Firstrade Review (2020): Zero Commissions for Traders of All Levels - The Tokenist

Posted: 30 Dec 2019 05:41 AM PST

Firstrade Mobile Platform Firstrade offers a mobile app that is simple to use for trading and offers Face ID recognization and login. Stock watch lists sync with any changes you make on the website, and you can check real-time streaming quotes on the app as well.

You can view charts and options chains inside of the app, along with 19 other studies for stock charts. There are not too many alerts you can set up, and stock charts are sometimes hard to read because Firstrade does not support horizontal views on the app.

Advanced order types such as complex options are not supported on the mobile app. In this area, Firstrade falls short compared to Fidelity, TradeStation, E*Trade, and TD Ameritrade.

Account Minimums

To sign up and use the basic Firstrade account, you don't need an account minimum. To use Firstrade Premier and the Navigator platform, customers will need to have an account balance of $10,000. You can view your positions and balances in your account through an all-in-one dashboard, which includes customization of news, charts, and tracking.

Advanced Screening Tools

The advanced screener also helps you look for new high-quality stocks, such as large growth stocks or bargain small-cap funds. You can download your investment choices to get more strategies.

The Options Wizard also gives you analysis of your gains and losses for options trading with more than 40 different options strategies.

International Features

Many brokerage firms cater to US clients only, but Firstrade accepts new customers from South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, New Zealand, Mexico, and Japan.

It's also one of the only platforms that support native Chinese speakers. You can see the platform in traditional or simplified Chinese language.

Referral Program

Firstrade offers customers a free stock for themselves and a friend when they refer them to the brokerage. There is a 1 out of 100 chance that it could be a Facebook, Apple, or Microsoft stock, according to Firstrade.

Trading Tools

While Firstrade does not have a downloadable platform, you can use its browser-based platform to make trades. You can use the trading tab to quickly buy and sell most stocks, ETFs, and options. There are some basic functions like bid-ask spread, volume, and last trade price.

Options have more fields to fill out to place a trade. There are a few multi-leg strategies, including straddle, butterfly, and condor. You can use the Options Wizard to search bull and bear options ideas.

Security

Firstrade protects investors for $500,000, and it's also regulated by the SEC and FINRA. However, you will not receive alerts for negative balances, and Firstrade is not listed on the stock exchange. During testing, Firstrade only had one-step login authentication, which means there is a cybersecurity issue since most modern-day platforms use two-step authentication factors.

Funding, Payments, and Withdrawals

You can deposit with an ACD funds transfer, check deposit, or wire transfer. There is no withdrawal fee for ACH transfers, but if you use a wire transfer to withdrawal, you will be charged $30 for domestic and $50 for international.

Customer Support

Firstrade Customer Service Webpage

Sammi is the new AI chatbot available to Firstrade clients. It can answer some basic questions, but you'll be linked to different areas of the website for more complicated answers.

There isn't a 24/7 phone support option either. Customers can access Firstrade customer service Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 6 PM, EST. Their support is not available on the weekend.

You can use live chat for other issues, which is available through the website. The representatives are helpful and provide any knowledge you need.

For everything else, you will have to rely on the FAQ section of the website or you can send an email to Firstrade's support team.

Mutual Funds

There is a screener and profile page for mutual funds on Firstrade's website. Most of the fund's information comes from Morningstar and places it on the profile page, so they are the same as everything you would find on Morningstar's website.

You can use the mutual fund screening tool to show you all products available. You can buy and sell mutual funds for free. There is a short-term redemption fee of $19.95 that applies to any mutual fund shares held less than 90 days.

Lightspeed Review (2020): Platform Built For Speed - The Tokenist

Posted: 30 Dec 2019 05:41 AM PST

Lightspeed offers a completely digital way to sign up for individual, joint, options, and futures accounts. However, you have to complete a few questions to determine if you are a professional or non-professional trader, which takes some time. The verification process was complete in 24 hours including funding.

Analysis, Charting, and Research Tools

Lightspeed Day Trading Platform

With real-time streaming quotes, customizable charts, and live market scanner tools, investors will find all kinds of trading opportunities. Charts have access to 20 years of historical data through the platform.

