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There are many choices of trading platforms. Investigate as many of these options as possible so you know what might be appropriate and valuable to you. Some of the trading platforms are supported by major brokerage houses.
Ally Invest
Ally Invest is a trading platform that lists full charts of how well stocks are moving. The platform comes from the popular online banking service provider. It costs $4.95 per trade to use this and does not require any account minimums. Furthermore, Ally Invest does not work with any commission-free ETFs or mutual funds. Such investments might cost extra for you to purchase through the platform. Discounts are also available through Ally Invest. You could spend $3.95 per trade if you make at least 30 trades in a quarter. It should not be difficult for a day-trader to reach that threshold.
This solution reveals points that make online banking and financial services worthwhile but also frustrating. Ally is able to charge its customers less for services thanks to a lack of physical branches for its operations. Not having physical sites might be a problem for some people who want direct contact with a broker.
TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade offers a more robust and thorough approach to providing information on stocks. It includes free research tools to help you identify patterns and signals in stocks. The extensive streaming news support from TD Ameritrade is also valuable as it offers information from Zacks, Dow Jones, Credit Suisse, and many others. This does cost a little extra to use at $6.95 per trade. You could get a few hundred dollars extra in a cash bonus when you open an account here, but the bonus will vary based on the size of the account you have. TD Ameritrade also has various trading centers and locations all around the United States. You could visit one of these places if you have a need for trading support. You can also get access to TD’s various Canadian branches through its TD Canada Trust subsidiary.
TradeStation
TradeStation is famous for offering a thorough and detailed trading platform. The group has become popular recently as it reduced its original account minimum total from $5,000 to $500, thus letting more people get onto the platform. (That doesn’t mean you should have only $500 in your account because day-traders need more money to have their positions filled.) The stock trading costs can vary based on the investment. While a flat rate of $5 is available, you could also choose a per-share pricing point based on the stock’s trading volume. This would entail spending up to $0.01 per share on the trade. You would have to spend at least $1 on the trade to qualify for this deal; it is clearly a deal designed for people looking to make larger transactions on the platform.
You can work with more than a hundred indicators on the platform. You can create your own individual indicators based on certain parameters you want to work with, although that might not be as many as what you would get using a stock screener.
Interactive Brokers
Interactive Brokers provides a trading platform that costs $0.005 per share to use and has a $10,000 account minimum. This is designed with frequent trading in mind. It offers a good array of investment options and lower margin rates. However, it does charge inactivity fees to those who are not trading often. As well, Interactive Brokers does not offer many educational services for prospective traders either. The system clearly focuses on experienced traders.
Charles Schwab
Charles Schwab has been one of the most trusted investment brokerage firms in the United States. The organization has been in operation since 1971 and has hundreds of branches in the U.S. The firm has its own electronic trading platform for day-trading for people who need commission-free ETFs and index funds. The group has research resources from Morningstar, Market Edge, and many other popular firms. The platform provides specifics on stocks. Charles Schwab charges $4.95 per trade and requires a $1,000 minimum in your account. It does not charge inactivity fees.
EOption
Those who are looking for a basic platform could benefit from EOption. This does not have lots of fancy features. It just shows a basic chart for each stock. It does not give you many research options, although a stock screener will provide that information. EOption charges $3 per trade and with an account minimum of $500. This platform is best for experienced traders who have stock screeners that can work in lieu of the research features that other platforms offer.
This information about trading platforms proves that they are all varied but can be worthwhile. Be sure you have the right materials ready for accessing one of these platforms in order to start trading.
