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OptionsHouse vs Thinkorswim
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Thinkorswim vs OptionsHouse 2012: Trading Fees and Investments
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- Stocks and ETFs flat-rate plan: $9.95 per trade on market or limit orders, 5,000 shares maximum
- Stocks and ETFs per-share plan: $0.015 per share, $5 minimum
- OTCBB (Pink Sheets): $9.99 for any stock trade regardless of size or order type for stocks $2 or less
- Options: the lesser of $2.95 per contract OR $1.50 per contract plus $9.95 (only one $9.95 charge for unlimited spread legs)
- Mutual funds: first three mutual fund trades in calendar month are free; $15 per trade after that
- Bonds: up to 6 months maturity - $1 per bond
- Over 6 months up to 1 year maturity: $1.50 per bond
- Over 1 year maturity: $2 per bond
- Listed Bonds: $1.5 per bond additional
- Treasuries: minimum order is $25,000 ($25 minimum commission)
- All other bonds: minimum order is for 10 bonds ($25 minimum commission)
- Futures: $3.50 per contract (inclusive of exchange fees)
- Options on Futures: $3 per contract (inclusive of exchange fees)
- Investment products: stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds, T-Bills, futures, forex, ETFs
- Minimum to open Thinkorswim account: $3,500
- All Thinkorswim fees
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- Stocks and ETFs: $3.95
- Stocks and ETFs Broker assisted: $3.95
- Two plans for options:
1. Up to five contracts for $5; each additional
contract $1
2. $8.50 + 0.15/contract (great if trading over 10 contracts)
- Two plans for spreads:
1. Up to 10 contracts for $10; each additional
contract $1
2. $12.50 + 0.15/contract
- Mutual Funds: $9.95
- Orders for U.S. treasury bonds and listed corporate bonds are accepted by phone
- Investments: stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds, ETFs
- Minimum to open Optionshouse account: $1,000 for cash account, $2,000 for margin account
- All Optionshouse fees
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- Powerful trading platform, good risk management tools
- Lots of investment products to choose from
- No IRA fees
- Great customer service
- Virtual trading
- No surcharge for placing trade through broker
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- Lowest commissions
- Free streaming quotes
- Efficient trading tools
- No account minimums. Minimum initial funding size is $1,000 for a cash account and $2,000 for a margin account
- No fee IRA accounts
- No volume requirements, maintenance and inactivity fees
- Free check-writing privileges
- Free DRIPs (complete shares only)
- No surcharges for large orders and extended hours trading
- Very low margin rates
- Free virtual trading
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- High stock commissions
- In flat-fee plan there is additional charge of $0.005 per share on every share above 5,000
- All order types other than limit, marketable limit, and market orders will be charged per share rates
- Might be too complicated for beginner investors
- Browser trading is very slow
- High margin rates
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- For stocks priced $2 or less that are not options eligible, add $0.005 per share for the entire order
- Shortened extended hours trading: 8:00 am - 9:30 am and 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm EST
- International investors are not accepted
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OptionsHouse vs Thinkorswim: Comparison Summary
Optionshouse (Optionshouse Review)
is one of the cheapest flat-rate brokerage houses in the country - only $3.95 per stock/ETF trade!
Thinkorswim (Thinkorswim Review) has much
higher commissions: in per-share plan they start at $5 and could easily go to $10, $15 or higher depending on the number of shares
in the trade. In their flat-rate plan customers pay $9.95 per trade.
Thinkorswim has no IRA setup and annual IRA fees. The firm offers very good trading tools and customer service, as
well as free virtual trading.
OptionsHouse also does not charge IRA fees and we believe the company has one of the
Best IRA Accounts in the country.
OptionsHouse provides great customer service, free check-writing privileges and virtual trading, and it does not have surcharges on
large orders and extended hours trading. We rated it the
Top Online Broker in 2011.
OptionsHouse offers significantly lower commissions than Thinkorswim, especially on orders of over 500 shares.
We believe that enormous savings over the years on trading costs alone justify going with OptionsHouse instead of Thinkorswim.
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