Don’t take advice from infants

Or singing waiters dressed like pirates or enthusiastic insurance saleswomen. We looked beyond the gimmicks to see whether the marketing claims in these familiar TV ads for financial services actually panned out. Here's what we found:

Is E-Trade's baby talk straight?

The claim

Through a clever bit of animation, E-Trade's babies tout the company's research tools and inexpensive trades. In one ad a baby says,"Check this out: Benny still pays for a big, expensive broker!" Baby Benny defends himself by saying,"He's a friend of my father's." In another ad, Benny and another baby discuss how rough the economy has been."E-Trade can really help you replan your investments. It gives you the tools and research to take control," the baby says, which causes Benny to sing:"Take these broken wings, and learn to fly again …."

The check

We found that some of what the babies "say" is true. E-Trade does offer in-depth research and almost full-service banking. But Benny's broker might charge less. At E-Trade, you'll pay $40 a quarter if you don't make a trade or your balance falls below $2,000, and it will cost you $60 to transfer your account to another broker. Such fees are not uncommon, but some online brokers, such as Scottrade, don't charge them. Traders who make more than 1,500 trades per quarter (or about 16 transactions per day, on average) will pay E-Trade's lowest per-trade fee, $6.99. If you make fewer than 30 trades per quarter and maintain a balance below $50,000, you'll incur its highest per-trade fee, $12.99. Other online investing sites charge simpler, flat fees. For example, at Scottrade it's $7 per trade, and TradeKing charges $4.95.

Bottom line

The talking babies are cute, but doing business with E-Trade might be costly, especially if you don't trade often.