See attached tables. For software-based brokers, they rated Thinkorswim, IB, MB Trading the Top 3. One thing I wasnât aware of: Thinkorswim has better ârange of offeringsâ than IB. Gonna take another look at them.
Thanks for the info. I have been looking for a broker (other than IB) that will allow me to trade international equities online, and I think this will be a good start. Does anyone have any suggestions?
The fact that MB trading was ranked so highly simply amazes me. Apparently the editors at Barrons are amazed that you can place an order for multiple strikes/months. Unfortunately, you cannot place orders for option spreads, or naked short puts/calls. Its also obvious that they didn't spend anytime in the software during trading hours, because they ranked them so highly despite the frequent disconnects/frozen quotes. Unbelievable!
Now here's their criteria details: Range of Offerings: We awarded points for the diversity of investments that can be traded online, with partial points given for those that can only be traded offline. Since all the brokers allow long and short stock-trading, and most permit single-leg options orders online, we don't award points for those transactions. We asked brokers how many stocks, on average, their customers can sell short, and awarded up to a half-point based on their answer. Complex options trading, and the availability of mutual funds, futures, commodities and international trading were also considered. A 5 in this category means you can execute all of these transactions online. We cut this category's weighting by half for software-powered brokers since their frequent traders usually focus on equities and options. .... LOL (I have a lot respect for thinkorswim, only laughing at Barron's method of rating)
that list is a joke. to even put mb trading in the top 10 is simply amazing. there software is cumbersome and there quotes lag. for the casual trader they're ok but for a full time scalper forget it