Hello, I'm starting a Friends and Family account at IB(side note: what an amazing offering they have with this!) I am very comfortable with TDA's TOS options trading. I have years of experience using this platform and know most of its features. I am also semi-capable with Thinkscript to design my own custom indicators for underlying analysis. Does IB's TWS have the tools I will need? Options position and portfolio analysis? will I be able to analyze my options by expiration for multiple underlings like I can in TOS? Also, just interested in general TWS experience as an options trading platform? Your personal experience with it would be great info for me! please share strengths / weaknesses IYO! Cheers
If you want to take advantage of the IB Friends and Family accounts but want an option platfrom that offers a little more than TWS, I'd suggest looking at LVX. We offer LVX with accounts at IB. You can use TWS or LVX to execute and use LVX for Scanning, position management and analysis. https://www.lightspeed.com/trading-platforms/livevol-x/ Bob
I might do this if it was offered as a stand alone for IB but unfortunately, its not... and TOS commissions are the worst in the industry at this point...
Depends on a number of factors. For index options they're almost equal. IB passes along exchange fees but TOS eats them. Also, people gag on the TOS ticket charge of $6.95 but if you're trading 10+ contracts it doesn't matter.
why does it not matter? when IB's per contract is almost the same? also, just wanted to throw an edit in... im not switching cause of fees... they arent inhibiting my trading style. It's the Friends and Fam account that is so appealing. The added bonus of being able to system trade as well without having to use a separate broker is nice too.
Remember the origins here -- ToS is an analysis package that trades; TWS is a trading package that (slowly, slowwwwwly) is learning to analyze. To that extent, ToS will have a distinct advantage. For me (coming as a equities' tick scalper), TWS/IB had the absolute advantage when I was running through hundreds of trades a day. But as I'm now an options premium seller, trading most OPM, in what is sometimes a "combative" environment (i.e., with new All-Time High(s) reported every other week for 6 months in a row...), the speed afforded by TWS set-ups is gratifying, satisfying, *exulting*, ..... marvelous. (I'm putting aside all my MAJOR BITCHING AT I.B. Days.....) So it boils down to, "Just what do you wish for, in 'analyzing options'??" I have built my own -- a system that resembles screenshots from OptionVue in its overall nature. In the meantime, IB has developed a good number of analysis tools, and very-much improved some others, to the point where I've promised myself to look through the whole mess again and re-acquaint myself. (Some were pretty damn cludgy and juvenile -- and look vastly improved now.) But yeah -- that multi-account stuff -- Wow. VERY handy. I encourage you to check out the whole suite of Risk Navigator tools. If you only used half of what ToS had available, this might be right up your alley.
I use TWS a lot, and agree it is mainly for 'execution' and has only the minimal/basics for Analysis of any type. Although it does have several tools for Options Analysis I find they really are only a starting point for option traders and not nearly detailed enough for the more experienced trader. In fact, I have had to write my own tools in order to analyze or crunch numbers as needed. If TWS could allow us to create custom columns with custom formulas, that would be so helpful...