Think or Swim: Very customizable, great tools and support
For active trading I really like this broker and their platform.
Their tools are flexible and powerful. You can create and save customized grids of charts, L2, and news on one or more stocks, then detach the grids into a separate windows and customize the entire layout so you can pretty much just see what you want and little else. I often have 20-30 charts open at a time, plus 8-9 L2 grids, several watchlists, in maybe 6-8 different windows I have arranged on dual monitors. When I log in, TOS remembers my layout so everything shows up just where I left it.
You can link things together using their color coding. I have one central chart where I enter a symbol and immediately I 5 other charts with different time frames and an L2 grid all show that same sumbol. I link my watchlists to that same group of charts, so I can step through the watchlist and see all that info on each stock in the list without entering the symbols. I can run through probably 30 or more stocks a minute if all I want is a quick glance.
There are various options for how to set alerts, such as on the bid or ask, or on various studies, and what sound you want to hear when the alert is triggered, and a note you can add to the alert to remind you what you were thinking when you set the alert.
The charting is very powerful, with tons of studies and drawing tools you can add.
You can place an order just by pointing and clicking using default quantities and maximums you can set. When I screw up an order, their software often detects the problem and rejects the order.
I use their scan tool for most basic scans, but it is not as detailed and powerful as Stockfetcher for advanced scans.
There are more tools I haven't tried yet. I don't even trade options, which is their specialty, and I still think they are great. I have used them for about 6 months.
I use their flat-fee commission and usually trade pretty good size, so my per share commission is really low. Executions are usually excellent, especially on more liquid stocks, but not a problem on thin stocks if you use a limit. Stop orders revert to per share commission, which would be much more expensive for me, but I watch my trades closely so I just use mental stops and stay with the flat fee. All their tools are free.
Execution reports are very fast and immediately reflect in your position and cash available reports.
Customer support is fast and helpful. They even answer on the weekend. One time I suggested they work out a way to do something I was sure could not be done on their platform, and I got a quick reply showing me exactly how to do it. They also take suggestions for enhancements if there is something they don't have a way to do yet.
I think I have only seen one downtime since I have been with them, and they were back up very fast. One time when my online connection went down on my end and left me blind I called the trade desk to close out my positions and they did so immediately and saved me a lot of anxiety.
One drawback is they don't always show all MMs in L2, and they don't show L2 at all on some really thin penny stocks. In my case that may actually help by keeping me out of some sketchy plays.
For me the advantages of TOS are huge and have really helped me trade the way I want to. They have the right attitude -- empower the trader and give great service.
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This review is the subjective opinion of an Investimonials.com member and not of Investimonials LLC.
