[v] Comparison of 3 US stockbrokers

	https://www.thinkorswim.com	http://www.interactivebrokers.com	http://www.optionsxpress.com
Stocks brokerage	New tariff *$9.99 per trade Old tariff *$0.015/share or min $5.00 *flat $9.95/trade	$0.005/share Min $1.00	$0.01/share or min $9.95
Options brokerage	New tariff *$9.99 per trade + $0.75/contract (= 10.74 min) Old tariff *2.95/contract	$0.70 per contract Min $1.00	$1.25 per contract Min $12.95 (min for >10 trades)
comparison If 5 option contracts	New = $13.74 Old = $14.75	$5.00	$12.95
comparison If 10 option contracts	New = $17.49 Old = $24.95	$10.00	$12.95
Fund deposits	New condition Min $2,000.00 to trade option previously Initial $3,500.00 Wire transfer fees $25.00	Initial $10,000.00 Wire fees $100.00 for deposits and $10.00 for withdrawal	No min
Protection of deposits	Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) All accounts deposits are protected by SIPC
Software – trading platform	“thinkDesktop”	“Trader Workstation (TWS)” Standalone model or browser/web based	“Xtend” trading desktop (for approved account)
Real time data streaming	Free	Real-time market data fee $10.00 unless commission for the month >$30.00	Free
Issues & comments	Prices quote different since TD Ameritrade took over compare to previously. Check with them for clarification.	Cannot test software without trading account. Account must be approved and funded before use.	Cannot test software without trading account. Can open account and get approval without funding.
promotion	Trade 30 days free with minimum USD2000 (maximum of 500 trades) for new account open before 30/Sep/2011

Comparison table of rates among top US brokers (follow this link and check it out):

http://interactivebrokers.com.hk/en/general/education/comparebrokers.php

Optionsxpress further info:

http://www.optionsxpress.com/about_us/pricing_commissions.aspx

Base on the table above, looks like TOS is not so favourable even though TD Ameritrade has  reduced the rates. If we normally trade 5 to 10 contracts each time, then IB will be the choice. However, if we do not trade more than 30 contracts (options) in a month, we have to pay a data feed fee of $10.00 to IB. 

Comparatively, OXP has reduced its commission to quite a competitive level. If we do not trade every month, then we can consider OXP as the data feed fee is FOC. (average option traders do not usually trade every month)

Check it out at their respective websites before you begin funding your new account. You can still do virtual trade (paper money) with either TOS or OXP even though you have not fund your account but I am not so sure of IB because I did signed up but IB cannot provide me the excess ID & password without first funding the account.

Anyway, I still use TOS so the examples in my posting will be extracted from TOS.

Happy trading...