So what is the best brokerage when
you want to trade stocks
and options?
Who is the best online broker,
especially right now in
2020?
Well, this is what we're going to
talk about in this video.
I currently have multiple accounts
with multiple brokers and I decided
to open one more trading account.
I haven't opened a trading account
in probably three or four years,
I think it has been three or four
years since I opened my last
account. So I thought it might be
worth looking around what brokers
do we have in the market right now,
establish some criteria which are my
criteria, compare the different
brokerages and then together
here open an account with one
of the brokers that I choose.
Are you ready to get started?
Let's dive right into it.
Here is how I personally
like to pick a broker.
I have certain criteria here
that are important for me.
Now again, for you, it
might be completely different.
Feel free to model it according to
my criteria, but every trading
style is different.
So for you, some other criteria
might be important.
But I want to show you what is
important to me.
I like to play the markets, both
sides to the upside and the
downside. So I need to make sure
that my broker allows
me to easily short stocks,
meaning that I can sell stocks that
I don't own.
So this way I can bet on a falling
market. Now, also, as you know,
I like to trade options.
And yes, I like to sell naked
calls and puts.
So therefore, it is very important
that the broker allows me to do
that, because it doesn't make sense,
if I have a strategy that says,
well, right now, I should sell some
puts and then the broker says, "Oh,
you can't do this," right?
Then the broker is useless for me,
might still be good for you, but for
me it is useless.
Now I like to trade on margin.
Leverage is a double-edged sword, it
can work in your favor as well as
against you. For me personally, I've
been trading for a long time.
I like to leverage my account so I
like to trade margin accounts, and
therefore it is important the margin
interest rates.
How much money do I pay
based on the money that
the broker lends me?
Also, I want to understand the
margin impact, this is the next one.
So it means when you put on a trade,
how much of your buying power
is being taken out of the account?
Because whenever you put on a trade,
you're buying power is reduced.
So I want to easily understand
how much is actually
being reserved for one particular
trade. Now then, of course,
commissions. And commissions these
days are very, very easy because
most brokers offer
zero commissions.
However, when you look behind the
scenes, you might notice that not
every single broker it is really
zero dollars. So we'll look at this,
and for me, since I like to trade
size, I wanted to compare
apples to apples and I want to see
how much are the commissions if I
would trade 50 options.
So this is my criteria.
The next criteria is how easy is it
to use the platform.
And this is where everybody is
different, right?
It's like driving a car, which is
the better car, a Bimmer or a
Mercedes, right?
I mean, everybody has a different
opinion on this.
I personally like driving my Tesla.
Anyhow, so this is personal opinion
here. How easy is it to
use the platform.
Live data feed, is it included?
Do I get live data for free
or do I have to pay for this?
It's usually not a lot, it's like
$10, $15, $20,
but hey, if you're comparing
different brokers, we might as well.
Now the customer service because
when you have a problem, you want to
be able to call and say, I do
have a problem.
And the last is that I will give you
an overall rating.
Now, the four brokerages
that I chose to
select for this test here is
TD Ameritrade, Interactive Brokers,
WeBull and TastyWorks.
Now Interactive Brokers,
I already have account with
Interactive Brokers.
So I'm using Interactive Brokers
more or less as a reference for
me, if it is worth opening an
account with a different broker or
if I should just open another
account with Interactive Brokers.
So let's go down
through the list.
Now, you see a little asterisk here.
So most of the stuff that I'm
filling in here are according to my
experience and research and
a lot of this stuff is just my
opinion. So if I'm getting something
wrong, don't sue me,
right?
I mean this is based on my best
knowledge.
Now, TD Ameritrade, in order to
short stocks, I looked at four
different stocks. In fact, this is
where my head coach Mark Hodge
helped me tremendously.
So a lot of the stuff that I'm
sharing here with you Mark
has researched for me and we looked
at it together.
Now, before we get started here, is
this making sense thus far?
I mean, the criteria that I listed
here, I think we have one, two,
three, four, five, six, seven,
eight criteria.
These are my criteria.
But we have to somehow evaluate
a broker and not just say, "Oh,
yeah, let's open an account with TD
Ameritrade. They are the best." So
let me know if this is helpful thus
far before we fill out the table
because if it is, give me a quick
thumbs up.
Give me a quick like because this
way I know that you're enjoying this
video and I want to do more
of these videos.
OK. So TD Ameritrade,
easy to short stocks.
Mark and I looked at four stocks.
SPCE, CGC, AAL
and CAA to short.
And out of these four stocks, TD
Ameritrade said to two of
these stocks, "Nope, can't do this."
They're so-called "hard to borrow."
Now when they're hard to borrow you
need to have at least
$100,000 in order to short them and
some additional criteria.
