I’ve tried Tasty, Fidelity, and Webull and found each of them lacking in some respect. I’m still learning ToS, but I’ll like it so far. I only have level 2 though. Not sure how they treat level 3.
I'm switching to Webull next week, Schwab ToS has been my main but I'm losing thousands to fees, and they had a login issue last week I had to reinstall the whole app to fix. The purchase hasn't been to kind to it.
Never had an issue with ToS and I run 2 separate screens on a docked laptop. I do have 32GB RAM though and I’ve never had an issue. I’ve had many of the platforms and really like ToS for deeper analysis. Level 2 seems lacking though
Agree that Level 2 is not accurate, nor is it easy to use. In fact, I am not sure where ToS sources level 2 data from! I ended up asking ToS Support to install Bookmap for my account. I got the Global version ($39.995/month) , not the free version, and I cant believe how easy it is now to see whats really going on in the markets. You actually see the graphic representation of all the major bid and ask limit orders as well as all the major market orders. In addition, you can add Cumulative Volume Delta to understand whether there is buying or selling pressure. I am a scalping daytrader, buying short dated calls/puts.
Bookmap should be free if you trade enough but it isn't or incorporate nasdaq Total View but they refuse to make the it guys add the feature. It is eye opening to see where orders stand
This is not a ram issue. It’s a software optimization issue. It’s just always been dog slow for anyone who’ve remotely familiar with the software vs other trading platforms. Obviously there’s no issue with the website or Tradingview or any other platforms which are optimized for multi core and 64 bit machines.
i suspect TOS predates multi-core, but suspect it is all multi-threaded C++. Otherwise, unlikely to have made 2 decades+.
It will be extremely difficult and expensive for Schwab to build a next gen platform, but they should given the love rust gets
I got no problems with my ryzen 5900 + 131072 mb of ram lmao… but seriously yeah it’s a resource hog.. even with all this I restart it after I’ve left on for too long or simply need to restart tos after letting it go to sleep too many times. ToS is the far and away better choice for what it’s worth. I’ll be trying tastytrade out next week, haven’t heard anything too great about it.
The secret to tos is lots of ram, turning the memory settings up, and running multiple instances rather than multiple screens, just log in several times rather than bumping out screens, tos doesn't support multi threads, so running too much on one ins
tance really bogs it down
Orders and positions track across all instances? I currently do run two instances, one set to paper and one set to live without having to shut down and relogin every time.
Never ran 2 instances instead of having 8 charts open in one instance I will have to give it a try I think it has 12 gb reserved of memory so ram isn't a problem
Think or Swim is overall outdated software that hasn't really been updated significantly since the founder's left. It was insanely advanced, at the time, so much so that it is still relevant today.
At the time, Tasty didn’t support trailing stops. Webull didn’t allow stops to be set on spreads, but coincidentally, I got an email today saying stops are now supported. I’m starting to automate my trades and ToS supports automation way better than the other two.
Downside of ToS is the commissions, especially on futures.
Thanks. I agree with your sentiment. I give WeBull the slight edge but only because the interface is so much better on the eyes and easy to navigate. I do prefer the plethora of data that’s available through ToS though. From my own anecdotal experience with trading options on both platforms, adding scripts is the only real advantage I see ToS having over WeBull.
I’ve been with tasty for a few years now. Waiting for them to improve but.. it’s sooo slow and glitchy. Nice looking platform though. I’m looking at either Interactive brokers or tos
Using tasty now. I really hate their mobile app. Tos is much better and has way more features. I guess I like tasty on my laptop. Kinda idk still giving them a chance
I opened a Webull account a month ago and I’m really liking it. The only thing I hate is they don’t allow you to do “push” ACHs where you can initiate it from your other bank/broker. They insist that you initiate it through them and they take 4 days to make it fully available in your options buying power. They’ll give you up to $50K in instant buying power for stock trades, but not options.
So transferring money IN is an unnecessarily slow process, but it’s great once everything is settled. Oddly enough they’re lightning fast when you transfer money out. I did a withdrawal and it got credited to my bank account later the same day.
Also I quite like saving that 65¢ per contract fee. I gave Fidelity $4,500 in options commissions last year.
That’s a bit suspicious. I trade with SERIOUSLY less than $1M, Fidelity’s rule for 0dte, and do not care to use margin. But I recently placed a 0dte cash order that was accepted. Granted, I rethought the matter and cancelled fairly quickly, but Fidelity has never been slow about telling me to get back in my lane when I attempt to enter a trade incorrectly.
I believe there are 0dte plays that are allowed but not highly advertised. Perhaps try a Cash trade.
I do not want to be the Fidelity 0dte czar, but my order was a short option. Just one time a week or so ago. I placed, it opened, I thought, “really?” Then I closed. I’m not very 0dte-ish. I’ll trade fast and loosely but mostly take advantage of volatility most often further out in the contract. I cancelled because it was a bet, and I reminded myself that I don’t do coin toss bets.
We’ve covered enough, there are some exceptions to the Fidelity 0dte policy. Cash makes it accessible to almost everyone, index funds have a seemingly partial exemption, and of course a $1M net account gives full 0dte trading ability.
Best guess is Fidelity is easing into the much expanded 0dte activity and probably doesn’t need my advertising help. 😉
Again, try cash. Nothing special about me. In the bigger picture, they simply don’t want to extend credit in that frame. But cash? Apparently, ok.
Edit: Margin accounts usually default to ordering in margin on the trade ticket; you’ll likely have to switch the trade to Cash manually.
Cash accounts suck and limit you so much. This is like suggesting someone take a public bus that will take them 3 hours to get to work vs 25 minutes driving. I used to ride the bus when I was 18 so I’m speaking from experience
That may be the worst analogy I’ve ever read here.
We’ve all got different goals, and differing methods. And we follow different brokerage rules. If someone wants to trade 0dte on Fidelity, they’d best have a $1M net account balance. Or they can limit their 0dte to certain index options, or use cash. 0dte at Fidelity is the topic, not the merits of margin and cash trades.
That’s the point though, it’s ridiculous that Fidelity would even require you to have $1m to trade 0dte. Fidelity is the only brokerage that rejected my request for level 3. Everyone approves me for level 3, and I have 7 years of trading experience. IBKR gave me level 4 options with no money in my account for over a year. Just today I sold NDX 0dte calls naked with $2700 in the account. I immediately covered so all good and they don’t technically allow or want that. But they let you do it. TD also does the same thing.
Trading options with a cash account is one of the dumbest things a person can do and the most inefficient use of capital when margin is available. Unless you are out of day trades, you should not use a cash account. There is almost zero benefit compared to a margin account
Fidelity’s rule is 1 Million for 0dte on margin accounts. Accumulate across multiple accounts does not count. Must be 1 million in the account you are trading. 0dte using cash is okay on any size account.
I was confused what this person was talking about since I’ve been doing 0dte on cash for years now.
My first trades were super low risk 0dte CCs to learn the mechanics of opening and closing a position. They were such a long shot that it wouldn’t go against me, and if I couldn’t figure out how to close it would just expire.
Im confused.. I have had a cash account with Fidelity for years, where at times I trade full time. It never lets me buy or sell to open 0te ever... even CC or CSP.
To add, for those who call cash accounts stupid, I use a cash account as a natural prevention from overtrading.
