Anyone care to share their experience with Optionshouse ? such as customer service, how good (and speed) of their option fills and etc..
Their commission seemed really cheap...
Their commission seemed really cheap...
Optionshouse Experience
- Thread starter SmithTheTrader
- Start date
there was a recent post on this. but in another forum.
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=152275
I am using them for couple of months.. IF u sign up make sure u print the form when it allows you to: as you get only one shot at printing it. if you close the screen, they have to fax it back to you.
they have a flat 9.95 $ per trade, any number of contracts. and 14.95 for spreads. I find that great if you do a large volume.
so far no complaints for me.
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=152275
I am using them for couple of months.. IF u sign up make sure u print the form when it allows you to: as you get only one shot at printing it. if you close the screen, they have to fax it back to you.
they have a flat 9.95 $ per trade, any number of contracts. and 14.95 for spreads. I find that great if you do a large volume.
so far no complaints for me.
Thanks a lot.
Optionshouse seems to change Margin requirements on the fly frequently , such as on VIX options. The most recent:
Dear Customer,
Effective February 25, 2009, you will no longer be allowed to initiate trades in Three Times (3X) Leveraged Exchange Traded Funds on margin. Additionally, options strategies traded on the underlying leveraged exchange traded funds will be limited to the following:
Long Call
Long Put
Covered Call
Debit Spreads
Below are the 16 leveraged exchange traded funds affected by this notice.
Ticker Symbol Fund Index / Benchmark Index Symbol
BGU Large Cap Bull 3x Shares Russell 1000 RIY
TNA Small Cap Bull 3x Shares Russell 2000 RTY
ERX Energy Bull 3x Shares Russell 1000 Energy RGUSEL
FAS Financial Bull 3x Shares Russell 1000 Financial Services RGUSFL
DZK Developed Markets Bull 3X Shares MSCI EAFE Index MXEA
EDC Emerging Markets Bull 3X Shares MSCI Emerging Markets Index MXEF
TYH Technology Bull 3X Shares Russell 1000 Technology Index RGUSTL
MWJ Mid Cap Bull 3x Shares Russell Mid-cap Index RMC
BGZ Large Cap Bear 3x Shares Russell 1000 RIY
TZA Small Cap Bear 3x Shares Russell 2000 RTY
ERY Energy Bear 3x Shares Russell 1000 Energy RGUSEL
FAZ Financial Bear 3x Shares Russell 1000 Financial Services RGUSFL
DPK Developed Markets Bear 3X Shares MSCI EAFE Index MXEA
EDZ Emerging Markets Bear 3x Shares MSCI Emerging Markets Index MXEF
TYP Technology Bear 3X Shares Russell 1000 Technology Index RGUSTL
MWN Mid Cap Bear 3x Shares Russell Mid-cap Index RMC
For additional information, please contact OptionsHouse Customer Service.
Sincerely,
OptionsHouse Customer Service Team
Dear Customer,
Effective February 25, 2009, you will no longer be allowed to initiate trades in Three Times (3X) Leveraged Exchange Traded Funds on margin. Additionally, options strategies traded on the underlying leveraged exchange traded funds will be limited to the following:
Long Call
Long Put
Covered Call
Debit Spreads
Below are the 16 leveraged exchange traded funds affected by this notice.
Ticker Symbol Fund Index / Benchmark Index Symbol
BGU Large Cap Bull 3x Shares Russell 1000 RIY
TNA Small Cap Bull 3x Shares Russell 2000 RTY
ERX Energy Bull 3x Shares Russell 1000 Energy RGUSEL
FAS Financial Bull 3x Shares Russell 1000 Financial Services RGUSFL
DZK Developed Markets Bull 3X Shares MSCI EAFE Index MXEA
EDC Emerging Markets Bull 3X Shares MSCI Emerging Markets Index MXEF
TYH Technology Bull 3X Shares Russell 1000 Technology Index RGUSTL
MWJ Mid Cap Bull 3x Shares Russell Mid-cap Index RMC
BGZ Large Cap Bear 3x Shares Russell 1000 RIY
TZA Small Cap Bear 3x Shares Russell 2000 RTY
ERY Energy Bear 3x Shares Russell 1000 Energy RGUSEL
FAZ Financial Bear 3x Shares Russell 1000 Financial Services RGUSFL
DPK Developed Markets Bear 3X Shares MSCI EAFE Index MXEA
EDZ Emerging Markets Bear 3x Shares MSCI Emerging Markets Index MXEF
TYP Technology Bear 3X Shares Russell 1000 Technology Index RGUSTL
MWN Mid Cap Bear 3x Shares Russell Mid-cap Index RMC
For additional information, please contact OptionsHouse Customer Service.
