I really love Alpaca. You can use their TradingView integration as a no-code solution.
Ask HN: What is your favourite stocks/options trading platform?
31–40 of 55 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is your favourite stocks/options trading platform?
#32Public.com - it’s fun.
Re: Ask HN: What is your favourite stocks/options trading platform?
#33Public.com - it’s fun.
Thx, what aspects of their service do you find the most attractive?
I recently listened to the podcast of their CEO https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmalling/ He sounded rather elitist to be honest.. Like everyday ppl are just not intelligent enough to trade options, etc. So that was a bit off-putting.
Re: Ask HN: What is your favourite stocks/options trading platform?
#34I like TD Ameritrade (now owned by Schwab, but still has their own web site) for its generally good execution (as far as I can tell), but mostly because it still has the best mobile (iPad) app that I use for the majority of my stock and options trading. Note that there are two apps: TD Ameritrade and thinkorswim (aka TOS). TOS is the one you want, and their desktop TOS app is also really good, but I actually find the…
Thank you for such a detailed review!
Does TOS have any options-related insights like easy-to-analyse implied volatility smile for Sentiment Analysis? Or like volatility skew to easily identify which options are under-priced/overpriced?
Totally agree with u regarding RH, built for gambling not trading..
Re: Ask HN: What is your favourite stocks/options trading platform?
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
Robinhood is for unsavy traders lured in by (false) advertising for saving money on trading. While they advertise no fees for trading, their poor execution means you get pricing that's far worse than normal trading fees.
I am pretty sure it does not mean that you get a price that’s “far” worse. You would need to quantify such a claim — a number I see from the SEC comes down to $1 per user (as a _lower_ bound on total extra cost, weakening my argument). I’m not a day trader — almost all my money is in long term held stocks and crypto — so margin interest rate is all that matters. (For options, I don’t think I suffered any execution is…
IMO the main disadvantage of Robinhood is not their execution quality (which is relatively low) but complete absence of any helpful tools to make a well-informed decision.
You cannot easily see what options are over or under-priced IV-wise. It also does not notify of any important events that might affect your options positions.
For example, when someone owns a deep ITM call and ex-dividend date is approaching, it might make sense to exercise that call and buy an identical OTM put. But most retail traders are unaware of such technicalities and therefore in the long run sustain losses caused primarily by such basic mistakes..
Re: Ask HN: What is your favourite stocks/options trading platform?
#36I really like Trade Republic. Native iOS & Android App, only 1€ fee per transaction, many Stocks, Derivatives and even Crypto.
However, it's only available in Germany, Austria and France.
Re: Ask HN: What is your favourite stocks/options trading platform?
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
Vanguard index funds are pretty much anyone who isn’t wealthy needs. The only think I can’t figure out is why isn’t it possible to park USD 5k in cash in my Roth IRA at Vanguard every April and have them buy VTSAX if it goes below some threshold automatically say USD 60.
You're hoping to "buy the dip" here, right? You can set up a stop order to do that. It'll just have to be for the ETF version of a fund.
Turns out that the old adage "time in the market beats timing the market" almost always wins, and there's no upside to trying to buy the dip:
Re: Ask HN: What is your favourite stocks/options trading platform?
#38I looked at several and settled on M1Finance, where I’m able to create a few “pies” (allocations among various ETFS) and even mixtures of pies, and just forget about it.
It’s not strictly a “trading” platform, in the sense that it’s not meant for day trading.
Was intrigued by Titan but they are pricey.
Re: Ask HN: What is your favourite stocks/options trading platform?
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're hoping to "buy the dip" here, right? You can set up a stop order to do that. It'll just have to be for the ETF version of a fund.
Turns out that the old adage "time in the market beats timing the market" almost always wins, and there's no upside to trying to buy the dip: https://www.pwlcapital.com/resources/buy-the-dip/
There's no upside to buying the dip for you. It's exhasting how any HN investing discussion gets watered down by unsolicited anti-intellectual personal finance advice.
Re: Ask HN: What is your favourite stocks/options trading platform?
#40I really like Trade Republic. Native iOS & Android App, only 1€ fee per transaction, many Stocks, Derivatives and even Crypto. However, it's only available in Germany, Austria and France.
Thank you for sharing your experience.
My sister's family actually lives in Germany so they are somewhat familiar with the US retail brokerages and in turn I am familiar with the German ones, namely Trade Republic and flatex, only 2 to choose from :)
So regarding trading stocks on Trade Republic, you get a super wide bid-ask spread that is unheard of in the US.. They route their trades through a Hamburg-based market maker called Lang & Schwarz, and try to make as much as they can on stocks(!) PFOF.
Regarding the derivatives, they don't offer options at all!! What they do offer is called "optionsscheine" which is not an option but a warrant, created by some investment bank like Deutsche or Commerz. Apart from a very real counterparty risk compared to options, they are quite expensive. And yes, you cannot "go short" with this optionsscheine, only long. So no verticals or diagonal option trades. Below is the link if someone wants to learn more about investing in these "optionsscheine":
https://www.globalinvestorgroup.com/articles/3695830/europea...
Please, don't get me wrong, I am not mocking Germany and I do respect German ppl, I just think that retail brokerages there suck bigly due to the lack of competition and a severe red tape. Would be glad to hear your counter-arguments.