OptionsHouse Promotional Code: $2.95/Trade + 100 Free Trades To Start
Here’s a timely offer, at least for me. New-ish online broker OptionsHouse is offering 100 free trades when you open a new account with at least $3,000 with the promo code FREE100. The 100 free trades work for both stock and options trades, and are good for 60 days after funding. On top of that, their regular price for stock trades is only $2.95, while their options trades cost a flat $9.95 with no additional contract fees. Finally, there are no monthly minimum balances and no maintenance fees. Not a bad price structure.
Quality-wise, they promote the fact that Barron’s rated them #1 in Trade Experience and in the top tier overall in their March 2009 broker review. Although not a big name yet, they do seem like they are ready for serious traders. Here’s a snippet of the review:
Pros: As its name suggests, Options House has a lot of great tools for the options trader. Backed by market maker Peak6, this broker lets its retail customers use quite a few professional-level tools. Building a spread is very intuitive on this system, as is rolling a call or put from one strike to another. The site’s motto is “Fast matters,” and that goes for everything from finding possible trades to populating an order ticket to executing the trade itself.
Portfolio-analysis tools are top-notch here, too. The Risk Viewer includes a what-if calculator showing what could happen based on various market scenarios.
Options House also offers the Maxit tax-management tool for free. Although this is a Web-based platform, it has the flexibility and power of many of the software platforms.
Cons: No mobile access yet. However, the company says it is coming later this year. Limited fixed-income and mutual-fund offerings.
As noted I am starting to invest in some ETFs, so I might give these guys a spin. After looking through their fee schedule I noticed that they all partial outgoing ACAT transfers for free, which means that it won’t cost very much for me to move my holdings out if I need to. (Just transfer the important holdings out, keep one unimportant holding, and then sell it later.) I hope their free tax-management tools does my Schedule D for me.
Update: I just applied – relatively straightforward application, at the end you need to fax/mail in a signature page and a copy of your driver’s license or utility bill. They allow ACH funding online.
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November 3rd, 2009 at 10:19 am
If you have $25k or more to invest, Wells Trade gives you 100 free trades per year:
https://www.wellsfargo.com/investing/styles/wt/
And you only have to keep $100 in the linked PMA account to keep everything free.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:28 am
To open a account with them, you have to own a house (“Utility bill must show service at your listed residence for electric, gas, land-line telephone, or cable television. A cell phone bill is not acceptable.”).
If you rent a room or have a roomate who pays bills, the account is not for you!
November 5th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
@Mike – Or you just need to send them a driver’s license or state ID.
November 6th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
@Jonathan – I copied the quote when I was finalizing my application. We will see soon if I open an account when sending only a bank statement
November 9th, 2009 at 7:48 am
Hi Mike:
I saw your comment about our account opening process at OptionsHouse and wanted to take the opportunity to address a couple of the issues you brought up here. Like every other brokerage firm, we have a regulatory obligation to take reasonable steps to verify each customer’s identity in order to prevent fraud from identity theft and other crimes. If we cannot identify the customer through automated means, we may ask for additional information that would allow us to verify the customer’s identity and meet our regulatory responsibility.
For instance, if we cannot verify a customer’s permanent address, we will ask for a drivers license, lease or utility bill. In rare cases, we will ask for both a driver’s license and a lease or utility bill. Again, this requirement is not unique to OptionsHouse. We must, along with every other brokerage, require this verification in order to meet our regulatory responsibility and help protect our customers’ identities. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact OptionsHouse Customer Service at 877.653.2500, or email customerservice[at]optionshouse[dot]com.
Thanks for the opportunity to clarify this process.
Best,
Ray
November 16th, 2009 at 12:43 am
Thanks for the info Ray… Actually the account process is teh intial stage to begin with.. SO its important…
November 19th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
I opened the account after sending the bank statement, and a pay stub