Sincerely,
OptionsHouse Customer Service Team
Dear Customer,
Your OptionsHouse account currently maintains ETF positions that will no longer be marginable at OptionsHouse; this is due to a margin policy change at our clearing firm, Penson Financial Services, Inc. Because of this policy change, you are required to take the following action for any position in ETFs listed at the bottom of this message:
Equity positions and short options must be liquidated (or fully paid for) by 03/03/09
Long options must be liquidated (or fully paid) by 03/10/09
Your OptionsHouse account currently maintains ETF positions that will no longer be marginable at OptionsHouse; this is due to a margin policy change at our clearing firm, Penson Financial Services, Inc. Because of this policy change, you are required to take the following action for any position in ETFs listed at the bottom of this message:
Equity positions and short options must be liquidated (or fully paid for) by 03/03/09
Long options must be liquidated (or fully paid) by 03/10/09
============================
Effective February 25, 2009, you will no longer be allowed to initiate trades in Three Times (3X) Leveraged Exchange Traded Funds on margin. Additionally, options strategies traded on the underlying leveraged exchange traded funds will be limited to the following:
Long Call
Long Put
Covered Call
Debit Spreads
============================
hmmm
not good.
so they have striked out selling naked puts/ calls on 3X ETFs
i hope they dont extend it to 2X ones..
------------------------------------------------------------
I was earlier with zecco trading. They had a miniumum equity of 50 K to sell naked calls/puts.. I was in the middle of some strategy and wanted to switch positions ( and had my balance over 50 K) and it didnot allow me.
when I called and asked they told me, that they had changed minimum equity requirements to 250K for selling naked calls/puts
. that was a bummer.. I moved over to Optionshouse immediately.(end of Nov)
Effective February 25, 2009, you will no longer be allowed to initiate trades in Three Times (3X) Leveraged Exchange Traded Funds on margin. Additionally, options strategies traded on the underlying leveraged exchange traded funds will be limited to the following:
Long Call
Long Put
Covered Call
Debit Spreads
============================
hmmm
not good.
so they have striked out selling naked puts/ calls on 3X ETFs
i hope they dont extend it to 2X ones..
------------------------------------------------------------
I was earlier with zecco trading. They had a miniumum equity of 50 K to sell naked calls/puts.. I was in the middle of some strategy and wanted to switch positions ( and had my balance over 50 K) and it didnot allow me.
when I called and asked they told me, that they had changed minimum equity requirements to 250K for selling naked calls/puts
. that was a bummer.. I moved over to Optionshouse immediately.(end of Nov)
They won't fill your options limit/stop order even when exchanges are showing bid/ask matching with your limit/stop. It'll result a loss of anything between $10-50 per transaction for average trade size of 10 contracts. Do your math and see if their low transaction is really any saving?
Someone else has reported this problem but I could not understand it fully until I faced it myself. So guess OH is a big NO for any serious options trader.
Someone else has reported this problem but I could not understand it fully until I faced it myself. So guess OH is a big NO for any serious options trader.
I ONLY use limit orders on my OH account and all my orders work how they are supposed to. When the limit order is on something with high liquidity (QQQQ/GE etc.) I get the fill sometimes just by chance of someone selling at market but if the bid/ask matches my limit then I definitely get my fill, 100% of the time.
My one guess is you're using an AON order. ..Don't do that.
To answer your question - Yes the commissions are absolutely worth it. Whatever problem you're having is just you and caused by something other than their platform/system.
My one guess is you're using an AON order. ..Don't do that.
To answer your question - Yes the commissions are absolutely worth it. Whatever problem you're having is just you and caused by something other than their platform/system.
Yes, it was AON but only 10 contracts of BAC (highly liquid).
My limit buy was 40 cents and I could see huge ASK volume (300+) at that price in exchange lookup but my order didn't fill until best ASK dropped to 39 ; and guess what - my fill was then at 40 cents.
Was it caused by AON?
I don't think so, as there was huge volume on ASK side. I may be
wrong, but surely felt like robbed.
My limit buy was 40 cents and I could see huge ASK volume (300+) at that price in exchange lookup but my order didn't fill until best ASK dropped to 39 ; and guess what - my fill was then at 40 cents.
Was it caused by AON?
I don't think so, as there was huge volume on ASK side. I may be
wrong, but surely felt like robbed.
Yes. It was because it was AON. Stop using AON. I don't know a lot about AON but from what I gather it will be the LAST order filled; that means that your order will be filled as the bid/ask drops/rises to the next level. It'll appear like a crap fill, but you got the fill you asked for - since it was AON it was the last one done.
(Notice how I knew it was AON without you saying it in your first post - Doesn't that tell you something in itself?)
(Notice how I knew it was AON without you saying it in your first post - Doesn't that tell you something in itself?)