency exchanges, and foreign taxes/fees is here:
https://www.fidelity.com/stock-trading/faqs-international
(expand the question: What are the international stock commissions and fees?)

The Week in Charts (02/11/24)
00:00 Intro
01:31 Topics
02:42 The Longest Inversion in History
07:01 More All-Time Highs (S&P 5,000)
15:44 Nvidia Now Bigger Than Entire Energy Sector
29:56 No Rush to Cut (Fed Policy)
44:14 Profitability Matters Again
47:31 McDonald's Customers Not Lovin' Price Increases
55:05 The Secular Bear Market in Office Buildings
1:05:54 Demographics and Destiny (China)
1:15:57 The Kids Are Alright
Video
Blog

Every single one of my mutual funds/ETFs was down today.
Declines ranged from -0.21% for STIP to -3.55% for VTMSX.

FCNVX, my favorite bond fund of the past year, dropped only 0.1%. USFR actually rose 0.03%, to be expected since it’s a floating rate fund.
Although not a fund, General Electric, was up 1.14% on the day. Don’t ask me about its 5, 10 and 20 year returns.

"...There really is no reason for me to go there."
Very often, I'm downtown, and just a block away from Schwab's office. It would be very handy to walk in and get stuff done. Anytime. About stuff that might not even come to mind at this moment. (Isn't that why offices are THERE??? Not anymore, obviously. ORK!) Yes, I would do my trading online, with zero fees. I have a question or two for them, also, about THAT: foreign stocks incur a FEE? Even if they trade on US exchanges???? "Foreign stocks." That's what the footnote says.

The closest office for me is 25 or so miles away. I can do anything I want with my account online at home, in my underwear if I wish, in a few minutes. Even if the office was 5 minutes away, I would still never go there.
For what reason?
I started online banking/bill paying with my local bank in 2004. Then I started doing mobile check deposits several years ago with them. I drive by it nearly every day, but only go in rarely as there is no need to.

Was looking at my sector watch list, EVX was in the green. Been following it for a while.
dinky linky

EVX holds 30 waste management companies that it weights in 3 tiers. It allocates 10% of its portfolio to each of the 4 biggest companies by market cap, 2% to each of the 5 smallest, and splits the remaining 50% of its portfolio equally among the remaining issues. This causes the fund to tilt smaller than the market at large over 15% of its portfolio is in micro-caps, compared to 4% of our benchmark. The index is rebalanced and reconstituted on a quarterly basis.

I tracked down the SEC/Edgar filing on this - multiple filings dated 1/22/24. This is being done quietly as I haven't seen much news on it.
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1084380/000093041324000263/c107765_497k.htm
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1084380/000093041324000250/c107766_497k.htm
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1084380/000093041324000249/c107808_497k.htm
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1084380/000093041324000236/c107752_497k.htm
etc
TIAA Website News https://www.tiaa.org/public/about-tiaa/news-press

I wouldn't be surprised if the market drops back another 5-10% from today. Heck, the S&P 500 is still up ~15% since the start of Nov. If I buy anything it will probably be adding to balanced fund CGBL, Capital Group Core Balanced. A limit order buy kicked in today, but I'll wait a bit to place another.
I think my only up-tick today was SPC, CROSSINGBRIDGE PRE MERGR SPAC ETF, managed by David Sherman. It was up ~.2% on this crappy day. I won't pretend to understand it completely, but I've owned it since early 2022 and it is one heck of a steady trend upward.
By the way, my 5-10% predicted drop from here will likely spur the markets to new highs :) tomorrow.

msf:
SIPC coverage is up to $500K with a $250K limit for cash. The cash coverage limit does not apply to MMF shares (those are securities), nor to bank sweep balances (that's in the bank not the brokerage and is covered by FDIC). It applies strictly to cash, pure and simple, and what I think Crash was asking about.
Yes, that smells right. :)
I have been through ALL of your responses. Very informative. I barely keep any spare cash in the brokerage account. Currently, there is a once-per-month automatic w/d by TRP from my checking account which goes to buy MM shares. PRTXX. Earns a bit less that 5% at the moment. It's mostly Treasuries. Whenever I have $$$ in that MM fund, it is only there for a short time before I use it to buy stuff. So I guess the automatic sweep rate at Schwab or Fido would not bother me, being so miniscule.
What would bother me is the transparent junk which has been mentioned: they make you deliberately switch your cash from the stinky place to the MMF which earns decent interest for the customer. The very fact that is going on steers me away from Schwab. It's crappy and underhanded.
...Not to mention that I've waited a full day to get a call-back from Schwab, from the downtown office, which has not come. Stinky poopy. Not a good sign.
Might be that I'm just stuck with TRP. The sweep account I chose PRTXX makes good interest. I might have manually selected it at the start, but since then, every bit of free cash goes there, not somewhere else, of someone ELSE'S choosing. That's just junk. I don't wanna have to be looking over my own shoulder all the time about crap like that.
Also, on the phone, I was told that despite the presence of a downtown office, that downtown office is pretty useless. And it's not just the downtown office in my city. It's by design. (I mentioned this in a different thread.) Why bother with the office, then? Have the employee meet me for lunch and we'll do stuff at some restaurant, somewhere????? Appointments are a pre-requisite. Just walking in, even as a customer, will get you nowhere. And I have read that my downtown branch will NOT ACCEPT CASH???? WTF.

Well, a reminder of DI's legendary "dancing at the exits" mantra helped push us part way out the door yesterday as previously noted to the tune of reducing our stock exposure by 25%. We had planned to let the proceeds idle for a while, waiting for BIG opportunities, but today's action was bad enough to prompt us to accelerate our DCA'ing into NEAGX and GSIHX, now leaving us close to full positions in both.
Aside: NVDA's action today makes one wonder if it is (for the time being at least) invincible. It ain't of course, but one could make the argument. Countdown is on to earnings later this month.

@Old_Joe:
>>Idle cash at Fido is swept into a fund which earns about 5% right now.

Yeah, my accounts:
FIDELITY GOVERNMENT CASH RESERVES (FDRXX) is currently 4.96% while FIDELITY GOVERNMENT MONEY MARKET (SPAXX) is currently 4.97%
@msf:
>> At Fidelity, cash is denoted FCASH. Fidelity typically keeps its interest rate the same as the rate you get on a bank sweep account. That's currently 2.69%, APY 2.72%. FCASH can be used for the core account in a taxable account.
Hmm. So FDRXX and SPAXX are not that, FCASH, evidently.
They are my core account, the latter in a taxable account.

@sma

I have not had the "sell one fund buy another" issue at Fido but usually dont do that. I find Schwab's attitude about Sweep accounts very irritating and is clearly designed to make money off of John Q Public. It seems nasty, especially coupled with their insistence on keeping cash balances high in some of their portfolios. I think the SEC went after them for that.

I don't know why it's nasty, I never use their portfolio or Intelligent Portfolios and I don't think anyone else should use these at any brokerages. What is so irritating about selling $100K of fund X and entering a trade to buy $100K in SWVXX or SNAXX? I have done it for years. If you sell shares and don't know exactly what it's going to be, you buy MM close to this amount and the rest the next day.
Most investors should just select their AA and hardly trade = not many irritations at all.
For me, there is nothing more irritating than calling Fidelity reps after I sell in an IRA, and half of them claim you can't do it, and then I insist on talking with a supervisor. That is 15 minutes and a lot longer than buying cash in 10 seconds at Schwab. I also noticed that the Fidelity reps' knowledge got lower in the last several years.