Optionshouse.com (an in depth look)
I know I wrote a review earlier about my trading account with Optionshouse.com, but I thought that I would add some screen shots to go along with the review.
Many of these screen shots will be too large to fit into the blog properly, so if you click on them you will be able to see the full size version.
This first screen shows the options chain view. In this view you can see the bid, ask, change, volume and open interest. If you click on any of the call or put prices a black box such as this one will pull up and allow you to choose many different trade options depending on what you want to do. The screen is actually much larger, but I wanted to just show a snippet to give an idea of what the chain view looks like. One nice feature of this view is that it refreshes every five seconds and flashes a different color for each option that changed in price during the last five seconds.
The second screen showes the options ticket. This is where you can initiate your trades. It also gives you the choice of either doing one trade at a time, or you can add different legs to the trade as well. A nice feature that is shown on the bottom of this image is that the total cost of the trade automatically updates each time you alter your trade.
In the third screen, you can see the watchlist which is located on one of the sidebar tabs. The watchlist is nice because it allows you to be able to see all of the stocks you are most interested in. One downfall of the watchlist is that it has to be refreshed manually. While this may be a nuisance if you need to have the most up to date quote, I can see how it would put a strain on the site’s bandwidth if it were in real time. Either way, it is still a nice feature.
I will admit to being a terrible options trader, but I can see how this site would be a great trading platform for an experienced trader, especially with the fixed commission structure.
Tags: broker, brokerage house, optionshouse
May 5th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I’m researching brokers for myself. Your review of OptionsHouse is interesting. Did you look into other discount brokers like Zecco or SogoTrade/SogoInvest? So far OptionsHouse looks better than those 2. However Zecco might have a couple of features that I like more. Do you have any thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks,
Tom
May 6th, 2008 at 6:13 am
Tom,
Thanks for checking out my blog! To choose the right broker for you, it will really depend on what kind of trader you are. Personally, I think that OptionsHouse is a very interactive yet simple trading platform. If you trade a lot of volume in options, then the flat commission rate that they offer would make sense for you. If you are just trading a couple at a time to hedge against an actual stock position then maybe a broker that offers a low initial options commission with a higher per contract fee would be better for you.
The one thing that may be a hindrance to you is that fact that OptionsHouse is such a bare bones platform. Don’t expect to get any 3rd party research reports out of them like you would with a more full service broker like Fidelity. The most they offer in the way of research is a stock price chart and the 52-week high/low.
With that being said, you may want to consider having two different brokerage accounts. One could be with a more full serviced online broker with which you would have access to the 3rd party research reports as well as some of the powerful stock screeners that they offer. You could then use that information to trade with a super cheap broker like OptionsHouse or Zecco.
As far as Zecco goes, they are actually a bit cheaper than OptionsHouse. You would have to trade 10 options at a time to be more expensive than Optionshouse for options trading. You also can’t really beat the $0 commission on your first 10 trades each month as long as you have a balance of $2,500. I never really looked into Zecco, but some reviews that I read lead me to believe that they still had a few kinks that they were working out.
Signing up for my OptionsHouse account was a breeze. All in all it took me a week and a half or so to get it all set up by mail, and I don’t exactly live close to Chicago. Trades times have been excellent in my experience. I also enjoy their real-time pricing. It would be worth checking out some other brokerage companies to find what suits you the best, but I would strongly recommend OptionsHouse as a solid and professional company to work with.
The best of luck to you! Let me know what you end up going with.
-Admin
May 20th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Hi Admin,
Thanks for your reply. I have to admit that I’m starting as a small investor.
The downside with Zecco is that you have to pay for their Premium Tools. It’s $8/month for QuoteGrid and $20/month for Quotestream (plus more for Add-Ons). That becomes quite expensive. I’ve also noticed that user reviews of Zecco aren’t very good, and they were low on Barron’s review.
Barron’s gave OptionsHouse a 4 star rating and had nice comments about its website. The OH Virtual Trading has been helpful to practice on. I’ll let you know which I choose.
Good luck to you too!
-Tom