So easy to short stocks, I must say
TD Ameritrade was a "No"
for me. Because out of four stocks,
if half of the stocks are actually
not easy to short, then
that is a "No." OK.
Sell naked calls and puts on
TD Ameritrade, yes, you can sell
naked calls and puts, they allow you
to do this.
You have to qualify, but it is
possible. So let's see.
The next is a margin interest
rate. When you trade on margin
currently based on my research,
9.25%
is the margin interest rate at TD
Ameritrade.
So this is the amount of money that
you're being charged when you use
margin for a particular trade.
Understanding margin impact,
super easy with TD Ameritrade.
They'll tell you right away how
much impact a trade has
on your margin account.
Commissions for 50 options, so this
is where it gets interesting.
TD Ameritrade charges $0.65
per contract, per trade.
Now, if you open a closed option
position, this would be $1.30.
So, therefore, here the commission
for 30 options is $1.30
times 50 options.
So it would be $65
to trade 50 options,
open and close it here.
OK. So platform
ease of use I think
it is okay.
It's a very powerful platform and
you have to learn how to use it.
So it's not super intuitive.
Now, in terms of live data feed,
yes, it is free with a funded
account.
The customer service based on
what I have heard it is great.
Okay. So we will come to an overall
rating here in just a moment.
Interactive brokers, easy to short
stocks, super easy.
Thus far I've been shorting a lot
of stocks. Not a single time
has Interactive Brokers said, "No,
you can't do this." Every single
time I wanted to short a stock
it did it. Sell naked calls and
puts, yes, absolutely.
The margin interest rate, only
1.55%.
So definitely way cheaper
then TD Ameritrade.
Margin impact, how easy
is it to know when
I put on a trade how this impacts
my account size, my margin?
I want to say not that easy,
rather difficult.
They don't make it easy, trust me on
this one.
The commissions for 50 options here
exactly the same as
TD Ameritrade.
It is $0.65 to buy,
$0.65 to sell and you're doing this
per contract. So here also
in order to trade 50 contracts, it
would be $65.
Platform ease of use,
I want to say no.
I got used to it, I've been using
them since 1999 but
if you're new to Interactive Brokers
I don't think it's very intuitive.
So it's rather difficult to use
the platform.
Live data feed?
You need to pay for it if you want
to have live data when trading.
Customer service, based on my
experience, and again, this
is where you have the disclaimer
here, according to my experience
and research, all of this just my
opinion, but it's pretty poor.
I only contacted them three times
and during these three times in the
live chat, I was on the live for
45 minutes. When I tried to call
them, I was waiting for 22
minutes, so that really didn't
help. Now WeBull is a new kid
on the block.
It's a rather new brokerage, I don't
know has been around for two or
three years. Very aggressively
right now pushing into the market.
So WeBull is it easy to short
stocks? Again based on these
examples, yes, they were easy to
short on WeBull here,
no problem.
So, sell naked calls and puts,
level 2 and 3 not yet.
So they said it is coming in
the next few months. But right now,
right now they don't have the level
3 and 4, which for me personally
is really important because I like
to sell calls and I like to sell
puts. The margin interest rate on
WeBull here
6.99%, little bit higher than
Interactive Brokers and yet lower
than TD Ameritrade.
Understanding margin impact here,
it was
okay.
So it's not easy, it's not difficult
it is okay.
So at least from my perspective.
The commission for 50 options here
on WeBull, based on my research
and based on what I saw $0.
So that is pretty good.
So they have a different way
to make money, but based
on what I saw, it doesn't have
a major impact.
Platform ease of use.
I looked at it and to me, it looks
super easy, very easy.
Again, they're the new kid on the
block, they have developed the
platform from scratch and
I think they did a really, really
good job.
Live data feed, not
quite sure.
So haven't been able to find
this out, based on my research
I don't know if I have to pay for it
or if it is free.
Customer service, I haven't had
a chance to deal with them at all
and I haven't heard from anybody
who has used WeBull and
what they think about their customer
support, so therefore, I really
don't have an opinion here.
Now, TastyWorks is the last one.
TastyWorks, a platform developed
from Tom Sosnoff and his team,
the same guy who brought you
thinkorswim.
So easy to short stocks on
TastyWorks?
Yes.
So when Mark and I looked into it,
Mark figured out that, yes, we could
easily short all these four stocks
that we were looking for.
Selling naked calls and puts?
Yes, absolutely, this was possible.
The margin interest rate, 8%.
So, again, it's in between.
Not as cheap as Interactive Brokers,
not as expensive as TD Ameritrade.
Understanding margain impact,
super easy on TastyWorks, which I
like a lot because when you put on a
trade, you want to know how does
it impact your overall buying power
on the account.
Commission for 50 options.
