Keene on the Market: Trade to Win Using Unusual Options Activity, Volatility, and Earnings

CHAPTER 5

Options Brokers and Platforms

The Right Options Broker for You

When opening an account with an online broker, one of the best practices is to check out as many different service providers as you can before sending in the paperwork. Examine all of the nuances of Options Broker A versus Options Broker B; there are similar qualities to all brokers, but the key elements such as pricing, order execution, and tools for technical analysis can go a long way in helping you determine the best choice for your options trading.

Just like everyone trades differently, everyone requires different things in an options trading broker. Some traders like to have all the bells and whistles on their trading platforms, such as details on the percentage chance an option will be in-the-money at any point of time. Other traders don't need those types of add-ons.

Because I do most of my math calculations in my head, I wanted the options broker with the cheapest commissions; the trade-off is that I'd have to give up some customer support. With my level of trading experience and expertise, I do not look at much of the information provided by trading platforms. In fact, I consider much of it to be fluff. I don't need to care about the “percentage chance of an option being in-the-money” at some point in time, or the P&L graph for a call spread. I have been trading for so long now, I automatically know the risk-versus-reward for every trade and the impact the Greeks will have on any given position. ...