Online Brokers 2000: Reliability Ranks at Top of Customer Concerns

For a few ugly hours in mid-February, E*Trade (EGRP Quote) customers experienced what every online investor fears: a crippled broker site. Lights out. No trades. No way to maneuver in the market.

In that instance, the problem was caused by Web vandals. But it reinforced the notion that online brokers remain susceptible to outages. And it has kept that concern prominent in the minds of investors.

In TheStreet.com's Online Broker Survey 2000, reliability ranked at the top of investor concerns, scoring higher than getting the best or lowest commissions. ...