Lightspeed is definitely a platform for experienced day traders, and there isn't much for research beyond testing strategies and historical charts. You do have access to TipRanks, which is included with your account.

However, beyond a stock scanner, real-time quotes, and TipRanks, you won't find much else in market research.

Investor Education

When it comes to education and learning tools, Lightspeed offers some information on learning to trade stocks, options, and futures through "Active Trading Webinars" and the active trading basics area of the education center. You will find pages dedicated to most of the basics when it comes to trading strategies, but for more complex or trending strategies, you'll need to look elsewhere.

Beginners can learn to use the interface through the Lightspeed Trader trading tutorials, and you can also have a demo prepared for you, though brokers also use this to sell you on the platform and higher account minimums.

Account and Investment Costs

Lightspeed's pricing is based on volume, but unlike other brokerage firms, you will be charged a commission fee. The structures change based on per trade or per contract.

For those who choose per trade, you will pay $2.50 as long as you have over 10,000 trades per month. This rate goes up depending on the volume. For under 250 trades per month, traders pay $4.40 flat per trade for stock or ETF.

If you go with the per share rate, traders pay as low as $0.00010 per share if they have over 15,000,000 shares in monthly volume or as much as $0.0045 with under 249,900 shares per month. There is a $1 minimum with that last rate.

For options, traders pay $0.20 per contract but most have over 100,000 contracts per month. For those with less than 500 contracts per month, you'll pay $0.60 per option contract.

Futures cost $1.29 per side. Futures options cost $1.79 per contract.

Lightspeed is designed to be most cost-conscious for the frequent trader, so the more you trade, the less you will pay. While the platform claims to have the lowest trading fees on equities and options, it's still not as low as Firstrade.

There are also some hidden charges to note with Lightspeed. For example, on Lightspeed Trader and its partner Sterling Trader, you will be charged a minimum commission charge to any order less than 100 shares. This fee is equal to the per-share rate times 100.

Lightspeed web and mobile app users also must pay a minimum commission of $4.50 on any options order. Per-share equity fees are not available for Lightspeed browser trading or mobile app.

There are also funding minimums for new accounts as follows:

$25,000 for Lightspeed Trader, Eze EMS, or Sterling Trader
$10,000 for browser-based platform
$175,000 for margin traders

You can fund accounts via check, ACH, or wire transfers.

Multiple Platforms and Partners

Screenshot of Lightspeed Mobile App Depending on what you're looking for in a high-velocity trading platform, Lightspeed has every option except for automatic trading. You can use Lightspeed Trader as your desktop platform for day trading, hedge funds, and institutions.

However, Lightspeed charges $130 per month to use the desktop application. You can have this fee waived if you trade more and pay commissions over $130 per month, however.

You can also access trading tools on the web on Lightspeed's website or their mobile app. There is a $0 application fee for these tools, as long as you are not a part of an institution. The mobile app is available on iOS and Android. While you can make trades and access charts, it's less robust on mobile than through the web or even more feature-rich Lightspeed Trader desktop platform.

Futures trading is only available through their RealTick and CQG platform partners.

Futures Trading

Lightspeed has one of the only platforms to offer futures and futures options trading. The current rate is $0.25 to $0.60 per contract for futures, which is based on trading volume. The more you trade, the less you pay applies here as well.

However, all futures trading is done through Lightspeed Trader in connection with Eze EMS aka RealTick or CQG. While Lightspeed tries to offer more for futures traders, you'll be better served by using a full futures brokerage to access more tools. You'll get only the basics through third party software on Lightspeed.

Additional Platform Fees

It may seem like Lightspeed is free, but it charges for a variety of extras that are typically included with larger brokerages like TD Ameritrade and E*Trade. For example, Lightspeed Gateway does allow you to automate trades based on your own algorithms in C++ or JAVA API and FIX, but you have to pay $325 per month to access this software.

You also have to pay $325 per month to access Eze EMS or RealTick.You can make a variety of customized order entries, allowing you to set up any type of trade, but it's expensive when considering the per month charge.

Sterling Trader is also a separate charge between $230 and $260 per month, which includes advanced charting and order entry options to integrate with Lightspeed Trader.