Excellent comprehensive post. I'm surprised you don't mention huobi. I use them a lot. Verification is fast and you can be trading within 30 minutes. No trading fees and 5x leverage. 1% per day on leverage and 1% for cash withdrawal if memory serves right.

On localbitcoins.com I find that bank transfer is also safe because it is irreversible and have done many trades like that. Just check your balance online to see if the deposit has arrived. DO NOT release coins until you see the transaction in your bank account. With that caveat it is safe. Someone who does this on a weekend should not release coins until balance shows up on Monday.

With localbitcoins you can also do cash ATM deposits directly to sellers account which usually appear instantly.

Thanks for all the info. I found a few here I didn't know about an am going to check out.