-
Website
http://investingadventures.com -
Original page
http://investingadventures.com/2008/01/defining-my-2008-trading-goals-and-resolutions.html -
Subscribe
All Comments -
Community
-
-
Top Commenters
-
Popular Threads
I'm curious because I'm in a similar situation; I'm a student with an account of $3000.
I became discouraged trading options with such a small account because when you factor in the commissions - I use OptionsXpress, and they charge $15 a trade - and the spread, the odds of a profitable trade are not very good.
The spreads can be controlled by having a rule to only trade options with small spreads, but when I looked around for a cheaper broker, I found that to open an account with most of them required a $5000 minimum deposit, so I was curious to know what broker you trade with, and how much they charge in commissions?
Thanks!
I use thinkorswim. They have a software platform as well as the web based platform but I highly suggest learning the software platform even though it seems daunting at first. I have commissions of $1.25 per contract so commissions are really not a factor. They say you need to fund your account with $3500 but I did mine in pieces and they still activated my account.
If you decide to go with thinkorswim, a couple of tips. First, register for an account (just a regular, not a trading) and download their software. Use the software to paper trade for a few days while you learn the software. Then, go ahead and fill out the individual account info. Before the funding process, send TOS an email regarding your commission. They will match whatever commission you can find on the internet with the bigger brokerage firms (like Interactive Brokers, Zecco, etc). They'll match commissions as best as they can. It works well if you trade in single lots. If you trade in 10 lots, they have good fee packages which come with perks such as a rebate for your internet access and no commissions upon closing short positions 0.05 or under.
I have to write up a detailed review on thinkorswim but I've never been happier. I'll put a review on the front burner in case you need a little bit of a nudge to change. If you do decide to go to TOS, would you mind if I use you as a referral? It's $50!
Oh, if you're in the US and you fund a TOS account, you get a free monkey. It's a stuffed monkey of course.
That's what I was afraid of; I really wish I could use ToS but I live in Canada and unfortunately they don't offer it here (not yet at least).
Interactive Brokers allows Canadians to sign up, but it says the account minimum is something like 10k. I'll send them an email asking if there's any way around that.
Thanks a lot for your reply, and best of luck to you and your trading in the new year.
Not yet, however, TOS has weekly Wednesday chats with their high up folks and they let us know that very soon they'll be offering their services in the Great White North. I think they're looking at a mid-February target for it. If I hear anything I'll let ya know. I came from Zecco which had free stock trades and fairly cheap options commissions. You'd have to pay me a large sum of money to leave TOS. They're that good and so friendly too.
If you're still reading this, thinkorswim just opened up in Ontario. Just a heads up!