TDA plans to add fees to option contracts?

I did have Schwab's StreetSmart platform. Probably still have an account with them. They gave banking services which is quite convenient. SmartStreet is a good one but, at least when I as trading it, not so good for options. Beside, for me... it is this Windows thing..

Hope more people will chime in. The more info before making decision the better (usually : )
 
Just spoke with Schwab regarding commissions/fees. They charge 65cents total fees, but may negotiate that down some with large account size.
That 0.65 cents sounds great for SPX. (same as I currently get with TDA (for one more day)!

Did you ask if they plan to start passing along the exchange fees like some other brokerages?
 
Did you ask if they plan to start passing along the exchange fees like some other brokerages?
He indicated their 0.65 per contract FEE covered the exchange fees and there were no "commissions"!
He seemed to also be perplexed with why TDA decided to push out their new SPX fees at this time!
(However, as someone else stated earlier, we have nothing cast in stone to protect from future actions)

I still think something does not add up here, it is as though someone at the top of the food chain at TDA has decided to screw their SPX clients, and is not concerned with accounts moving elsewhere as a result! -- Does not compute!
 
I have used the Streetsmart platform but as with Fidelity's platform I don't have it loaded at work so I mainly use the web version
I use the Optionxpress sign in which is much simpler without the stupid phone code confirmation from Schwab than use the all in one trade and enter my put spread It's very easy

I agree about the TDA fees not making much sense
I just hope that's all there is
It can always be worse
Who knows maybe after the merger they may want to charge extra for the TOS platform
 
He indicated their 0.65 per contract FEE covered the exchange fees and there were no "commissions"!
He seemed to also be perplexed with why TDA decided to push out their new SPX fees at this time!
(However, as someone else stated earlier, we have nothing cast in stone to protect from future actions)

I still think something does not add up here, it is as though someone at the top of the food chain at TDA has decided to screw their SPX clients, and is not concerned with accounts moving elsewhere as a result! -- Does not compute!

I agree nothing is set in stone. For some reason, though, I would feel more assured if I explicitly asked the question. Maybe the agent knows something about their future directions and would show his/her hand... or maybe not.

I may call Schwab myself and ask. I especially wonder what's going to happen after the merger. If they cover the exchange fees now but won't later then it may be less worth the trouble for me to switch.
 
If you had the same commission rate and fees at Schwab and Fidelity, does anyone have any reasons to pick one over the other?
 
So I placed my first trade yesterday at TD and I got 54 cents for the put spread for the Jan 17 weekly and 35 cents for the call spread because the price was below $1.00
Still cheaper than Tastyworks so I can't complain
 
Status 1: What U? (underlying)

Higher commission are especially bad for low income trades.

TD contacted me last Fri because I popped up as heavy user of TOS, or something. I try to call them back and see if, and how much, they are willing to cave on commissions. I have to sit down and do calculations.

I watched all 3 main videos re Trading Tool. I don't know... first impression was very good but in details... Can't share opinion yet because I didn't put my hands on it. I like commissions of CT, at least like them more than TOS', they have other platforms as well. Will call them again. From pics looks like a Windows thing. Would love to hook up TOS platform to CT commissions :)

Still didn't research on Schwab. What else interesting is out there re alternative brokers to TDA? What about IB? Worth to switch?
 
Status 1: What U? (underlying)

I am trading SPX which is probably the one most are concerned about I bet if it wasn't for the index fees no one would be complaining about the fees

Just curious what you mean by low income trades and also what is considered heavy user ?
Is that something like day trading hundreds of contracts or you mean something else ?

I saw there is a video about Choice trade in the library so I am planing to watch that today
Not because I am planing to switch just to see what they have It never hurts to check out the competition

I tried IB a few years ago but I didn't like it It has a messy platform and I believe you have to pay small monthly fees to get data for spx and rut otherwise you can't even place an order I suppose if you get used to it you are ok and I understand that if you are outside US you may not have a choice but I haven't found anything better than TOS unless you have your own risk analyzer software

I know you said you don't want the broker to determine your trading style but you may want to consider if perhaps trading somewhat higher income trades with lighter use may be a better alternative to using an unknown brokerage
 
So I looked at the presentation and it has some nice features but because I only trade SPX options I can't take advantage of most of the features I definitely would not want to switch from TOS to CT but it would be ok for an additional account in case I need one
They have a risk graph but I am not to crazy about that vertical version of it they were presenting
I can't tell if it's better than TOS until I try it out but it doesn't seem to be as easy to use

As far as the fees it's only about 5-15 cents cheaper than TOS until you get to $50 cap per month and than it's just 10 cents more than Schwab You have to trade a lot of SPX options to make it worthwhile I am not at that level yet
 
