Hi! I've been spending a ton of time by now trying to find an online broker that will fit my needs. What I'm looking for is a broker that allows me to buy options with the underlying being stocks on NYSE and Nasqad. Futures, warrants, Forex, bonds etc. don't interest me at all. I'm not looking for a broker that has a high minimum fee per month (IBs minimum is 10$, and that's perfectly fine by me) nor one that charge me for their platforms. My problem is that most online brokers only cater US citizens and sometimes some other countries but so far the only ones that I have found, that seem reasonably serious, is IB and optionsXpress. The issue I have with optionsXpress is that the commissions are based on a flat-rate for a minimum of 14.95$ and then continues at 1.5$ per extra contract above 10 contracts. When it comes to IB, the problem comes to their rules for applications. Let me just start by stating my current economical situation: Net worth: about 30000$ (depending on exchange rates) Annual Income: varies, but around 15000$ the last three years. The net worth required according to IB for ages 21-30 needs to be 20000$ so that is covered but the problem comes to the annual income, because that needs to be >40000$ which isn't the case for a 21 year old soon to be student... Does anyone know if they actually check this? I know I am required to supply them with information about my employer, which is fine because I will still be employed when I'm studying, just not working, but will they actually contact them and ask or is this just a CYA from their side? There's also the issue about the required trade amount. They want you to have done at least 100 trades in FX, stocks or options, which I haven't done. I have made 9 stock-trades and have most my savings in bonds, which I could easily turn into a 100 trades, but that doesn't count towards it. My trading will mostly be simple calls and puts, nothing naked, and mostly in the range of 1-3 contracts per trade since I will only be funding my account with 3000$ and I'm probably looking at around one trade a month at first. Eventually I will also be looking at more complex strategies, credit/debit-spreads, Iron Condors etc. but I will have to learn them properly before using them. My current swedish broker doesn't provide options on american stocks, only on boring swedish largecaps such as Volvo and H&M which I have no interest in trading. I will not be daytrading, my strategy will be more towards the strategy used when going long or short on a stock but instead doing it with options to limit the risk and gain a bigger exposure to the market. So if anyone has any tips regarding IB or optionsXpress or know of any other broker that could fit my needs. Whatever happens I will probably start by trying to open an account with IB and if that fails try optionsXpress or other brokers. Thanks in advance!
"Whatever happens I will probably start by trying to open an account with IB" Yes, do that. IB is your best choice. They have lower account and activity minimums for people <=25, geared towards students. Try entering "student" in the "employment status" field and choose the lowest income bracket (0-10K or whatever) and see if the application progresses. Just make sure you fully understand their trading platforms (TWS etc), the margin calculations and processes, BEFORE you place your first trade. One other thing: In case you want to buy swedish equities, you have to know that IB might not be the best place for that. For example, IB does not support Nordic Growth Market, Aktietorget and many shares listed on First North