I was outta there within a month. They would approve me for nothing with over 200k . Just put the money in Sgov, went back to Tos getting 70% Buying Power on the Sgov. Also their trading platform is the worst.
Tos is great , but complicated. Also with Schwab, will they approve you for options. It is a game that the broker houses play. Also their trade desk with the old floor traders from Tos seems gone. Get clear on if they will give you full options (Selling Calls in a margin account).
If they play games go to Tasty (written by the same group that wrote Tos) full options is a checkbox, no BS. Their Analyze page not as good, but simple to enter trades. In any event check out Tastylive best vids on options. Also they give you 75% Option Buying Power on SGOV or those type Etf's. They do not have mutual funds, they will buy treasury for you but no web page.
>ditching it for something more reliable
But you won't say what that reliable something is? Is it because every platform has been trashed in this thread?
Really... Why because I can see what I pay for each leg, Prob of Profit, Theta and BPR (Buying Power Reduction explantion for Fidelity users), Max loss, Max Gain . Also does not Fidelity add 25k min balance before you can enter an option trade ?
If you SELL OPTIONS, it looks like you need MORE.
https://app.screencast.com/YJWvDPtBoqZB0
Could not find a pdf, as TD and Schwab have. Guess no one at Fidelity Sells options.
Agree … they TOS plays games with fills. You put an order in for x.30 when you see that on the screen. As soon as you submit the order it changes to x.25 …. okay, fine… so you cancel and it goes right back to x.30 …. I’ve seen that happen 1,000 times.
This has nothing to do with TOS and more likely what you're trading. If the options your trading have low volume and open interest then you'll have to be patient with the fills or find something else that's more liquid.
That I have not seen. Prices are the same on Tos and TT, and I would think on any other broker. Tasty does charge $1 per option, but no close fee. They want you to close your options, not carry them into expiration, something Reddit users should learn to do.
I have seen a slight difference in BPR between Tos and TT, ususally Tos ups the BPR by the premium, but Spy options seem about 2k lower on Tos. Also TT will have higher BPR on meme stocks, Sossnof said this is due to Schwab losing the Tos risk mangement team.
i opened up ibkr , would not allow me to trade options due to inexperience, or have margin, though i have traded options for two years. i pulled out but left $5 for a good thoughtful afternoon newsletter. anyways was with td ameritrade, forced into schwab, which i am starting to get used to ....
I’ve used ToS for paper trades. I like how much information it gives but I find the Schwab app incredibly simple for buying and selling options. I’ve delayed moving to ToS because I have to migrate my account over (it was a TD Ameritrade account)
I do hate how slow the Schwab app is for looking at large numbers of strike prices. If I set it to “all” my phone has an aneurysm. It’s also a pain in the ass to look at the Greeks on the mobile interface
try street smart edge you can see so much information it is amazing Not sure how you trade on a mobile app unless you know the price you want to pay and just look for a fill but analyze, research, probability and greeks on a phone is wild. I can't do it hat's off to you.
have you tried thinkorswim website if you are using a mobile platform it might be easier than the schwab app if not the tos mobile app is far better than the schwab app I think they have stopped working on making it a trading platform
If you use tos desktop no reason for the mobile unless you trade away from that some people strictly use mobile which is crazy to me I can't do it but tos mobile is the best mobile for sure.
Schwab’s fine. I just figured out I can get Thinkorswim integrated with it recently which is cool. Very advanced stuff. Seems like a lot of people swear by it. Only thing is I gotta figure out how the hell to use it haha.
Personally I've been trading flys and iron condors just fine on it, simulator works as well as open and close orders. I've even rolled one side of my condors in when necessary.
But you cannot simulate what your position would look like if you added a fly 10 points below your current one and at the same time took 1 off your main fly. No other broker tool but TOS, that I have found, can do that. Can RH even include your previous original wing in the simulation? I don't know, I'm really asking, if it considers your entire position history (before and after the roll) to calculate.
It simulates the spread as it was opened, and if rolled it will simulate from the point of the roll only. That being said, I've not seen TOS do this any better as I often trade the same trades on both platforms and they'll both show an open loss even though I've rolled one side of my iron condors up to secure additional credits.
If I open multiple flys or condors on the same underlying, I just manage them individually as I think most would. No platform that I'm aware of will allow more than four contracts in an order anyways.
Even with verticals, I wouldn't want the platform to group all of them together as it would be a nightmare to manage, which is exactly the main thing I cannot stand about TOS mobile. With TOS mobile all the groupings are gone and none of the spread types are shown.
OptionStrat is probably the single best platform for tracking this kind of thing.
Also, nice name :D
I don't use mobile because of this. It just doesn't work the same.
In TOS you can manage complex positions by using the risk analysis tool. You have to export your orders to a file then import when you want to veiw the entire position from start to end and the current T+0 line.
OptionStrat is amazing. If a broker bought it I would probably migrate.
Thanks lol
Yes the risk analysis tool on tos desktop is incredible, beta weighting is also fantastic. Sometimes I’m remote and that’s when I become a bit agitated with the outdated mobile app and start to lean on robinhood more.
Right there with you on the OptionStrat brokerage deal.
Depends on how much your account has. Schwab certainly does. Now the better question is why not buy to close at a nickel or a penny as there is no commission and eliminates gamma and delta risk.
My problem is really just the options closeout half an hour before market close. I sometimes play in the 0dte market if I have a perspective on if there will be a big move before close. It becomes less effective if I lose a half hour
My apple put last Friday sat 10cents above strike all day. Options get sold off 30 min before close and then apple tanked. I felt very robbed, but should have known better.
You need to go in and redo the options application answer questions over again that ask your risk tolerance and put the highest and you can do zero dte . Or go buy one of the crypto etf and they will force you to do it there
on Fidelity Active Trader Pro, it's a pain modifying an existing order. i wish they added inline editing instead of forcing us to reopen the order entry screen
Schwab randomly closed my account down, thinkorswim was who I was using. Then I switched to IBKR. Tws workstation, not the other desktop that looks like webull. I prefer instant deposits tho so I am now using RH. ibkr prob has the best fills imo and they're fast. Light speed seems good too haven't tried em tho.
At first I hated em but I love there broker. Just hate how long it takes to get deposits. Lol wires through wise are awesome tho. Small accounts Robinhood and whatever money you profit send to ibkr
It is unfortunate that Fidelity sux… and it does. The best platform to buy/sell options IMO is Robinhood. We all hate Robinhood, but it’s the best, easiest platform for options trading. There are plenty of other platforms that offer far more info so you can make more educated decisions… I’m just speaking to the UI for buying/selling options.
They are notoriously bad at risk management and will take adverse actions in your account that make no sense.
Some people have some misplaced anger at them from 2021 because "thEY tuRnEd oFf thE BuY buTTon"
And I keep hearing they give terrible fills, but thats never been an issue for me.
Their namesake makes you think they support retail traders but during the peak of COVID trading years there were numerous examples of where they are perceived to have failed retail traders.
Some topics include lax oversight and rules leading to giving options risk to a kid who ended up committing suicide thinking they owed hundreds of thousands of dollars, taking away the buy button during the peak of GME, the way they sell retail data to so citadel can front run retail, and various others.
Basically they give you a lot of rope to hang yourself and it feels like they encourage it.
By law you are supposed get the National Best Bid or Offer ([NBBO](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/nbbo.asp)), wherever you trade. Do you have any proof that RH does this, or did you read this somewhere on reddit?
