Traders looking for ease of use, excellent retail trading tools and technology will find optionsXpress suitable; active options & derivatives traders should definitely give them a try .They have continuously grabbed the Barron\'s 4 stars for the best broker. Traders with less to intermediate experience would benefit from the virtual trading platform provided by optionsXpress. Experienced users who wish to be in the lower commission range can also benefit from them. Investments are secure, the customers are insured up-to $25 million per customer in case the company goes bankrupt.
For detailed information, browse through our detailed reviews below.
What Type of Accounts can you open with OptionsXpress?
Popular brokerage accounts are Individual and IRA's.
The list of accounts available with optionsXpress is:
- Individual
- Joint Tenant
- Business and Trust Account
- Brokerage
- IRA's
- Minors
OptionsXpress offers the following selection of investment products:
- Stocks
- Options
- Mutual Funds
- ETFs
- Futures
- International Exchanges: 9 futures exchanges
OptionsXpress : Fees & Commissions
OptionsXpress is a middle-segment broker and charge a slightly higher commission rate on a trade as compared to other discount brokers. While trading options, they charge $1.50 per contract if trading less than 35 contracts, with a minimum of $14.95. Otherwise, it is only $1.25 per contract with a $12.95 minimum. The commissions on stock are same as the parent company and slightly higher than the cheap brokers.
OptionsXpress Platform Performance and Tools
OptionsXpress boasts of easy-to-use and sophisticated online trading tools. However, it really lacks behind when it comes to providing third party research. The optionsXpress Research Center provides straightforward, one-stop access to breaking news, market commentary, research reports, quotes, and key upcoming dates to give you everything you need to know about what’s going on—all in one place.
OptionsXpress has the following trading platforms:
- Xtend:is offered in both desktop form and as individual tools on the website itself. Overall, the desktop version of Xtend is just okay.
- OX Mobile:The optionsXpress mobile website is the easy, convenient and secure way to follow the market and manage your account on the go. Take the power of optionsXpress with you and trade Stocks, Options, Futures, Futures Options and more on any web-enabled mobile device.
Trading tools offered by optionsXpress are:
- Screener scans the market for potential stock, option, mutual fund or ETF trade opportunities based on your criteria.
- StrategyScan lets you preview trade opportunities based on your criteria, giving you information on your maximum potential gain, risk profile and profit and loss characteristics.
- Streaming Charts: Having free access to tick-by-tick streaming real-time quotes for stocks, options and futures is an invaluable asset. Use their real-time streaming charts to have a detailed view of what the market is doing and where it might be headed. You can customize your charts using any of the more than 100 different technical indicators, and then save your customized chart set-ups to use in the future.
- Trade Calculator
- Position Analyzer
How good is their Customer Service and Support?
OptionsXpress offers by far one of the best customer support and give value to the suggestions offered by the customers. Although, they don't have any physical retails locations, they provide quality service through other available means. The OptionsXpress customer wish list lets traders submit product ideas and suggestions to OptionsXpress. And when other customers vote on those suggestions, the most popular one gets implemented.
Education & Training for Traders
Traders who want to improve their trading skills before venturing into the market can use the virtual trading to hone their skills.. You can have access to free webinars, videos on how to use tools or to place orders.
Miscellaneous information about OptionsXpress
OptonsXpress trades under the banner of Charles Schwab. It is a publicly traded company that’s headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. You can also check out the review of the parent company, Charles Schwab.
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14 October 2009
They ripped you off 40,000$? Are you kidding me, mind explaining what happened? Remember they are not gonna tell you when to pull your money out when market is crashing. If thats what you were really expecting, god bless you.
14 October 2009
Lol why are you getting so emotional. What did they do to you?
03 October 2009
I dont work for Options Express like all the other 5 stars guys. I know they are crooked. I hate all therir fees
03 October 2009
Options Express and Broker Xpress is for inexperieince traders that love paying the super high fees.
01 October 2009
AAAAA+++++ You get what you pay for. Optionsxpress is the best deal for you hard earned money. Why save a few bucks what a Zecco outfit and get hurt in the market. Go Optionsxpress, go home happy.
24 September 2009
OptionsXpress is very good at "buying in".This is when the stock starts going down and your short position starts giving you money – they will execute "buy-in". They will buy to cover your short position and pocket the gains as the stock goes down. They will say it is "industry practice". But OptionsXpress uses this loophole for their advantage EXCESSIVELY! They ripped me off $40000!
29 May 2009
Barron’s, Forbes, Kiplinger’s and Smart Money have all recognized optionsXpress as one of the world leaders in online stock trading
20 May 2009
"Unlike other brokers, OptionsXpress doesn’t charge for:
* real-time or streaming quotes
* standard withdrawals or deposits
* maintenance costs no matter how much you have in your account
* inactivity fees"
20 May 2009
At first glance, the commission seemed high but OptionsXpress’ commissions for options is actually much lower. The actual prices depend on how many contracts you trade but for anything that is more than 10 contracts, it’s much, much cheaper going with OptionsXpress
20 May 2009
"As its name suggests, OptionsXpress’ core competency is with options trading. With tools like its option Pricer and Xspreads, it’s very easy to keep track of option market to execute your trades correctly.
In addition, the online broker also has the most comprehensive options education available for its clients that I have seen. From the very basics to advanced topics, OptionsXpress has very easy to follow videos that guide and teach you."
18 May 2009
love their per share trading and other training programs… must attend
17 May 2009
Excellent customer service. Good rates
17 May 2009
optionsXpress began in 2000 as a service primarily focused on options and a limited selection of equities; however, today the broker offers a wide array of investments including stocks, mutual funds, exchange
15 May 2009
We really liked that optionsXpress offers a good balance between research/education and pricing. Often you can get low prices, but with little support, or tons of support with high prices, optionsXpress is perfectly in the middle.