tradeMONSTER Review

A subsidiary of financial media company optionMONSTER, tradeMONSTER was founded in 2008 by three professional traders (Jon Najarian, Pete Najarian and Dirk Mueller). In the last 3 years, they have consistently received high marks from the major reviews for their powerful tools, trading experience and customer service. Question is, does the MONSTER have everything it takes to be your brokerage?

In short, tradeMONSTER appeals to technical analysis and options-focused traders. They offer great research and trade cycle tools for the disciplined investor. In this tradeMONSTER review, I’m going to explore the ins-and-outs of what else they offer, and hopefully help you make a more educated decision if you’re considering opening an account there.

Pros - Deep research tools, great options tools, low margin rates, solid education, portfolio analysis and reporting tools, highly knowledgeable customer service, easy to use and exceptional trade experience.

Cons - No international exchanges, slightly higher than average commissions, no Android app.

Best For - Technical analysis traders and options traders – if you want smart, sophisticated tools and high quality research capability, tradeMONSTER will not disappoint. Beginners and novice traders – don’t be scared of the complex tools. tradeMONSTER has the education resources to comfortably accelerate your learning curve and take you from novice to expert.

Minimum To Open Account -  $2,000 (to open a futures account with tradeMONSTER the minimum deposit is $10,000 (but it is not required to maintain that balance)

Special Offer: Get up to $250 when you open a tradeMONSTER account today!

Browser or Software/Mobile Apps - Browser, Software, iPhone & Blackberry

Fees & Commissions

Equities: $7.50
Options: $0.50 per contract
Mutual Funds: $15.00
Bonds: $15.00
Broker Assisted: $7.50
Futures: $1.50 per contract
Margin Rates: Fed Rate + 3.25% to +1.00%
Platform Fees: $0

A few notes on commissions:

1.) tradeMONSTER offers round the clock trading, but orders placed outside of market hours do incur an additional charge of $0.015 per share.
2.) Options are just $0.50 per contract, but there is a $12.50 minimum.
3.) Mutual fund sales are free of charge, but may come with a load fee.

Investments Offered

Equities: YES
Options: YES
Mutual Funds: YES
ETFs: YES
FOREX: NO
Futures: YES (with separate account)
International Exchanges: NO

For regulatory reasons, tradeMONSTER offers a separate platform for trading futures. When you open a futures account you can trade commodities, currencies, energy, equities, interest rates and metals on a professional grade platform offered by T4 (Open a futures account here).

Get up to $250 when you open a tradeMONSTER account today!

Research & Tools

Free Live Streaming Quotes: YES
Breaking News: YES
Market Commentary: YES
Research Reports: YES
Market Analysis: YES
Trader Community: NO

If you’re the kind of investor who likes to do your homework, you’ll appreciate the depth tradeMONSTER offers at every step along the trade cycle. Below are a few of the tradeCYCLE tools that stand out for me…

tradeMONSTER Professional Grade Market Analysis allows you to drill deep on stocks. Get in-depth research and information about earnings growth, financial performance, dividends, analyst rating and similar stocks.

Powerful Technical Analysis tools offer pattern recognition, alerts and technical scans so you can save time and stay on top of asset movements.

strategySEEK uses intelligent algorithms to filter through real-time market data and find optimal trades based on your stock forecast and risk preferences.

spreadMAKER lets you build and execute option spread trades quickly and easily, and automatically updates risk graphs and probability of expected outcomes all in one window.

The tradeLAB spectral analysis tool is a very cool tool to test your strategy (especially if you’re a spatial learner). It lets you visualize potential option strategy outcomes based on probability and risk metrics.

Exit Plan helps you easily understand and execute potential exits for all your trades. It’s very handy to be able to set exits based on time horizon, profit targets or stop-loss criteria. You can also set up email alerts based on your

I could go on for a lot longer about the tools at tradeMONSTER. They’re powerful, varied and very useful. If you want to have a quick peek inside the platform, check out the video tour below.

tradeMONSTER Video Tour (6:03)

Click here test tradeMONSTER out with a free paperTRADE (practice) account.

Education

Free Tutorials: YES
Free Webinars: YES
Live Events: YES
Options Trading: YES
Futures Trading: YES
Stock Trading: YES
Mutual Fund/ETFs: NO
Daily Blog: YES

tradeMONSTER has a fairly well-rounded education center when it comes to the basics, right from platform education for when you just start out, to trading education, webinars, and articles. If you want to learn more advanced tactics, head over to their sister optionMONSTER.

Customer Service

24/7 Support: NO
Live Chat: YES
Email: YES
Phone: YES
Branch Offices: NO

One of the things tradeMONSTER prides themselves on is customer service. They claim every rep you speak to will be a series 7 registered broker, and apparently most reps are ex floor traders, so there are no frustrating phone calls with amateur customer service reps which is nice.

Click here to get a tradeMONSTER account today!

Types Of Accounts

Virtual Trading: YES
No Fee IRA: YES
Individual/Joint: YES

Commentary In The News

“Best for Options Traders” (Barron’s 2011)
#1 Broker For “Trade Experience” (Barron’s 2011)
4.5 stars For Research Amenities (Barron’s 2011)
4.5 Stars For Customer Service & Education (Barron’s 2011)

Special Promotions - tradeMONSTER Promotional Code

Final Thoughts…

A great mix of technology, research and education. If you’re after slick tools and like to geek out on research, you won’t be disappointed with tradeMONSTER as your broker. There’s a lot to be learned about how disciplined traders operate just playing around with a paperTRADE account, so give it a shot if you think you could benefit from it.

Get up to $250 when you open a tradeMONSTER account today!

Have you got any trading experience with tradeMONSTER? If you do, please share your opinions or experiences with our community. Add your own tradeMONSTER review in the comment section below!