OptionsXpress vs tradeMONSTER

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Changing brokers can be a real nightmare, there’s a never ending list of things for you to worry about.

Do they have the tools I need to trade? Are there any hidden charges I need to know about? Do they even offer the products I trade? Are just some of the questions you need answers to.

Fortunately we’ve done all the hard work for you. We’ve compared two of the best known brokers, OptionsXpress and tradeMONSTER to give you an idea what kind of traders they’ll suit and why.

Products & Services
Broker	OptionsXpress	tradeMONSTER
Rating	[rating:5/5]	[rating:3/5]
website	Visit the OptionsXpress Website	Visit the tradeMONSTER Website
Our Review	Read Our OptionsXpress Review	Read Our tradeMONSTER Review
	Bank Deposits	Bank Deposits
	Bonds	Bonds
	Certificates of Deposits	Certificates of Deposits
	Day Trading	Day Trading
Services	Extended Hours Trading	Extended Hours Trading
	ETFs	ETFs
	IRAs	IRAs
	Mutual Funds	Mutual Funds
	Trading Community	Trading Community

 Services Overview

It’s pretty difficult to separate brokers’ purely on products and services these days, there was a time that brokers were a lot more specialized offering only options or stocks and mutual funds. But today most brokers offer all the major investment products, so there’s little to choose between them in terms of services offered.

There are two things to look out for though, firstly do they offer after hours trading and if they do is there a surcharge for it? And secondly do they have a surcharge for penny stocks?

OptionsXpress offer after hours trading at no extra charge, neither do they apply a surcharge to penny stocks. tradeMONSTER on the other hand charge both penny stock and after hours surcharges of 1.5 cents per share for after hours trading and 0.0005% per share for penny stocks.

So if you check your portfolio after hours OptionsXpress are the way to go. Penny stocks are not such a big deal because even after the surcharge tradeMONSTER will still work out cheaper.

Trading Tools
	OptionsXpress	tradeMONSTER
	Automated Trading	Automated Trading
	Investor Resource Center	Investor Resource Center
	Mobile Trading	Mobile Trading
	Online Advisor	Online Advisor
Trading Tools	Profit & Loss Calculator	Profit & Loss Calculator
	Streaming Charts	Streaming Charts
	Stock & Fund Screeners	Stock & Fund Screeners
	Tables & Graphs	Tables & Graphs
	Training & Education	Training & Education
	Virtual Trading	Virtual Trading

 Trading Tools Overview

Anyone who’s used the OptionsXpress platform will be aware what an amazing piece of work it is. Beautifully simple and yet packed with tools it’s one of the best trading platforms around.

It has everything the intermediate trader will need. There are over twenty powerful tools to choose from including Volatility View and Spread Book which helps traders look for potential spread trading opportunities by accessing liquidity information.

On top of all that it’s one of the easiest platforms to use with true one click trading. Trades can literally be executed from anywhere within the system with just one click.

tradeMONSTER’s platform is not quite so accomplished. It still has a bewildering number of tools but it’s not as intuitive as the OptionsXpress platform. To get the most out of it you really need to spend a day going through the manual.

Summary

So if you’re an all round intermediate trader looking to trade up from one of the smaller brokers, OptionsXpress are the way to go. With an amazing platform and excellent customer service they’re hard to beat.

It’s difficult for me to recommend tradeMONSTER to any kind of trader, yes they’re cheaper but price isn’t everything and the OptionsXpress platform more than makes up the difference. Once you’ve tried it you won’t want to use any other broker.

One final point, if you’re a beginner I wouldn’t recommend either of these brokers to you. As a rookie you really need to give priority to your training and education and whilst both of these brokers have some excellent training it’s set at a more advanced level.

A beginner would find greater value joining a broker that specializes in helping rookie traders, a broker like Zecco or TradeKing would be much more suitable.

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