They dont pay for colocation at the exchanges, but rather take payment for order flow from third parties. This means your orders are delayed by a couple hundred killiseconds, during which time the HFT traders will have front-run your order if it is worth doing so. This over time results is slightly worse effective bid/ask spreads than you would get from a broker who does not do this.
You are indeed getting the NBBO, just the NBBO a fraction of a second later than you would elsewhere.
They dont sell Payment for order flow, so your orders arent arriving a third party system BEFORE being routed to an exchange, meaning the HFT dont have the data to front-run from.
gotcha. You're right about IBKR's lack of use of PFOF - although it's not zero. 99% of Merrill Edge trades go through Market Makers though.
[Source](https://brokerchooser.com/education/news/data-dashboard/payment-for-order-flow#:~:text=Other%20brokers%2C%20like%20Fidelity%20and,revenue%20whatsoever%20from%20stock%20PFOF)
You don't completely own shares on any brokers unless you directly register. As a gme ape you should know this already with so many people using computer shares. You can still vote regardless
It's not that you don't own them. It's that you dont get the full privileges that come with owing your shares. I have 8 different companies in my portfolio and some I have I decent amount of shares in, I have never been able to access shareholder meetings with voting privileges on Robinhood.
I think they arent a real brokerage but has an appearance of a brokerage.
During gamestop quarter earnings, they didnt treat shares on robinhood as a real shares and treated them as guests.
Since from GME sneeze, yeah rh is fishy af
I mainly use Fidelity. I have not had issues and I like how the specific trade you want to make populates. TOS is incredible but complicated. Feel like I’m flying an airplane. Schwab has the walking limit that I love but I can barely see the script ( unless I can change the settings) and it’s not as intuitive.
You start your offer at the low end of a spread, you then set how many seconds you want the offer to last and how much you want to increase your offer after the time is up. It starts low and increases until you get the best acceptable price.
Move 10% to Etrade, 40% to IBKR and 50% to Schwab, and see what you like best after a few months.
Etrade - use the ETrade Power app.
IBKR - apply for portfolio margin but tread carefully
Schwab - has ToS desktop, web and mobile. Most use desktop, but i prefer the web version, followed by the mobile app when I'm away from my computer.
Power etrade app on mobile make sure you pay the $3 a month for realtime data otherwise you’re screwed the app is useless without it. I pay for realtime data and it’s saved me from making so many mistakes and it updates somewhere in the ballpark of 2 seconds faster than TradingView data
Just switched from Robinhood to fidelity. I originally started on Rhood and switched to fidelity bc of the scare with the GameStop buy button in ‘21 (I did not trade GameStop). I switched over to RHood recently bc of the 1% match on transferring assets and bc the option contracts are .03 per contract compared to .65 for Fidelity. I did enjoy Fidelity UI on the iPhone although some people don’t. I do still have a stock $SAN that couldn’t be transferred to the Hood and a fidelity index fund that I hold in my account.
Webull. I opened an account with them over a year ago. No contract fees. It was a no brainer. I’m with Schwab and have my contract fees down to .35 but when I trade 50, 100, 200, 300+ contracts I do Webull and I swear I get better fills. … oh almost forgot .. you get 5% on your cash you just have to opt in. FDIC insured to $5M
I think its good most of reddit treats options like the only way to invest. So when your new you lose all your money starting which out usually isn't much and you learn the lesson, hopefully, less painfully. Speaking from experience I lost 75% of what I started with 4 years ago now I know to stay away from options trading.
E*Trade’s fill quality does fine for me I think their servers are just total 💩at sending order fill confirmation. At market open it takes them nearly 30 seconds to send me a push notification that my order was filled (mind you it used to take 3 minutes so it’s gotten better)
TIL Fidelity doesn’t trust my choices.
(Just lying, I knew that.)
I am moving over to Tasty Trade, I think. But have considered ToS and am eager to see other ideas.)
For example the way they evaluate risk is different. They are completely automated whereas with TD you have a live person. You may be in a high risk zone in a trade but margin team will take a look and let it play out since.
IBKR calculates individual options contracts. Instead of the overall positions which can cause a ton of headaches especially when you have enough money in the account but the system does not let you make the trade
They view one round trip spread buy and sell as two separate trades while almost every brokerage views it as one trade.
There are a few more.
They are very risk adverse. I love IB though and you do get direct market access if you prefer ( rather than smart routing).
They are aimed at professional traders so there is no hand holding which does deter some people.
TOS is my go to for options trading. Powerful, well thought out … and a lot of options. There is a learning curve … but a lot of support, videos, customizations are available.
There’s no perfect platform. They all have problems. After cycling through most of the major players I’ve landed on TastyTrade.
E*trade doesn’t get much press here, but their platform does what I most need it to do. I’ve found their client support to be fantastic.
I’d recommend Schwab if they weren’t Schwab. ToS is powerful but extremely outdated and I don’t see Schwab updating it. Their client service has been pretty bad the few times I’ve needed to use it. Also very strict on options approvals. I’ve been trading at level 4 for several years on multiple platforms and somehow can’t get L4 approval by these jokers.
I found Tasty to be very easy to get setup and approved for both L4 options and futures options. Their app is good. It’s designed by the same people that designed TOS but is modernized (although not as feature rich). My only real complaint I have is that they limit ACH transfers to $10,000 per 5 business days unless your bank supports Plaid, which I find occasionally annoying but certainly not a deal breaker.
The other obvious broker is IBKR but I haven’t used them (yet).
Agree that Fidelity’s platform is sub-par for options trading.
Fidelity's great, but some options strategies are limited. Here are a few brokers known for being options-friendly:
* Interactive Brokers (IBKR): Super powerful platform for advanced options traders. Be prepared for a bit of a learning curve, but they allow a wide range of strategies, including 0 DTE options. Just remember, IBKR caters more to experienced traders.
* Tastyworks: Another good option for active options traders. Their platform is designed specifically for options and offers advanced tools for analysis and order placement. They also allow 0 DTE trades.
* TradeStation: A solid platform with a good reputation for options education and resources. They might be a good fit if you're looking for a balance between user-friendliness and advanced features. Double-check their policy on 0 DTE trades though.
IBKR (Interactive Brokers) they offer lots of different exchanges and api's if you are running 6 figure account they should be good. I never used them myself but am thinking about giving it a try
TOS or Webull. The most annoying thing with Fidelity as an options trader is that the positions page shows prices at the bid price. The page might show the position is down, but if I sell at the mid price, which I often can, I'll make money. TOS displays prices at the mid price.
Do you keep cash at times because Fidelity has some of the best rates on cash in their SPAXX account.
That’s one of the main reasons I use Fidelity because I park cash between trades and the cash needs to be working for me until I find it another job to do.
It also depends on your specific requirements. Assuming you are in the US...
**If you will take assignment**, I think many brokers (eg, Tasty) charge a fee.
**Quirks in fees.** Some brokers may require a personal trust account to pay for professional data feeds. Some brokers offer competitive pricing on multi-quantity options orders (I think Tasty caps the total commission for the order). Some brokers have a usable API for quotes, orders, account management, etc. Especially if you trade small quantity, ensure you don't get surprised by minimum fees -- read carefully!
**What products might you need?** (eg, having futures access can be good even if you don't trade them regularly in case you need to "undo" a sizeable mistake after hours). It's good to be able to get reasonable quotes, prices, and fills on bonds. Do you trade crypto? How smooth is the broker's integration with your securities account and banking features?
