OptionsHouse Review 2009, the Real Deal

Blain Reinkensmeyer

Posted on Thu 9th Jul, 2009 04:08:56 PM

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Today I had the pleasure we speaking with one of the team members over at OptionsHouse which is a newer discount broker just starting to take an active stand on exposing its great brand and fantastic product offering. OptionsHouse was rated #1 for Trade Experience and Best for Options Traders in the Barron’s 2009 review of online brokers and what I found out after an hour was simple, these guys mean business.

OptionsHouse was launched in 2005 and is a product of PEAK6 Investments. Most investors have probably not heard of PEAK6 Investments but they are quite the operation. Based in Chicago on the original Chicago Board of Trade PEAK6 has traded 100s of millions of options contracts and millions of shares of stock a day to hedge its positions since 1997. They are currently one of the largest options trading firms in the U.S.

With that said OptionsHouse provides investors two key offerings: flat rate stock and options commissions and a phenomenal trading platform.

Every discount stock broker we are aware of to date charges per contract for options trades. Most charge a flat base rate for the trade itself then a per contract price for each option, for example $9.99 + $.85 per contract. But OptionsHouse is unlike any of its peers. They have one flat rate per options trade with no extra charge per contract.

For the active options trader this is a godsend. For only $9.95 per option trade you can trade as many contracts as your heart desires with no extra fees. To put this into perspective they broke down some key cost comparisons on their site which are highlighted below:

Click to Enlarge

Now it should be noted that for those investors who are only trading a handful of contracts at a time then OptionsHouse may not always be the lowest price. TradeKing for example is $4.95 per trade + $.65 per contract. So if you made a trade of say 5 contract then TradeKing would only cost $8.20 vs OptionsHouse at $9.95.

Staying focused on the active options trader though it is easy to see why OptionsHouse stands out. They also have a flat rate structure setup for regular stock trades which are only $2.95 per stock trade with unlimited shares (for stocks priced $2.00 or less that are not options eligible, add $0.01 per share for the entire order) and a trade platform worthy of Barrons top honors.

All the trading tools are used by PEAK6 professional traders. With the primary focus being speed some of the trading tools offered include: Streaming charts & News, Risk Viewer, Probability Calculator, Put Spread Investigator, Volatility Charts, and more.

Overall OptionsHouse has a lot to offer and a great future ahead of itself. It offers options traders a one stop shop for trading alongside giving regular investors a very competitive platform on which to trade with low flat-rate prices that are hard to beat.

Visit the OptionsHouse website.