Built For The Retail Trader

Chris McKhann has been in the industry for more than 20 years. He has worked for many of the top names in the online trading space, including TD Ameritrade and optionMONSTER, which later became part of E*TRADE. His work has been cited in the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, the Financial Times, Forbes, CNBC, Nasdaq.com and Nikkei. He has also been an advisor and outside trader for several hedge funds. He was one of the first traders to delve into the VIX tradable products and to write about them (back in 2006). Chris is also an educator who teaches high school statistics, finance and computer science.

You get to choose the amount you borrow. Buying 25% on margin (33% borrowed) is much more sensible, for example, than buying 50% on margin (100% borrowed). The more money you borrow, the more risk you take on. This is why diversification is increasingly important with margin loans as your amount borrowed increases. A higher amount borrowed also increases your chances of a margin call. You can be responsible with margin by only borrowing a small amount, paying margin interest regularly, and monitoring your investments. Note that certain securities cannot be bought on margin, such as penny stocks. Brokers may also exclude certain high-risk securities at their discretion. Also note that margin loans cannot be used in retirement or custodial accounts.

Investors must also meet maintenance margin requirements in their margin account. Specifically, an investor’s equity can’t fall below 25% of the current market value of the securities held in the account.

Some of the platforms include research, customizable order routing and market scanners to find where the action is. Monthly pricing runs from $130 to $325, though the lowest-cost option (LS Trader) lets you fully offset the subscription cost with at least $130 in commissions in the prior month. Truly active traders can rapidly cut their commission fees with volume-based pricing.

Most online stock trading platforms offer various research tools you can use to evaluate stocks and market activity in real time. For example, many investing apps have built in stock screeners that allow you to find securities based on preferences like market capitalization, earnings per share and, for funds, expense ratio. Although every trading platform is different, stock brokers can be split into two broad categories: discount brokers and full-service brokers.

If you’re based in the US, then there is every chance that you have heard of Robinhood. Launched in 2013, this online trading platform is now home to over 10 million clients. Primarily, investors in the US use Robinhood to buy stocks in a simple and cost-effective way.