broker for us stock options?

plustwo

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looking for a reliable broker to trade options on us stocks. how is td ameritrade? open to comments from experience or general thoughts.
 

plustwo

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Ib. Good and cheap

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are they cheap because they sell order flow to hfts? bit wary of them because they dont have local presence so not subject to mas regulations. not really looking to save on fees if that means i get worse fills.
 

ashethen

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are they cheap because they sell order flow to hfts? bit wary of them because they dont have local presence so not subject to mas regulations. not really looking to save on fees if that means i get worse fills.

They just set up a local office here. If I'm not wrong, you can select the order routing

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ashethen

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thoughts about saxo vs ib?

Expensive vs cheap. I've never used saxo.

I like how I can customize ib trading software, creating options spreads is easy, no exercise/assignment fees, able to deposit/withdraw in sgd easily and convert to any currencies

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BBCWatcher

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I think Interactive Brokers is going to be tough to beat, but you might wish to investigate Firstrade and Lightspeed as possible alternatives for options trading. Both Firstrade and Lightspeed accept account applications from non-U.S. residents last I checked. Firstrade is OK with residents of Singapore, but I'm not sure about Lightspeed.

A common problem that most brokers not named Interactive Brokers share is that they don't provide any low cost way to move Singapore dollars to the broker and convert them into U.S. dollars. And vice versa. Be sure to factor those considerations into your decision.

I should also point out that options trading comes with some special peril if the broker becomes insolvent. Insolvency is possible no matter where the broker is domiciled, but the U.S. specifically is a well regulated market with SIPC protection (U.S. federal government backstopped insurance). There's no analog to SIPC coverage in Singapore, so it's great that it exists -- it's an advantage with U.S. domiciled brokers. However, SIPC coverage is unavoidably limited when it comes to options. When a broker collapses all your options just run to their expirations. If that works out OK, great, but it might not. The SIPC then steps in to defend your "closed book" valuation, up to SIPC limits unconditionally, and it tries mighty hard to recover beyond limits.

When MF Global collapsed, everyone recovered fully to fair market value, but some options and futures traders were upset because all their open interest positions ran to expiration. It didn't matter what their options trading intentions were pre-collapse. The collapse occurred, and the default outcome ruled. But this too is part of the unavoidable risk you take. But hey, you're gambling already, so what's a little more gambling? :D

Also bear in mind that cash, in any currencies, held at a U.S. broker forms part of your U.S. taxable estate when you die. To my knowledge options themselves are not U.S. estate taxable except for U.S. persons.
 
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plustwo

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anyone actually using ib can give feedback on slippage/order fills? very wary of cheap commission brokers. usually means they are selling order flow in the background.
 

Shiny Things

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anyone actually using ib can give feedback on slippage/order fills? very wary of cheap commission brokers. usually means they are selling order flow in the background.

Sure. I've consistently had better-than-NBBO fills on US equity options with IBKR; you can work orders inside the spread, and you can route the orders directly to the exchange (though, as mentioned above, IB is very explicit that they don't sell options flow)
 
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Knightoftheblackrose

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I wouldn’t recommend SAXO .

They advertise lower charges but neglect to mention that they charge you Monthly subscription fees for getting “live” data from most exchanges.

On the other hand , if you can get a good options rate from TD AMERITRADE , their platform is actually cheaper and comes with free “ live” feeds.


thoughts about saxo vs ib?
 

theMKR

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hijack this thread to ask some questions on options trading....

recently (actually last friday), i held a few options (SPY PUT 287.5 expire 28feb2020) which had risen in value when it hit ITM for a short moment.

I saw the bid and ask price, and set to sell my options between the range. but it wasnt sold???

so i decided to just low ball myself by selling it dirt cheap but the order was cancelled immediately by IBKR for price out of range?

did i do it wrongly? or the only choice i had at that point was to exercise the option out right and immediately cash out by closing the positions?

i ended the day with 1 of that option unsold and expired worthless :(

any option traders can enlighten?
 
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ashethen

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hijack this thread to ask some questions on options trading....

recently (actually last friday), i held a few options (SPY PUT 287.5 expire 28feb2020) which had risen in value when it hit ITM for a short moment.

I saw the bid and ask price, and set to sell my options between the range. but it wasnt sold???

so i decided to just low ball myself by selling it dirt cheap but the order was cancelled immediately by IBKR for price out of range?

did i do it wrongly? or the only choice i had at that point was to exercise the option out right and immediately cash out by closing the positions?

i ended the day with 1 of that option unsold and expired worthless
:(

any option traders can enlighten?

Maybe you miss out adding a minus symbol? Instead of a credit order, you made a debit order that's why the price was out of range?
I usually set the limit price at mid then adjust it more towards the bid/ask when I'm buying/selling before transmitting. if can't fill then I adjust until it until it fill.

Anyway if your long options expire in the money, ib would auto exercise it

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theMKR

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Maybe you miss out adding a minus symbol? Instead of a credit order, you made a debit order that's why the price was out of range?
I usually set the limit price at mid then adjust it more towards the bid/ask when I'm buying/selling before transmitting. if can't fill then I adjust until it until it fill.

Anyway if your long options expire in the money, ib would auto exercise it

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i think i set the correct price, becos some of options got sold. but i cant seem to sell all and i cant even lower the price to sell them?

or is there some way i can disable this auto cancel thing?
 

ashethen

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i think i set the correct price, becos some of options got sold. but i cant seem to sell all and i cant even lower the price to sell them?

or is there some way i can disable this auto cancel thing?

Set it to market order if you don't mind.

Maybe there wasn't any buyers, I couldn't sell some of my options that didn't have a bid price on it. Options that are near expiry and out of the money have poor liquidity

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theMKR

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Set it to market order if you don't mind.

Maybe there wasn't any buyers, I couldn't sell some of my options that didn't have a bid price on it. Options that are near expiry and out of the money have poor liquidity

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Yeah i set to everything. I guess no one wants to buy an option that is expirying to nothing in a few hrs hahaha
 

moolala

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I tried IB but the UI is really CMI on my laptop

quite messy

is there a quick guide on how to use the UI? like step by step guide or sth
Tried looking at the videos they have but they have a ton of them T_T
 

ashethen

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I tried IB but the UI is really CMI on my laptop

quite messy

is there a quick guide on how to use the UI? like step by step guide or sth
Tried looking at the videos they have but they have a ton of them T_T

you have to customize it to suit your style

This is my customized one to create my options spreads. add tabs by clicking the + button below then click the 'new window' button on the top left to add whatever instruments you want into the main window and resize it so everything fits. there's a chain icon in every instrument window on the top right to link all the instrument windows together if you need.

Annotation-2020-03-02-152117.jpg
 

theMKR

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if I have no choice but to exercise my ITM options.

assuming its a PUT option. I should buy LONG the stock 1st, then exercise the option for a sure win right??

for example, I have a PUT option @ 625 TSLA
when TSLA drops to 622 and somehow i cant sell my option for whatever reason, the best way is to just buy TSLA at 622, then exercise?

or actually i should just wait until end of the day, in case tsla goes higher than 630?
 
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