Hey folks i've been trading stocks for a few years and would like to open up an options account on the side. I'm looking at doing a number of things, but mostly selling straddles, call and put spreads and combinations. What would I be looking at for a firm that offers this as well as margin requirements. Thanks!
Optionsxpress has been good to me. I had an old account with Ameritrade a couple years ago, but was not the greatest. Don't know how they are now since they merged.
Click the "Brokers" tab at the top of this page and check out the number of reviews for each broker. You'll find IB by far has the greatest number of reviews. That kinda tells you which broker the Elite Trader community tends to use. One note, if you are talking about an IRA account IB may not be the best because I don't think they support spreads in an IRA. Actually, I have not seen anything at the IB web site that is clear about their options trading capability in an IRA. Don
Thinkorswim is definitely the one to check out as it has no trading levels so once you're approved for options trading you can trade any strategy you want, provided you can meet the margin requirements.