Would like some advice on using TOS for my broker account and a newb to stock trading.  

What are the rates for trading?

What will I be charged per trade?

Is there a weekly limit on day trades you do?

Any other information I should know about TOS would be helpful, and yes I know I could read forever on there site and eventually sift through all the "fluff" but then a informative forum would be pretty useless, wouldn't it?

SRSBZN

Every broker I know of has a web page on their site that covers what their commission rates are.  I started with E*Trade and then opened an account at TOS and Sogotrade and, at the moment, am only using Sogotrade (simply because trades are just so inexpensive)  and haven't funded my TOS account at this point.  Regardless of broker, there is a weekly limit on day trades unless you have an acount over 25K.  This is the "day trade rule" and a lot of people believe that it should be done away with.  TOS has lots of good reviews and, for trading reasons, I may be shifting most of my cash from SogoTrade to TOS shortly.  Sogotrade is only $3 a trade, but there are lots of trading features that Sogotrade just doesn't have that are standard with brokers like E*Trade and TOS.  I've saved $700 in commission cost with Sogotrade in the last few months, but there are stocks I can't short, I can't put in trailing stops or use other basic featiures that some would never trade without (charts are pretty basic.)  If you're new, then you need to figure out what kind of trading you're doing.  Options?  Shorting penny stocks?  Day trading? Investing?  Sogotrade actually has a fairly good options trading platform but I've heard that TOS is better and it takes time to figure out what (if anything) is going to work for you.  I went to Sogotrade so that I could day trade ETFs without spending $20 per "round-trip" (buy and sell) as I was doing with E*Trade and, in that repsect, Sogo has been great.  At the moment, however, I'm considering several different services and the one I'm closing in on could require me to switch to TOS, but that's still up in the air.

Good luck with your trading.

Geoff31858

Here's the product page for Thinkorswim, lots of good info on there from customers:

http://www.investimonials.com/brokers/reviews-thinkorswim.aspx

I'm on the $8.95 per trade no matter how many shares I trade plan...no idea what the name of it is, just pull up the handy Thinkorswim chat window and have a customer rep set it. Here's what I do to focus on shorting penny stocks:

http://www.investimonials.com/forums/recommended-brokers-for-shorting-penny-stocks-yes-its-legal--a-good-niche-strategy.aspx

I'm an affiliate too so of course I'm gonna say I love it, but i'm an affiliate of a lot of products that I don't love as much as this one...I hate most brokers, TOS is built to love...it's a little more expensive, but once people stop trying to save $5/trade and focus on earning bigger profits thanks to better borrows on shorts, better executions and amazing customer service, this is an obvious choice.

PS I don't use TOS software as I have always had success with Etrade PRO even though I don't use ETrade as a broker

Tim

I am trader since 2,003 . I use TOS from May and i have good experience. My fee is 7.95 and no more rare fees ok?

The chat services with  TOS is fine!!!. This guy help you is you. I use TOS by recommendation from TIM

Carvan

Yes, the limit is by rules below $25,000 at 3 days in 5 business week.

Carvan

Correction, my fee is $8.95.....sorry

Carvan

Thanks for the info guys.  

So basically if your account is below $25000 you can only make 3 trades(lets just say we are penny stock buying and selling pump and dumps for the sake of arguement) in a 5 day period? 

SRSBZN

Thats correct.  Just to be clear, it's an SEC rule an all brokerages are supposed to abide by it.

Tomofnj

And the pattern day trader rule is ridiculous! See my post:

Pattern Day Trader Rule

Tim

SRSBZN,

My understanding is that you can only make 3 day trades per trading week, which means buying and selling the same stock in the same day.  If you buy a stock and hold it overnight and sell it the next morning, that does not get marked as a day trade or go against your 3 trade limit.

Kevinmg