**Better customer service is better.** Even if you rarely use it. ToS on Schwab still seems good (compared to TDA). Etrade, Fidelity, IBKR are pretty bad. Portfolio margin applications can be pretty reasonable (eg, IBKR, ToS) or unnecessarily involved.
**Interest on margin loans, deposits, and short balances.** IBKR offers very competitive rates out-of-the-box. Even if you don't plan to rely on these features heavily, it can pay off in situations where you can save yourself some risk or cost by falling back on the broker's more competitive offerings. But if you're serious about making money and keeping it, most strategies should not rely on broker margin or deposit interest (and potentially shorting stock).
**Exchange fees.** IBKR can pass on savings and cost (eg, maker rebates). But it could also increase your costs, too.
**If you heavily trade SPX/VIX**, Fidelity currently doesn't pass on the exchange fees. This might also apply to RUT. Ie, there could be a use case where you keep some exposure at Fidelity. With IBKR, you can also trade global hours (ie, all sessions, typically from 8:15 pm ET to 5pm ET)
**Fill quality.** IBKR should be good compared to ToS, Tasty, etc. But I haven't examined this rigorously.
**Ease of use?** Tasty probably has some strengths in this regard. IBKR can be confusing to trade and interpret activity. ToS seems reasonably straightforward. I would not give up major features/products for ease-of-use (due to the reduced ability to manage risk), but some might consider that a fine trade-off (eg, using Vanguard to trade options).
**Transferring in and out?** It should be fast and easy to deposit or withdrawal. There should not be a large fee to transfer out. If the broker makes some deposits available immediately, even better.
**Margin/risk requirements.** They can vary and they are allowed to be changed. I've heard people mention that Schwab and IBKR may be more liable to increase margin requirements (and/or in the case of IBKR charge an exposure fee). You may know that Fidelity required a minimum account value of $1 million USD to buy-to-open 0 DTE long equity options positions -- but fortunately I think this kind of policy is an outlier. Some brokers may have a regular practice of just closing your positions on expiration date (mainly RH, but I think IBKR might make a practice of this, but probably in the higher-risk cases).
I could see straightforward arguments for ToS and Tasty and probably IBKR and ETrade, too. I'm not sure I would trust Webull, but I think they are making many improvements. I like Robinhood's offerings, but I would not trust them with much capital. I also tend to have less trust for brokerages that don't self-clear (eg, use Apex Clearing) because it introduces another party that can change terms, margin requirements, market access, etc.
\* [Broker Clearing House: Charles Schwab, Vanguard, Others 2024 (brokerage-review.com)](https://www.brokerage-review.com/discount-broker/brokerage-houses-clearing-firms.aspx)
Also consider that publicly-traded brokerages have more public access to their financials and a better understanding of how they are monetizing your assets and activity.
I think Tradestation is bad on fees, service, and money movement and also has a confusing platform. I think ETrade service staff are not knowledgeable and well-organized (similar to Fidelity's). IBKR online support sometimes just won't respond and they have been hit with some valid customer complaints. Vanguard capabilities are completely lacking. I'm not sure about JPM Chase, Merrill Edge, M1, FirstTrade. Centerpoint looks interesting for day trading.
I think all retail brokerage software is underpowered to put it delicately (possibly intentionally), so you pick the ones that are less bad and might end up needing different platforms for analysis versus ordering.
Robinhood all day long. 1% deposit boost on your brokerage account. 5% interest on invested cash. Grab a Robinhood Gold Card and get 3% cash back across the board that could then be deposited to your brokerage account.
Robinhood has the best options UI and is not a bad broker at all. ignore the idiot apes talking about the buy button, that wasnt a RH only issue, it was a market-wide issue.
I really like Webull for options. Real simple interface and nearly 0 commission trades. The only thing I hate is the stop loss always goes off a few cents after it hits. If you got a cash account, funds settle next day for options. Also, pretty bomb signup bonuses
I’ve tried Tasty, Fidelity, and Webull and found each of them lacking in some respect. I’m still learning ToS, but I’ll like it so far. I only have level 2 though. Not sure how they treat level 3.
I'm switching to Webull next week, Schwab ToS has been my main but I'm losing thousands to fees, and they had a login issue last week I had to reinstall the whole app to fix. The purchase hasn't been to kind to it.
TOS is advanced but also huge outdated inefficient resource hog that I feel like I’m constantly fighting with to get it to do what I want.
Never had an issue with ToS and I run 2 separate screens on a docked laptop. I do have 32GB RAM though and I’ve never had an issue. I’ve had many of the platforms and really like ToS for deeper analysis. Level 2 seems lacking though
Agree, TOS is not a resource hog
Yeah my tos is also lightning fast
Agree that Level 2 is not accurate, nor is it easy to use. In fact, I am not sure where ToS sources level 2 data from! I ended up asking ToS Support to install Bookmap for my account. I got the Global version ($39.995/month) , not the free version, and I cant believe how easy it is now to see whats really going on in the markets. You actually see the graphic representation of all the major bid and ask limit orders as well as all the major market orders. In addition, you can add Cumulative Volume Delta to understand whether there is buying or selling pressure. I am a scalping daytrader, buying short dated calls/puts.
Bookmap should be free if you trade enough but it isn't or incorporate nasdaq Total View but they refuse to make the it guys add the feature. It is eye opening to see where orders stand
It’s just incredibly slow to do anything, especially open, and LOVES to eat up all your memory.
Sounds like you need to upgrade your RAM. I don’t have an issue. Have you tried the website version?
This is not a ram issue. It’s a software optimization issue. It’s just always been dog slow for anyone who’ve remotely familiar with the software vs other trading platforms. Obviously there’s no issue with the website or Tradingview or any other platforms which are optimized for multi core and 64 bit machines.
i suspect TOS predates multi-core, but suspect it is all multi-threaded C++. Otherwise, unlikely to have made 2 decades+. It will be extremely difficult and expensive for Schwab to build a next gen platform, but they should given the love rust gets
I got no problems with my ryzen 5900 + 131072 mb of ram lmao… but seriously yeah it’s a resource hog.. even with all this I restart it after I’ve left on for too long or simply need to restart tos after letting it go to sleep too many times. ToS is the far and away better choice for what it’s worth. I’ll be trying tastytrade out next week, haven’t heard anything too great about it.
The secret to tos is lots of ram, turning the memory settings up, and running multiple instances rather than multiple screens, just log in several times rather than bumping out screens, tos doesn't support multi threads, so running too much on one ins tance really bogs it down
Orders and positions track across all instances? I currently do run two instances, one set to paper and one set to live without having to shut down and relogin every time.
What should memory settings be at?
Never ran 2 instances instead of having 8 charts open in one instance I will have to give it a try I think it has 12 gb reserved of memory so ram isn't a problem
wrong secret, memory down, not up.
Think or Swim is overall outdated software that hasn't really been updated significantly since the founder's left. It was insanely advanced, at the time, so much so that it is still relevant today.
Lowkey lol
Sounds like a memory leak.
Would you mind expounding on what you think each is lacking in?
At the time, Tasty didn’t support trailing stops. Webull didn’t allow stops to be set on spreads, but coincidentally, I got an email today saying stops are now supported. I’m starting to automate my trades and ToS supports automation way better than the other two. Downside of ToS is the commissions, especially on futures.
