John Jagerson

Broker Review: tradeMONSTER

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tradeMONSTER has done a fantastic job of integrating a robust tool set with the platform. Risk graphs, Greeks, price charts, volatility charts and many other important tools for option traders are all within a click or two of the option chain sheet or stock you are evaluating. The tools are totally integrated with the platform, so trading from the charts, chain sheet or quotes page is easy and quick.

Unlike many brokers in this space who are on a quest to bolt on an endless series of tools and gadgets to their platform, the tradeMONSTER tool set is actually quite useful. Assuming you have at least some experience in the options market, the tools won't overwhelm you and you will not need to take a course in options pricing theory to use them.

Order entry is very straightforward and extremely intuitive. The platform can be customized to a limited extent and option chain sheets can be set to display the expirations, strikes and spreads you want to see quickly.

Account tracking and analysis is one of the things that stood out to us during our test period with tradeMONSTER. This is almost always an overlooked feature with online brokers, who typically put a Web version of a current account statement online. Being able to chart your equity curve, evaluate your net exposure and glance at your profit/loss, positions and margin status in one easy-to-access location was great.

Costs and Commissions

tradeMONSTER has competitive commissions and the structure was relatively straightforward. Costs do go up in absolute dollar terms with larger options trades, but the costs per contract drop a little after meeting minimum commission levels.

Overall, tradeMONSTER had slightly below average commissions and costs when compared with other brokers in this space. And the commissions for stock trades are flat, which we liked a lot.