Trade in Groups

The stock market can be an exciting place; but for the novice investor, and perhaps even the seasoned one, it’s all too easy to make one bad step and watch your hard-earned money disappear.

If you’re looking to dabble in the wheeler-dealer world of stock options, but either don’t have the time to devote to building your portfolio or don’t have any experience of the markets then it may be wise to consider joining an online brokerage in order to maximise both your time and your money. With a vast number of online brokers around, finding the best one for your money is vitally important to your wealth. So what do you look for?

Firstly, look for one that registered with a regulatory body. FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) is the largest non-governmental regulator for all securites firms operating in the United States. After all, if you’re going to parting with money, you’ll want to be sure that your money is secure and that in the event of a dispute you have legal recourse.

From hereon in, choosing a brokerage is a matter of choice, so to help you make your choice, first visit some brokerage websites and have a good look around. How user friendly is the site? Can you find the information you need quickly? The answer isn’t always ‘yes’. What’s more, consider your own level of expertise in the stock market; does the site baffle you with jargon, or does it use plain, understandable sentences? What about a section for beginners to learn more in-depth about the various options and trades? Perhaps a community where a user can meet other traders and gain advice into market dealings, or simply to have a chat.

What about calculating your return on an achieving option? Or your loss on an underachieving one? Does the website give you the tools to perform these calculations, or will you be left scratching your head while musing over a notepad and calculator, deciding whether or not to cut loose your option or ride it out in the hope it picks up? And fees; what about fees? How much are you likely to have to pay when it comes to finally trading?

Tradeking is an online brokerage that has been in business since 2005 and has already amassed awards for excellence, including SmartMoney Magazine’s #1 Discount Broker and featured in Barron’s Top 5 Best Web Brokers. With a website to match the accolades earned, Tradeking could well be an ideal starting place for novice investors.

The Tradeking website is an extremely clean and easily navigable website, with all relevant information readily available. For novice investors, or those who want to brush up on the terminology, Tradeking offers a comprehensive Education section which features in-depth articles in both text and .mp3 format covering a range of market jargon as well as a wealth of online tools to calculate various options, profit & loss and probability among other resources. Educational web-casts and e-books are also available to help you get the most out of your trading.

Activity charts showing the current state of play in the markets can help you identify trends, good performing stock and underachievers, helping you plan your trading accordingly and accompanied by several other tools and resources, users can get a firm grasp on current market happenings and gauge probability of success of planned trading strategies.

Unlike most other brokers, Tradeking operates a flat fee structure, rather than a pricing structure. This means that regardless of how trade options perform, users know exactly how much they will be charged. What’s more, a standard margin rate commission is levied, meaning you get to keep more of your profit.