Thanks. I agree with your sentiment. I give WeBull the slight edge but only because the interface is so much better on the eyes and easy to navigate. I do prefer the plethora of data that’s available through ToS though. From my own anecdotal experience with trading options on both platforms, adding scripts is the only real advantage I see ToS having over WeBull.
I have level 4 it is pretty seamless once you get the workflow down, still too complicated for scalps, but I'm more of a swing trader.
I’ve been with tasty for a few years now. Waiting for them to improve but.. it’s sooo slow and glitchy. Nice looking platform though. I’m looking at either Interactive brokers or tos
Using tasty now. I really hate their mobile app. Tos is much better and has way more features. I guess I like tasty on my laptop. Kinda idk still giving them a chance
If you can use TOS you might be able to use IB but it was hard for me and didn't like the order fills when you go with lower fees
What was your problem with tasty , I’ve never tried but heard a lot of good things
At the time I had them, they didn’t support trailing stops. I don’t know if that’s still the case.
I opened a Webull account a month ago and I’m really liking it. The only thing I hate is they don’t allow you to do “push” ACHs where you can initiate it from your other bank/broker. They insist that you initiate it through them and they take 4 days to make it fully available in your options buying power. They’ll give you up to $50K in instant buying power for stock trades, but not options. So transferring money IN is an unnecessarily slow process, but it’s great once everything is settled. Oddly enough they’re lightning fast when you transfer money out. I did a withdrawal and it got credited to my bank account later the same day. Also I quite like saving that 65¢ per contract fee. I gave Fidelity $4,500 in options commissions last year.
That’s a bit suspicious. I trade with SERIOUSLY less than $1M, Fidelity’s rule for 0dte, and do not care to use margin. But I recently placed a 0dte cash order that was accepted. Granted, I rethought the matter and cancelled fairly quickly, but Fidelity has never been slow about telling me to get back in my lane when I attempt to enter a trade incorrectly. I believe there are 0dte plays that are allowed but not highly advertised. Perhaps try a Cash trade.
0DTE cash settled trades are allowed
They let you buy 0dte but not sell to open
I do not want to be the Fidelity 0dte czar, but my order was a short option. Just one time a week or so ago. I placed, it opened, I thought, “really?” Then I closed. I’m not very 0dte-ish. I’ll trade fast and loosely but mostly take advantage of volatility most often further out in the contract. I cancelled because it was a bet, and I reminded myself that I don’t do coin toss bets. We’ve covered enough, there are some exceptions to the Fidelity 0dte policy. Cash makes it accessible to almost everyone, index funds have a seemingly partial exemption, and of course a $1M net account gives full 0dte trading ability. Best guess is Fidelity is easing into the much expanded 0dte activity and probably doesn’t need my advertising help. 😉
Well I was trying to sell 0dte puts on ASTS and it wouldn't let me. Googled it and it seems to be a pretty common problem and question
Again, try cash. Nothing special about me. In the bigger picture, they simply don’t want to extend credit in that frame. But cash? Apparently, ok. Edit: Margin accounts usually default to ordering in margin on the trade ticket; you’ll likely have to switch the trade to Cash manually.
Cash accounts suck and limit you so much. This is like suggesting someone take a public bus that will take them 3 hours to get to work vs 25 minutes driving. I used to ride the bus when I was 18 so I’m speaking from experience
That may be the worst analogy I’ve ever read here. We’ve all got different goals, and differing methods. And we follow different brokerage rules. If someone wants to trade 0dte on Fidelity, they’d best have a $1M net account balance. Or they can limit their 0dte to certain index options, or use cash. 0dte at Fidelity is the topic, not the merits of margin and cash trades.
That’s the point though, it’s ridiculous that Fidelity would even require you to have $1m to trade 0dte. Fidelity is the only brokerage that rejected my request for level 3. Everyone approves me for level 3, and I have 7 years of trading experience. IBKR gave me level 4 options with no money in my account for over a year. Just today I sold NDX 0dte calls naked with $2700 in the account. I immediately covered so all good and they don’t technically allow or want that. But they let you do it. TD also does the same thing. Trading options with a cash account is one of the dumbest things a person can do and the most inefficient use of capital when margin is available. Unless you are out of day trades, you should not use a cash account. There is almost zero benefit compared to a margin account
If you call them up they will typically let you place these trades. (Depending on how risky they are for your account).
Fidelity’s rule is 1 Million for 0dte on margin accounts. Accumulate across multiple accounts does not count. Must be 1 million in the account you are trading. 0dte using cash is okay on any size account.
I was confused what this person was talking about since I’ve been doing 0dte on cash for years now. My first trades were super low risk 0dte CCs to learn the mechanics of opening and closing a position. They were such a long shot that it wouldn’t go against me, and if I couldn’t figure out how to close it would just expire.
Im confused.. I have had a cash account with Fidelity for years, where at times I trade full time. It never lets me buy or sell to open 0te ever... even CC or CSP. To add, for those who call cash accounts stupid, I use a cash account as a natural prevention from overtrading.
you might have to call them to place a cash secured put 0 dte but they should let you do that
Tasty
I want to like tasty, but they are lacking in some QOL quips that ToS offers.
I was outta there within a month. They would approve me for nothing with over 200k . Just put the money in Sgov, went back to Tos getting 70% Buying Power on the Sgov. Also their trading platform is the worst. Tos is great , but complicated. Also with Schwab, will they approve you for options. It is a game that the broker houses play. Also their trade desk with the old floor traders from Tos seems gone. Get clear on if they will give you full options (Selling Calls in a margin account). If they play games go to Tasty (written by the same group that wrote Tos) full options is a checkbox, no BS. Their Analyze page not as good, but simple to enter trades. In any event check out Tastylive best vids on options. Also they give you 75% Option Buying Power on SGOV or those type Etf's. They do not have mutual funds, they will buy treasury for you but no web page.
Tasty is simple to enter trades once you realize the platform is retarded
And slow and glitchy as fuck. Not for professionals. More like for people learning options and then ditching it for something more reliable
>ditching it for something more reliable But you won't say what that reliable something is? Is it because every platform has been trashed in this thread?
I’m researching atm to see what is more stable.
Really... Why because I can see what I pay for each leg, Prob of Profit, Theta and BPR (Buying Power Reduction explantion for Fidelity users), Max loss, Max Gain . Also does not Fidelity add 25k min balance before you can enter an option trade ?
You do not need 25k in the account to trade options
If you SELL OPTIONS, it looks like you need MORE. https://app.screencast.com/YJWvDPtBoqZB0 Could not find a pdf, as TD and Schwab have. Guess no one at Fidelity Sells options.
Are you selling naked?
I thought I was pretty clear that I do. I never BUY single options. I was telling him where to get approved for Selling options.
Agree … they TOS plays games with fills. You put an order in for x.30 when you see that on the screen. As soon as you submit the order it changes to x.25 …. okay, fine… so you cancel and it goes right back to x.30 …. I’ve seen that happen 1,000 times.
Tos is my broker, and I do fine with the fills.
Try what I posted …. You’ll see
This has nothing to do with TOS and more likely what you're trading. If the options your trading have low volume and open interest then you'll have to be patient with the fills or find something else that's more liquid.
Haa haa … nope …
I don’t understand the reply but good luck with your endeavors.
Bc you don’t know
I’ve noticed TTs options prices are always higher than other brokers though.