So this is very, very interesting.
According to their business model,
they want to attract larger traders.
Because they say,
"OK, it is $0.65," so
very similar to TD Ameritrade
and interactive brokers, but
it is capped at $10.
So you never pay more
than $10 in commissions,
which I think is great.
So it's not free as WeBull and
it's not as expensive as TD
Ameritrade and Interactive Brokers.
So it's $10 for 50 options.
Love it. Platform ease of use,
based on what I've seen, it's fairly
easy. You have to get used to it.
It's not as complicated as
TD Ameritrade, I believe it is a
little bit easier.
And TD Ameritrade again is
thinkorswim. So I like it,
maybe not as easy as WeBull
but I want to say rating
it here, it's in between.
Live data feed, yes,
it's included.
So when you open and fund an account
with them, they do offer you the
live data feed for free.
And customer service based
on what I've heard, again, I haven't
had a chance to interact with them,
but based on what I've heard, it's
good. So this is
feedback that I got from
viewers like you who said,
"Hey, I'm with TastyWorks and they
are doing great." By the way, if you
have any experience with any
of these brokers, do me a favor and
leave a comment below.
Let me know how these guys
are doing, what your experiences
are. So in a moment,
we will go through this and I'll
give you my final verdict
and I'll let you know with whom I'm
planning to open an account.
But again, is this helpful thus far?
Do you do me a favor if it is
click a quick thumbs up or just
type a "Yes," in the comments this
way, I know which videos are
useful for you. I know that this
right now is a little bit of a
longer video, but I want to be as
thorough as possible when comparing
different brokerages.
Now there's a reason why I chose
these four.
These are either the four that are
most popular right now or
that looked really, really
intriguing for me.
By no means I'm trying to
compare every single broker out
there. So please, Fidelity
might be great, Schwabb might be
great, but I focused on these four.
Is this making sense?
All right. So let's jump back and
give you the final verdict of what
I think here.
So Interactive Brokers,
the customer service is poor, but I
don't need much of their customer
service.
The commissions are fair,
$65 if you're going with their pro
version.
I believe if you're going with their
light version, it might actually be
free.
The margin interest is really,
really low. So I must say,
for me, Interactive Brokers comes in
at a solid third place.
Now TD Ameritrade here is
why for me personally, they
are coming in on fourth place.
They're coming in on fourth place
because they still have
quite a lot in commissions, and it
is not easy to short
stocks. And for me and my trading
style, that is important.
Now, earlier, somebody mentioned
that he tried to take a trade that I
did this morning and he's with
TD Ameritrade and got rejected.
There's nothing worse than having
a great trading strategy, having
a great trade, and then your broker
says, "Oh, no, you can't do this."
This is when it's time to switch
brokers. So this is why they are
coming in here on fourth place.
Now, WeBull, I really
liked what I saw, zero commissions,
of course, are very attractive.
The ease short stocks, yes,
the very ease of the platform.
So I really, really, really do like
them, however, this
here is the sticking point.
And here's what I'm gonna do.
I am going to mark the sticky
point. So this is why right
now I'm not opening an account
with WeBull.
Now, once they offer
level 3 and 4, which supposedly
is a little bit later in 2020,
I might actually open an account
with them, because
I'm very intrigued by the platform.
I'm very intrigued by what I saw
thus far.
So this leaves, ta-da-da-daa,
drum roll, TastyWorks
as my number one pick.
And again, this is my personal
selection.
So TastyWorks based on what I see,
easy to short stocks, easy
to sell naked calls and puts,
super easy to understand the
platform. Pretty good here in margin
requirement, the commissions are
good. And everything that I
see here for me, this
is the winner.
Is this helpful for you?
And here's the deal.
So over the next few days, I
will open an account with TastyWorks
live, here on this channel.
So if you would like to see
how I open the account with them,
what exactly their account opening
process is, what their platform
looks like, make sure that you are
subscribing to this channel right
now and hit the little notification
bell because this way you'll get
notified whenever I release a new
video. And you don't want to miss
the next video when I actually open
an account with them, I'll see how
quickly I get approved.
They don't know that I'm planning to
open an account with them so that's
the cool thing.
So I'll see how quickly I get
approved, I'll see how easy or
difficult it is to open an account
with them and then I'll wire some
money in there.
And this is where, you know what?
Why don't you leave a comment and
let me know how much money you want
me to wire in there.
If you want me to wire in there
$10,000,
$15,000, $25,000,
right? I mean, just leave a comment
right now and let me know how much
you would like to see to trade
this account with.
And again, this is one of my
eight accounts, so this will be
account number nine.
Anyhow, hope you find this helpful,
if you did click on like, subscribe
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If you enjoyed this video, you're
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Click on the one that you like best
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