Though the name TradeKing may imply a form of hierarchy that is not how they treat their clients. Since this online broker emerged in 2005, they have focused on supporting self-directed brokers equally, regardless of experience, account balance or trade volume. This online options broker wants all of their clients to feel like a trade king through fair pricing and reliable customer support. TradeKing has captured our attention and earns our TopTenREVIEWS Silver Award for online options trading.
All experienced brokers know that options trading is risky. TradeKing can help you minimize profit loss and maximize potential gain through their low pricing structure and options education. If you are a volume trader, you can take advantage of their lower rates of only $0.15 per options contract and flat trade fees. They include on their website an entire section dedicated to options and a website called Options Playbook that features 40 options strategies and much more.
This online discount broker provides a practical web-based trading platform as well as mobile platforms for the iPhone and Blackberry mobile phones. You can also call in orders without paying more, and stock equity orders are only $4.95. In addition, unlike many brokers, they charge the same fees for nearly everything regardless of your account balance or trade activity.
Options traders can easily maximize their profits and minimize loss using TradeKing. If you trade more than eight contracts at a time, they only charge $0.15 per contract plus a base fee of $8.95. In addition, they only charge one base fee regardless of whether your purchase a two, three or four leg option trade. If you purchase less than eight options contracts, you are only charged a base fee of $4.95 plus $0.65 per contract. Standard equity trades and broker-assisted trades are only $4.95 each. Options exercise fees are a bit more at $9.95, but assignments are only $4.95. One advantage to using TradeKing is that you can benefit from the low contract fee regardless of your account balance or quarterly trade volume. All traders have the equal opportunity to take advantage of their low trade and contract fees.
If you trade on the margin, you will notice that TradeKing margin rates are about average. They charge 8.75% for low loan balances and 4% for balances of over $1 million. Like most brokers, they require a balance of $2,000 for margin accounts. They require $25,000 of account equity for naked put writing and $100,000 for naked call writing. They do not charge an annual IRA fee, but they charge a hefty $50 fee for IRA transfers out and $50 for IRA closures. They also charge an inactivity fee of $50 per year if you do not use your account and maintain a low balance.
TradeKing is primarily an online broker rather than a traditional broker that is attempting to evolve into an online discount broker. Since their launch in 2005, they have created tools to make it simple for self-directed traders to place orders online. Their online options trade tools can support 19 different options chains, 14 of which are strategy based. Using their options research tools you can easily find bid, ask, midpoint, quotes, implied volatility and delta for individual options and strategies. It can also populate order tickets for you to save time and increase accuracy. TradeKing also supports complex orders such as trailing stops, one cancels other and one triggers other.
This discount broker provides all familiar trade research tools such as quotes, market overviews, watch lists, charts, options chains, technical analysis, scanners and calculators. The calculators they provide include probability, profit and loss, and options pricing calculators. Its stock and options scanner will let you scan over 150,000 option contracts based on up to 25 filters. To speed up the order process you can place an order straight from the scanner. It also has tools for monitoring your entire TradeKing portfolio and tax obligations.
For mobile trading, they provide apps specifically for the iPhone and Blackberry mobile phones. They report that they soon will be releasing apps for the iPad and Android devices. Using the mobile platform, you can trade stocks and options, check account activity, view quotes and charts, and monitor market news.
TradeKing relates that they are "dedicated to providing exemplary customer service." To help fulfill this declaration they provide chat, email, fax, mail and telephone support. They strive to respond to emails within two hours during normal business hours and within 24 hours during the weekend. You can telephone them or initiate an online chat conversation with them for direct support during standard business hours (Eastern time) Monday through Friday. Since they are an online broker, they do not have branch offices that you can visit like traditional brokers.
Like many discount brokers they utilize social media tools to help educate their customers and to provide an interface where traders can interact. When logged into TradeKing you can share broker notes, view trade activity, visit their forum, join a trade group or view fellow traders' profiles. You can also follow TradeKing on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. We follow them on Twitter and noticed that they post helpful suggestions regularly and support accounts for their management team.
TradeKing is not a large, full-service brokerage that spends most of their energy trying to wrangle in and manage large clients. They started their company from scratch, not from a traditional brokerage with antiquated practices. They originally launched online and focus on supporting self-directed brokers that want to place orders online independently. TradeKing provides options education, market news and research tools to help all traders, regardless of account balance, to make the best trading decisions possible.