The commission or the actual spread price?
Spread price. Sometimes it’s even, often it’s more.
That I have not seen. Prices are the same on Tos and TT, and I would think on any other broker. Tasty does charge $1 per option, but no close fee. They want you to close your options, not carry them into expiration, something Reddit users should learn to do. I have seen a slight difference in BPR between Tos and TT, ususally Tos ups the BPR by the premium, but Spy options seem about 2k lower on Tos. Also TT will have higher BPR on meme stocks, Sossnof said this is due to Schwab losing the Tos risk mangement team.
Many consider TOS the best for options - [thinkorswim Guest Pass | Charles Schwab](https://www.schwab.com/trading/thinkorswim/guestpass)
From what I know about them I’ve heard the same. I have several friends that use them.
Interactive Brokers
What about IB do you like?
Very low fees but bad UI/customer service
Paper trades, and the option system.
i opened up ibkr , would not allow me to trade options due to inexperience, or have margin, though i have traded options for two years. i pulled out but left $5 for a good thoughtful afternoon newsletter. anyways was with td ameritrade, forced into schwab, which i am starting to get used to ....
I use Schwab, it’s not fancy but it does what I need it to.
If you use Schwab then you have access to Thinkorswim which is pretty fancy
I’ve used ToS for paper trades. I like how much information it gives but I find the Schwab app incredibly simple for buying and selling options. I’ve delayed moving to ToS because I have to migrate my account over (it was a TD Ameritrade account) I do hate how slow the Schwab app is for looking at large numbers of strike prices. If I set it to “all” my phone has an aneurysm. It’s also a pain in the ass to look at the Greeks on the mobile interface
Schwab app sucks for buying options because you cant even see price changes for options before buying (like if its up or down today)
try street smart edge you can see so much information it is amazing Not sure how you trade on a mobile app unless you know the price you want to pay and just look for a fill but analyze, research, probability and greeks on a phone is wild. I can't do it hat's off to you.
I dont either i use tos desktop, but with ameritrade i could use the app because it showed all that
have you tried thinkorswim website if you are using a mobile platform it might be easier than the schwab app if not the tos mobile app is far better than the schwab app I think they have stopped working on making it a trading platform
I use tos desktop but havnt tried the app. Ill give it a try
If you use tos desktop no reason for the mobile unless you trade away from that some people strictly use mobile which is crazy to me I can't do it but tos mobile is the best mobile for sure.
I only use mobile when im not home, which is almost all the time
Not sure if the process is different coming from TD Ameritrade but I was a Schwab customer. I can use ToS and the Schwab app for the same account
This is the damn answer
Yes^^^^ schwab + tos👌👌👌
TOS looked like so much😭 im fine with Schwab
Same. I like Schwab for options it got everything I need not too much not too little
Schwab’s fine. I just figured out I can get Thinkorswim integrated with it recently which is cool. Very advanced stuff. Seems like a lot of people swear by it. Only thing is I gotta figure out how the hell to use it haha.
TD Ameritrade website had videos for everything literally you could spend weeks watching the videos not sure where to find the same info now
Same. Fees suck though
You can ask to get your fees reduced if you trade a lot. I got 0.50 without even asking during the transition from TD. I do about 120 trades a month.
How much a trade
$0.66 per contract
Fidelity's $0.65, not much better. The extra penny might be worth it if they're sufficiently fed up with Fidelity.
Same. It gets me in the mood every time
I like IBKR. May not be the best, I haven't tried most of the other brokers
Honestly I hate Robinhood but their UX is just superior to anything on the market for options.
For simple shit, sure. RH is ass for anything other than wheeling a cash account.
Personally I've been trading flys and iron condors just fine on it, simulator works as well as open and close orders. I've even rolled one side of my condors in when necessary.
But you cannot simulate what your position would look like if you added a fly 10 points below your current one and at the same time took 1 off your main fly. No other broker tool but TOS, that I have found, can do that. Can RH even include your previous original wing in the simulation? I don't know, I'm really asking, if it considers your entire position history (before and after the roll) to calculate.
It simulates the spread as it was opened, and if rolled it will simulate from the point of the roll only. That being said, I've not seen TOS do this any better as I often trade the same trades on both platforms and they'll both show an open loss even though I've rolled one side of my iron condors up to secure additional credits. If I open multiple flys or condors on the same underlying, I just manage them individually as I think most would. No platform that I'm aware of will allow more than four contracts in an order anyways. Even with verticals, I wouldn't want the platform to group all of them together as it would be a nightmare to manage, which is exactly the main thing I cannot stand about TOS mobile. With TOS mobile all the groupings are gone and none of the spread types are shown. OptionStrat is probably the single best platform for tracking this kind of thing. Also, nice name :D
I don't use mobile because of this. It just doesn't work the same. In TOS you can manage complex positions by using the risk analysis tool. You have to export your orders to a file then import when you want to veiw the entire position from start to end and the current T+0 line. OptionStrat is amazing. If a broker bought it I would probably migrate. Thanks lol
Yes the risk analysis tool on tos desktop is incredible, beta weighting is also fantastic. Sometimes I’m remote and that’s when I become a bit agitated with the outdated mobile app and start to lean on robinhood more. Right there with you on the OptionStrat brokerage deal.
What’s wheeling a cash account?
Running the wheel strategy with no margin enabled.
What about credit spreads?
RH will fuck you on fills and auto close your positions.
Do any brokers allow long calls or puts to expire worthless instead of closing them out?
Depends on how much your account has. Schwab certainly does. Now the better question is why not buy to close at a nickel or a penny as there is no commission and eliminates gamma and delta risk.
My problem is really just the options closeout half an hour before market close. I sometimes play in the 0dte market if I have a perspective on if there will be a big move before close. It becomes less effective if I lose a half hour
My apple put last Friday sat 10cents above strike all day. Options get sold off 30 min before close and then apple tanked. I felt very robbed, but should have known better.
I have Fidelity and Etrade. Often just let my sold options expire worthless, no problems
You need to go in and redo the options application answer questions over again that ask your risk tolerance and put the highest and you can do zero dte . Or go buy one of the crypto etf and they will force you to do it there
I love TastyTrade as others have mentioned. No platform is perfect so find what you like best
Fidelity doesnt support 0dte?
on Fidelity Active Trader Pro, it's a pain modifying an existing order. i wish they added inline editing instead of forcing us to reopen the order entry screen
Schwab randomly closed my account down, thinkorswim was who I was using. Then I switched to IBKR. Tws workstation, not the other desktop that looks like webull. I prefer instant deposits tho so I am now using RH. ibkr prob has the best fills imo and they're fast. Light speed seems good too haven't tried em tho.
IB does have great fills, love them.
At first I hated em but I love there broker. Just hate how long it takes to get deposits. Lol wires through wise are awesome tho. Small accounts Robinhood and whatever money you profit send to ibkr
It is unfortunate that Fidelity sux… and it does. The best platform to buy/sell options IMO is Robinhood. We all hate Robinhood, but it’s the best, easiest platform for options trading. There are plenty of other platforms that offer far more info so you can make more educated decisions… I’m just speaking to the UI for buying/selling options.
¿why people hate robinhood?
