I have been looking into the Hoadley Trading & Investment Tools, in particular the Options Analytics items. It turns out that for Futures Options, the option chains required for input would be available from e-signal, barcharts (both real-time) or via an account with OptionsXpress. For the volume and swing trading style I am interested in, there is no real justification for e-signal or barcharts costs, so I looked more into OptionsXpress. $12.99 commissions + fees + $0.75 futures options transaction fee they levy! No account minimum, no inactivity fee and free streaming quotes. These guys appear to be giving away free lunches, how do they stay in business with that sort of commission rate? I looked at some previous threads in which they were mentioned, so it appears there are folks who use them. Am I missing something here?
They charge thousands of percent more than any other broker in history for futures and futures options trades. Anyone who trades futures or futures options with them has to be the stupidest traders ever.