You can check out my options broker. I opened my trading account at ThinkorSwim.com (TOS).
Apart from the fact that they have a weird name, they really set themselves apart from other options brokers. They have a unique website that's not boring like other broker sites, sometimes their sales copy are really funny... Go to their "Our current promotions" page and you'll know what I mean. I wonder when I'll get my monkey... hmmm...
This funky company doesn't only look good from the surface, they are also an options broker with exceptional customer support. They answer all my questions politely and what's most impressive is that one of the rep said I can start trading with less than their minimum deposit of $3,500. He then immediately re-activated my already expired free-trial account for another 14 days without me asking him to. I'm absolutely pleased.
Thinkorswim's commission fees for each options contract is $2.95 or $9.95 + $1.50 per contract, whichever lower. It is lower than optionsxpress.com if you trade less than 6 contracts. There's no monthly fees or whatsoever. It's as straightforward as that.
Their trading platform, "Think Desktop", is excellent. I use it to trade, monitor stocks, analyze stocks and even the charts. It's completely stable and extremely easy to use. Trading tools similar to 'Think Desktop' always charge monthly fee or very high prices ($200 and above) but TOS is the only online options broker that offers a trading platform for FREE.
[inline:1=options broker thinkorswim]
The two things that I'm not satisfied with thinkorswim is that the trading software doesn't show the bid/ask prices when you open the program during after-market hours and they don't have paper trading. Other than that, if you are looking for an online options broker, then I'd suggest ThinkorSwim.com. I don't think you should waste your time looking at other brokers, this is the absolute best. Visit their site, download their software, try it out and please come back here to thank me for recommending you this valuable resource LOL!
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Update:
On January 28th: TOS launched paperMoney, their new paper trading software. See their description:
"paperMoney, our groundbreaking papertrading functionality. Every thinkorswim login can now access a virtual margin account and a virtual IRA account each funded with $100,000 of 'play money'. The functionality is exactly the same as the "live" thinkorswim platform, except that the trades aren't real and you can start over anytime you like. PaperMoney lets you trade stock, options and futures 24/7 with all of the best tools in the business. So, go ahead and fire away. Sleep is overrated anyway."
On February 25th: TOS launched TOS charts, their new charting package that includes:
* Streaming real-time data
* Over 140 technical studies
* 9 different drawing tools
* Single-click access to have 20 chart windows displayed on a single page
* Daily E-mini futures
Disclaimer: I do not earn commissions for recommending them to you. I just love being their customer and I love telling others that I'm their customer.
Technorati Tags: Options trading
Comments
Have you tried InteractiveBrokers
Hi PipSqueak,
Have you tried IB? www.interactivebrokers.com. It has all TOB has plus its cheaper. 0.75(min) - 1.00(max) per option contract. Their supoprt is also just as great. IB also provides many types of orders. I have been using it for 6 months and it has been really good so far. I believe you are a star trader. So am I. Good luck with your future trades. :)
Kman
Hi Kman, Thanks for the
Hi Kman,
Thanks for the heads up, I'm trying out their demo right now. It's not as user-friendly as TOS' but I'll definitely take a look into it. At the time I was choosing a broker, I think what I saw from this thread about IB resulted in me choosing TOS as my broker:
In response whether the trading platform for IB is free or has a monthly charge....
"You pay $10 a month unless you generate $30 a month in commissions. It is free otherwise. We do not have hidden fees."
from: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=76773a9d6803da205f1629f3ace7e9f2&threadid=66444&perpage=6&pagenumber=3
That's 40 contracts to generate $30 commissions in a month. As you can see, I'm only trading about 3 contracts at the moment, about 6 trades per month. I'll look for cheaper alternatives when I increase my contract sizes in the future, IB will definitely be in my list when that time comes.
minimum deposit for TOS?
Hi friend,
Nice site you have here. I'm a newbie in options trading. I've got two questions:
Can I open a TOS account with a $500 deposit? And can I start trading using the deposited amount?
Thanks for your help
Max
Hi Max,
Hi Max,
Although the minimum deposit is $3.5k at TOS, I opened mine for $2k. You can talk to the support (live help) about this as I've done the same. I told them that I'm interested in opening an account with them, but don't have enough money to meet their minimum requirement. They told me not to worry about it and shall open an account for me regardless. I hope they can do the same for you too. All the best!
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