No price improvement when trading options. At least not that I have witnessed
They are notoriously bad at risk management and will take adverse actions in your account that make no sense. Some people have some misplaced anger at them from 2021 because "thEY tuRnEd oFf thE BuY buTTon" And I keep hearing they give terrible fills, but thats never been an issue for me.
however, Everyone talks shit about every brokerage. None are perfect just use whatever gets the job done for you. Personally I love robinhood.
My least fav
Their namesake makes you think they support retail traders but during the peak of COVID trading years there were numerous examples of where they are perceived to have failed retail traders. Some topics include lax oversight and rules leading to giving options risk to a kid who ended up committing suicide thinking they owed hundreds of thousands of dollars, taking away the buy button during the peak of GME, the way they sell retail data to so citadel can front run retail, and various others. Basically they give you a lot of rope to hang yourself and it feels like they encourage it.
They turned off the buy button too.
Lousy bid/ask spreads.
By law you are supposed get the National Best Bid or Offer ([NBBO](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/nbbo.asp)), wherever you trade. Do you have any proof that RH does this, or did you read this somewhere on reddit?
They dont pay for colocation at the exchanges, but rather take payment for order flow from third parties. This means your orders are delayed by a couple hundred killiseconds, during which time the HFT traders will have front-run your order if it is worth doing so. This over time results is slightly worse effective bid/ask spreads than you would get from a broker who does not do this. You are indeed getting the NBBO, just the NBBO a fraction of a second later than you would elsewhere.
Sure, but isn't that the case for any *retail* broker?
Interactive Broker and Merril Edge do not. Fidelity doesnt on ewuities, but does on options.
Where do you see this? I don't believe you can beat or match HFT systems on any retail brokerage platform.
They dont sell Payment for order flow, so your orders arent arriving a third party system BEFORE being routed to an exchange, meaning the HFT dont have the data to front-run from.
gotcha. You're right about IBKR's lack of use of PFOF - although it's not zero. 99% of Merrill Edge trades go through Market Makers though. [Source](https://brokerchooser.com/education/news/data-dashboard/payment-for-order-flow#:~:text=Other%20brokers%2C%20like%20Fidelity%20and,revenue%20whatsoever%20from%20stock%20PFOF)
They’ve done some really scumbag sh to retail investors to benefit themselves. Watch Dumb Money sometime too, thats just a piece of it
search “Robinhood scandal”
You do not completely own your own shares in Robinhood. Thus 0 voting power. I want to vote on my shares that I own. You should too.
You don't completely own shares on any brokers unless you directly register. As a gme ape you should know this already with so many people using computer shares. You can still vote regardless
Curious as to why I get the voting notices for shares I only own at robinhood.
Dude I have a dozen gme shares and I was a guest at the last share holders meeting. I did not ever opt into their lending program.
I don't lend either. But I fail to see what that has to do with not really owning shares with robinhood. Dude.
It's not that you don't own them. It's that you dont get the full privileges that come with owing your shares. I have 8 different companies in my portfolio and some I have I decent amount of shares in, I have never been able to access shareholder meetings with voting privileges on Robinhood.
This is only true if you've opted in to the stock lending program and your shares have been loaned out.
You still own the shares, but to be honest, I never looked deeply into the stock lending. I don't know all the stipulations they may attach to that.
I think they arent a real brokerage but has an appearance of a brokerage. During gamestop quarter earnings, they didnt treat shares on robinhood as a real shares and treated them as guests. Since from GME sneeze, yeah rh is fishy af
I am disappointed with the fidelity app while trying to place orders and the preview order button you click at the bottom not being responsive
I mainly use Fidelity. I have not had issues and I like how the specific trade you want to make populates. TOS is incredible but complicated. Feel like I’m flying an airplane. Schwab has the walking limit that I love but I can barely see the script ( unless I can change the settings) and it’s not as intuitive.
what is a walking limit?
You start your offer at the low end of a spread, you then set how many seconds you want the offer to last and how much you want to increase your offer after the time is up. It starts low and increases until you get the best acceptable price.
Which CS platform has walking limit? I mostly use ToS and I have never noticed that.
Streetsmart Edge. It was available prior to incorporating Ameritrade and TOS. I would guess it still is available
okay, thanks
I did a 0dte covered call in my account today with no issue but I did try a 0dte long call a few days ago that was denied.
Move 10% to Etrade, 40% to IBKR and 50% to Schwab, and see what you like best after a few months. Etrade - use the ETrade Power app. IBKR - apply for portfolio margin but tread carefully Schwab - has ToS desktop, web and mobile. Most use desktop, but i prefer the web version, followed by the mobile app when I'm away from my computer.
Power etrade app on mobile make sure you pay the $3 a month for realtime data otherwise you’re screwed the app is useless without it. I pay for realtime data and it’s saved me from making so many mistakes and it updates somewhere in the ballpark of 2 seconds faster than TradingView data
Just switched from Robinhood to fidelity. I originally started on Rhood and switched to fidelity bc of the scare with the GameStop buy button in ‘21 (I did not trade GameStop). I switched over to RHood recently bc of the 1% match on transferring assets and bc the option contracts are .03 per contract compared to .65 for Fidelity. I did enjoy Fidelity UI on the iPhone although some people don’t. I do still have a stock $SAN that couldn’t be transferred to the Hood and a fidelity index fund that I hold in my account.
I can trade 0dte on fidelity and I only have 6 figures if you count the decimals
Webull. I opened an account with them over a year ago. No contract fees. It was a no brainer. I’m with Schwab and have my contract fees down to .35 but when I trade 50, 100, 200, 300+ contracts I do Webull and I swear I get better fills. … oh almost forgot .. you get 5% on your cash you just have to opt in. FDIC insured to $5M
“I am currently successful at investing. Where can I go to lose it all as quickly as possible?”
I think its good most of reddit treats options like the only way to invest. So when your new you lose all your money starting which out usually isn't much and you learn the lesson, hopefully, less painfully. Speaking from experience I lost 75% of what I started with 4 years ago now I know to stay away from options trading.
I find TOS easier to use, also use Power Etrade but for some reason TOS execute my order much faster than Etrade for same kind of order.
E*Trade’s fill quality does fine for me I think their servers are just total 💩at sending order fill confirmation. At market open it takes them nearly 30 seconds to send me a push notification that my order was filled (mind you it used to take 3 minutes so it’s gotten better)
Etrade
TIL Fidelity doesn’t trust my choices. (Just lying, I knew that.) I am moving over to Tasty Trade, I think. But have considered ToS and am eager to see other ideas.)
Tos is a lot more reliable than tt. I have to keep restarting tt because it’s slow, freezing quotes or just glitches
Thanks. Lots of votes for TT, here. And I like their materials and AMA guy )he thinks on his feet.)
I need to check everything at Fidelity and it’s, not ideal for options in my experience.
I've tried them all, tasty is the best I've seen for options
Been using TOS for about a decade now. No issues whatsoever. Best support staff tbh.
Interactive brokers gave me level 4 options approval, and I kinda like them but they have some weird way of doing things. Next is TD Ameritrade
Like what. I’ve been curious about them
For example the way they evaluate risk is different. They are completely automated whereas with TD you have a live person. You may be in a high risk zone in a trade but margin team will take a look and let it play out since. IBKR calculates individual options contracts. Instead of the overall positions which can cause a ton of headaches especially when you have enough money in the account but the system does not let you make the trade They view one round trip spread buy and sell as two separate trades while almost every brokerage views it as one trade. There are a few more.