I decided to sign up for the free trial just to see what it feels like but it looks like I can't even use it for my trading
Unless I don't see any buttons it doesn't look like the SPX has weekly options I only see the monthlies so that's not good enough for me as I trade mostly weeklies
Also you can't get rid of the windows on the right side so the options chains are squished to the left and on the top side you have the windows menu which you can hide to give more height but you also have the banner and other unrelated to options tab that take up space so it's not like the trade tab on TOS where you see the entire page with option chains

The risk analyzer I also did not like because you can't move the graph You can zoom in to one section but you cannot pan left or right you can only reset and than zoom into a different section

Maybe if there are a lot of option traders and they do a lot of upgrades to make it more user friendly toward options it may be a viable option trading platform but as of right now and speaking for myself only I will not be using it anytime soon
 
KK, so you paid .65 for comm and .54/.35 as index fees. Which makes 1.19/1.00. Is that right? (not including exchange fees) Not too bad in this environment but also not great.

Just curious what you mean by low income trades

I meant that if your trade brings $100 profits than increase in commissions hurts you more than somebody who gets $1K (all other things being equal).

what is considered heavy user ?
Is that something like day trading hundreds of contracts or you mean something else ?

I have no idea. I trade(d) average amount of contracts, nothing special, in last few months I even reduced my activity. Maybe they look at that I place some trades almost every day? Dunno. I suspect it is just marketing thing. I will use this occasion to get some info and test comm reduction. No high hopes though.



I share your approach to IB. I also admire people who start with IB having TOS available to them.
BTW Choice Trade do hold foreign to US accounts with $5/mo fee.


re Choice Trade Elite / Trade Tool. When I watched recorded presentations I wrote down some notes/questions/requests_to_make. I stopped on 3rd page ... :) Still not sure if some options I look for wasnt shown for lack of time or are non existent. I trade options and this platform is not ready yet (again without testing it). Am of opinion it has great potential.
I think to experience paper trading you should create paper account with CT or, better, open account with them without funding
and try platform this way - you will have live data feed.

Commissions/COBE fees:

#contracts:
125 TDA - $162.5 CT - 143.75
250 325 225
500 650 306.25

Something like that... So with 100 contracts per month I'd stay with TOS because I think it suits me better than Elite if I trade 1000 I think twice. Want to get more insight on their other platform. I know that professionals are using them so they should be worth smth.

I keep looking for better commission/platform package. I want to test StreetSmart Edge as I noticed they offer it also in web form. Wonder what changed since I was using it.
Trading in quiet markets can be done on any platform even if one with steep learning curve. Problem is what happen in fast market where you have to construct trade leg by leg and market is falling... Analysis in that situation is not trustable on any platform but placing speed and ease of placing orders is very important.

I'll make some phone calls in next few days.
 
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I've just looked at TasyWorks. Are anybody willing to share experience with TW execution and platform?

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It comes down to .25 per contract + exchange fees (almost, I often let options expire,in that case it will be .50 ). Their future options are high but they do have Linux desktop support :love: and you can download it without signing in... can't wait when I have my test rig up.
 
I meant that if your trade brings $100 profits than increase in commissions hurts you more than somebody who gets $1K (all other things being equal)

While that is true I am not sure who would want to trade so many contracts and only make $100
 
Last I checked, Charles Schwab is only charging 65 cents per contract and no exchange fees. Their options platform is called StreetSmart Edge.
When I talked to them a couple of weeks ago the rep said they never passed on the exchange fees.
 
When I talked to them a couple of weeks ago the rep said they never passed on the exchange fees.
That is true.
Not sure what gave you the impression that they passed on the exchange fees
As far as I know no one said that Schwab passed on the exchange fees
 
TDA lowered my commission rate from $0.65 to $0.50 today. I plan on sticking with them until the merger is finished at least. After the merger, I expect to be able to choose to move up to $0.65 without fees if Schwab does not add exchange fees and if Schwab adds the exchange fees, hopefully, I can keep my negotiated rate.

I have a full-time job and a LLC trading account so have little ambition to learn a new platform at this point in time.


That is true.
Not sure what gave you the impression that they passed on the exchange fees
As far as I know no one said that Schwab passed on the exchange fees
 
TDA lowered my commission rate from $0.65 to $0.50 today.

$0.50 is the lowest TDA commission rate I've seen. Has anyone received less than $0.50 commission rate at TDA? I would like to know the lowest commission rate they're willing to offer so I know what to ask for.
 
I know someone who got $.45 from TDA based on his volume and amount of money in multiple accounts. I am at $.50 too.

Has anyone looked at trading SPY instead of SPX. The commissions have changed to the point it looks like it could be really inexpensive to trade SPY.
 
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