OptionsXpress Review 2012: Commissions, Fees and Investment Products
- Stocks and ETFs: $8.95
- Options (active traders): $12.95 for up to 10 contracts, $1.25/contract for over 10 contracts
- Options (non-active traders): $14.95 for up to 10 contracts, $1.50/contract for over 10 contracts
- Mutual Funds: $9.95
- Bonds: $5 per bond, $9.95 minimum
- Futures: 1-40 contracts $6.99; 41-100 contracts $5.99; 101-300 contracts $4.99; 301-1,000 contracts $3.99; 1,001 + contracts $2.99
- Options on Futures: 1-40 contracts $12.99; 41-100 contracts $8.99; 101-300 contracts $7.99; 301-1,000 contracts $6.99; 1,001 + contracts $5.99
- Covered Calls: $22.90 up to 10 contracts
- Penny Options: 1-10 contracts $4.95 flat; 10 + $0.50/contract
- Spreads, Straddles & Combos: 2-10 contracts - $12.95 Flat (active traders) $14.95 Flat (non-active traders); 10 + contracts - $1.25/contract (active traders); $1.50/contract (non-active traders)
- Investments: stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds, futures, options on futures, covered calls, ETFs
- Minimum to open OptionXpress account: $0 for cash account, $2,000 for margin account
- All OptionXpress fees
OptionsXpress has a blazingly fast new account application that doesn't sacrifice security:
a checking account we linked used a deposit verification process and the next
day we got a phone call from customer service to verify account information.
OptionsXpress offers all imaginable account types: Individual Account, Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship,
Joint Tenants in Common, Trusts (Regular, Keogh, Profit Sharing Plan Trust, Money Purchase Plan),
Corporate and LLC, Partnership, Investment Club, Custodial Account, Coverdell (educational IRA), Minor Roth,
Minor Traditional, Custodial Traditional IRA, Traditional IRA, Rollover IRA, Roth IRA, SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA.
OptionsXpress Review: Website (OptionsXpress.com)/Trading Tools
OptionsXpress.com website has a very pleasant feel and is easy to navigate.
The firm offers 18 powerful trading tools, some of which are as easy for
beginners as they are for experienced investors.
Some of the tools are:
- Chains: all-in-one screen for real-time quotes, intrinsic and time values, and complex spread construction.
- Chart PatternsSM: up to 20 stocks ranked by how closely they meet your interests and spending limits.
- XpressCharts: mix and match technical studies until you find a picture that best suits you.
- FleXCharts: streaming charts let you customize your view of the market.
- Xspreads Spread Book: view open spread orders by underlying security, month of expiration and strategy type with the Xspreads Spread Book
- XTend: downloadable trading console is perfect for sophisticated traders.
One of the tools is called “The Dragon”. It is a screener totally geared toward options and short term trading. It can screen stocks and options
based on a number parameters. A few of them are high open interest, high put/call ratio and big change in volatility. These are important metrics
for options traders and give deep insight into market functions. There is also another great tool called “StrategyScan”. This tool allows you to
pick from 6 screening options to pinpoint certain kinds of trades. You start with the stock symbol, then you pick your time horizon and direction.
Direction is bullish or bearish, you can pick anywhere from strongly bullish through shades of neutrality into strongly bearish. Next is trading
level and investment risk. It wont pick trades you can't afford. Finally you pick a specific strategy. The screener will scan all trades from
buying stock to selling options and other, more complicated strategies like butterfly spreads. As complicated as trading can be it is easy to see
just how beneficial tools like these can be.
One of our personal favorite features is the charting. OptionsXpress uses a super fast streaming chart powered by Java. You can pull up any chart,
any stock or option traded in the US. The information is quick and fast as the floor of the exchange. The charts can be set up to display seven
different price patterns including bar, area, percent and candle. We prefer candle. It is easy for me to see the price movement and with the
streaming charts it's like watching a video game. You can focus the charts down to pinpoint movements of price such as 1 day/1 minute charting.
You can also zoom out and the the Dow (DIA) from the late eighties into the present. Other features of the charts include tools, settings and
direct trading. You can apply any tool you use to the charts on OptionsXpress. Fibonaccis, channels, bollinger bands, MACD, stochastic and
dozens of others are available. That is also assuming you already knew there were moving averages, volume and trend lines.
OptionsXpress Review: Pros
- Best customer service
- Many well-designed trading tools and cutting-edge trading technology
- Free streaming quotes
- $100 bonus for opening new account
- No fee IRA accounts
- Great research
- Free paper trading
- No money down to open new account
- Free account transfers
- Free instructor lead online classes
- Free broker-assisted trading
- Free dividend reinvestment (contact customer service)
- No platform fees
OptionsXpress Review: Cons
- Higher than average commissions on stocks and ETFs
OptionsXpress Review Summary
OptionsXpress offers great customer service, professional trading tools and is rated Best in
Trade Experience, Technical Trading Tools, Usability, Research and Customer Service Access
in investor surveys by major financial magazines.
The firm makes up for higher than average commissions by not charging fees which a lot of other brokers charge. There is no
IRA setup and annual IRA fees, no account inactivity, maintenance or platform fees. OptionsXpress does not have a surcharges
for stocks below $1 (penny stocks), large orders or extended hours trading -- most brokerages have one or more of
these charges which makes certain trades really expensive.
Beginner investors could educate themselves at OptionsXpress by taking free instructor-lead online classes.
They could also call and place broker-assisted trades with no additional charge. OptionsXpress offers free virtual trading,
which allows users to practice trading with fake money. The firm was rated #1 Easiest To Use by Barron's magazine.
For investors looking for the best customer service, OptionsXpress is the way to go. Because mutual fund commission is a very
low $9.95 (plus load fee if buying load fund) and there are no IRA fees, OptionsXpress is a good option for mutual fund investors and
for No-Fee IRA account.
Barron's magazine rated the firm at the top of Best For Long Term Investing, Best For Futures Traders and
Best For Options Traders categories in 2010 broker survey. All this makes OptionsXpress one of the best IRA firms in 2012.
In 2011 OptionsXpress was bought by one of the largest, oldest and best known brokerage houses in the country - Charles Schwab - and
it is now a part of this firm. This acquisition should ease the fears of those prospective clients, who are worried about trusting
their money with smaller, unknown company.
Investors could open new account with no money down and no commitment and see for themselves if they
like the company as much as we do. New customers get $100 free for opening new account (by using promo link below).
They also get transfer fees
reimbursed if transferring an account from another institution -- just email OptionsXpress after it's done.
OptionsXpress
Reviewed by Brokerage Review on
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Rating: 5
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