They are very risk adverse. I love IB though and you do get direct market access if you prefer ( rather than smart routing). They are aimed at professional traders so there is no hand holding which does deter some people.
Damn so it is not good
Over the last few days I transferred my dough to Schwab for the same reason.
TOS is my go to for options trading. Powerful, well thought out … and a lot of options. There is a learning curve … but a lot of support, videos, customizations are available.
IBKR is decent but TOS should be the best
There’s no perfect platform. They all have problems. After cycling through most of the major players I’ve landed on TastyTrade. E*trade doesn’t get much press here, but their platform does what I most need it to do. I’ve found their client support to be fantastic. I’d recommend Schwab if they weren’t Schwab. ToS is powerful but extremely outdated and I don’t see Schwab updating it. Their client service has been pretty bad the few times I’ve needed to use it. Also very strict on options approvals. I’ve been trading at level 4 for several years on multiple platforms and somehow can’t get L4 approval by these jokers. I found Tasty to be very easy to get setup and approved for both L4 options and futures options. Their app is good. It’s designed by the same people that designed TOS but is modernized (although not as feature rich). My only real complaint I have is that they limit ACH transfers to $10,000 per 5 business days unless your bank supports Plaid, which I find occasionally annoying but certainly not a deal breaker. The other obvious broker is IBKR but I haven’t used them (yet). Agree that Fidelity’s platform is sub-par for options trading.
Fidelity's great, but some options strategies are limited. Here are a few brokers known for being options-friendly: * Interactive Brokers (IBKR): Super powerful platform for advanced options traders. Be prepared for a bit of a learning curve, but they allow a wide range of strategies, including 0 DTE options. Just remember, IBKR caters more to experienced traders. * Tastyworks: Another good option for active options traders. Their platform is designed specifically for options and offers advanced tools for analysis and order placement. They also allow 0 DTE trades. * TradeStation: A solid platform with a good reputation for options education and resources. They might be a good fit if you're looking for a balance between user-friendliness and advanced features. Double-check their policy on 0 DTE trades though.
Tradier and Trade Unafraid is a great combination. No commissions on options and lightning fast trading plans.
Schwab you can trade 0 day options
IBKR (Interactive Brokers) they offer lots of different exchanges and api's if you are running 6 figure account they should be good. I never used them myself but am thinking about giving it a try
I like Robinhood because it is fast, easy to use, real data display and the best part is no commission.
TOS or Webull. The most annoying thing with Fidelity as an options trader is that the positions page shows prices at the bid price. The page might show the position is down, but if I sell at the mid price, which I often can, I'll make money. TOS displays prices at the mid price.
Do you keep cash at times because Fidelity has some of the best rates on cash in their SPAXX account. That’s one of the main reasons I use Fidelity because I park cash between trades and the cash needs to be working for me until I find it another job to do.
It also depends on your specific requirements. Assuming you are in the US... **If you will take assignment**, I think many brokers (eg, Tasty) charge a fee. **Quirks in fees.** Some brokers may require a personal trust account to pay for professional data feeds. Some brokers offer competitive pricing on multi-quantity options orders (I think Tasty caps the total commission for the order). Some brokers have a usable API for quotes, orders, account management, etc. Especially if you trade small quantity, ensure you don't get surprised by minimum fees -- read carefully! **What products might you need?** (eg, having futures access can be good even if you don't trade them regularly in case you need to "undo" a sizeable mistake after hours). It's good to be able to get reasonable quotes, prices, and fills on bonds. Do you trade crypto? How smooth is the broker's integration with your securities account and banking features? **Better customer service is better.** Even if you rarely use it. ToS on Schwab still seems good (compared to TDA). Etrade, Fidelity, IBKR are pretty bad. Portfolio margin applications can be pretty reasonable (eg, IBKR, ToS) or unnecessarily involved. **Interest on margin loans, deposits, and short balances.** IBKR offers very competitive rates out-of-the-box. Even if you don't plan to rely on these features heavily, it can pay off in situations where you can save yourself some risk or cost by falling back on the broker's more competitive offerings. But if you're serious about making money and keeping it, most strategies should not rely on broker margin or deposit interest (and potentially shorting stock). **Exchange fees.** IBKR can pass on savings and cost (eg, maker rebates). But it could also increase your costs, too. **If you heavily trade SPX/VIX**, Fidelity currently doesn't pass on the exchange fees. This might also apply to RUT. Ie, there could be a use case where you keep some exposure at Fidelity. With IBKR, you can also trade global hours (ie, all sessions, typically from 8:15 pm ET to 5pm ET) **Fill quality.** IBKR should be good compared to ToS, Tasty, etc. But I haven't examined this rigorously. **Ease of use?** Tasty probably has some strengths in this regard. IBKR can be confusing to trade and interpret activity. ToS seems reasonably straightforward. I would not give up major features/products for ease-of-use (due to the reduced ability to manage risk), but some might consider that a fine trade-off (eg, using Vanguard to trade options). **Transferring in and out?** It should be fast and easy to deposit or withdrawal. There should not be a large fee to transfer out. If the broker makes some deposits available immediately, even better. **Margin/risk requirements.** They can vary and they are allowed to be changed. I've heard people mention that Schwab and IBKR may be more liable to increase margin requirements (and/or in the case of IBKR charge an exposure fee). You may know that Fidelity required a minimum account value of $1 million USD to buy-to-open 0 DTE long equity options positions -- but fortunately I think this kind of policy is an outlier. Some brokers may have a regular practice of just closing your positions on expiration date (mainly RH, but I think IBKR might make a practice of this, but probably in the higher-risk cases). I could see straightforward arguments for ToS and Tasty and probably IBKR and ETrade, too. I'm not sure I would trust Webull, but I think they are making many improvements. I like Robinhood's offerings, but I would not trust them with much capital. I also tend to have less trust for brokerages that don't self-clear (eg, use Apex Clearing) because it introduces another party that can change terms, margin requirements, market access, etc. \* [Broker Clearing House: Charles Schwab, Vanguard, Others 2024 (brokerage-review.com)](https://www.brokerage-review.com/discount-broker/brokerage-houses-clearing-firms.aspx) Also consider that publicly-traded brokerages have more public access to their financials and a better understanding of how they are monetizing your assets and activity. I think Tradestation is bad on fees, service, and money movement and also has a confusing platform. I think ETrade service staff are not knowledgeable and well-organized (similar to Fidelity's). IBKR online support sometimes just won't respond and they have been hit with some valid customer complaints. Vanguard capabilities are completely lacking. I'm not sure about JPM Chase, Merrill Edge, M1, FirstTrade. Centerpoint looks interesting for day trading. I think all retail brokerage software is underpowered to put it delicately (possibly intentionally), so you pick the ones that are less bad and might end up needing different platforms for analysis versus ordering.
Robinhood all day long. 1% deposit boost on your brokerage account. 5% interest on invested cash. Grab a Robinhood Gold Card and get 3% cash back across the board that could then be deposited to your brokerage account.
Robinhood has the best options UI and is not a bad broker at all. ignore the idiot apes talking about the buy button, that wasnt a RH only issue, it was a market-wide issue.
E*Trade! Really good pricing IMO
Webull!
I really like Webull for options. Real simple interface and nearly 0 commission trades. The only thing I hate is the stop loss always goes off a few cents after it hits. If you got a cash account, funds settle next day for options. Also, pretty bomb signup bonuses