Anyone use sharebuilder?

[cubical]

I am looking at them for my Roth IRA? I am at scottrade, but while $7 a trade isn't terrible, the option prices are bad. Sharebuilder option prices are pretty low. Anyone with any experience? Thanks.

 

[cubical]

Plus, I like the option of investing in multiple stocks all for $4 total. this is a correct assumption, right?

 

[sluggo]

Sharebuilder has gotten a lot better over the years. It's 4 bucks if you sign up for the automatic plan. You can switch it on and off pretty easily. 10 bucks, otherwise.

It's a good deal if you're investing for dividends, not so hot if you're making multiple trades in a week.

 

[cubical]

and I could set it up to take out money from your checking every month right? what about selling? does it work the same way?

 

[sluggo]

Yes, you can link it to your checking account.

Selling is 9.95.

It's a good place for a Roth. No fees.

 

[RonPaul4America]

I decided to delete this.

 

[cubical]

well i like sharebuilders auto investing and the fact that I could chose 10 stocks and only pay 4 bucks. Plus i can buy partial shares and reinvest dividends automatically. Also, I don't know if this is accurate, but it says there is no per trade charge for options, just $1.25 per contract.

So I can not sell with my batch buy order? I feel like they could easily front run all their orders and give the investor a bad price.

 

[sluggo]

well i like sharebuilders auto investing and the fact that I could chose 10 stocks and only pay 4 bucks. Plus i can buy partial shares and reinvest dividends automatically. Also, I don't know if this is accurate, but it says there is no per trade charge for options, just $1.25 per contract.

So I can not sell with my batch buy order? I feel like they could easily front run all their orders and give the investor a bad price.

I have no experience trading options with SB. I use Scottrade for active trading.

One downside to the auto invest feature is that you cannot control what price your shares are purchased at. It can be a drag on days where there is a ton of volatility.

 

[Jordan]

OptionsHouse is much cheaper and, from my experience, has excellent fills. Their price for buying and selling options is $8.50 plus $0.15 per contract, and I believe their price for buying and selling stock is the cheapest on the market at $2.95 per trade. You'll also get 100 free trades to use for stocks or options trades for about 60 days if you sign up now, use coupon code: FREE100 and fund your account with $3000.

OptionsHouse was ranked "Best for Options Traders" in Barron's 2010 annual ranking of the top online brokers. Their trading interface is web-based. It's decent and not very difficult to learn.

They have the same SIPC insurance as all the other brokers. They also purchased additional insurance that protects you up to $150,000,000 (in securities value) and $1,900,000 (in cash value).

You might want to maintain an account at another brokerage for streaming quotes, Nasdaq level II, etc. I believe they have some software for you, but I haven't used it.

Also, I'd appreciate it if you use my referral link to sign up as it will give me free trades and won't cost you anything. Just click on OptionsHouse.

OptionsHouse as a broker is great, charting sucks.

 

[legion]

For trading of any kind I'd use thinkorswim.

I use sharebuilder because I'm the antithesis of a "trader."

Additionally, my bank had a partnership with sharebuilder before it got bought out by ING.

 

[RonPaul4America]

OptionsHouse as a broker is great, charting sucks.

That's why I said you should keep a second account with another brokerage so that you can log in to use charts, get streaming quotes, whatever, while using OptionsHouse.

To the people using Sharebuilder, what benefits do you think they have over OptionsHouse? Their interface?

 

[RonPaul4America]

Also, I don't know if this is accurate, but it says there is no per trade charge for options, just $1.25 per contract.

It isn't. Scottrade's commission structure for options, while expensive, is actually much cheaper than sharebuilder's. It says the pricing for options trading is the Real-time Trade Commission ($9.95) plus $1.25 per contract for the basic plan. So if you trade 20 contracts with Sharebuilder, that would cost you $34.95. OptionsHouse would cost you $11.50 to trade 20 contracts. OptionsHouse also has another pricing plan, which you might like if you always trade less than 10 contracts at a time. That plan involves a $5 minimum for up to 5 contracts + $1 for any contract over 5 with no flat fee.

well i like sharebuilders auto investing and the fact that I could chose 10 stocks and only pay 4 bucks.

I'm not sure where you got that you only pay 4 bucks once. It says you pay $4 per investment. Are you sure you can split each investment up 10 ways? I don't believe that's the case. Anyway, if you go with the Advantage Plan ($12 monthly subscription plus $1 for each investment over 12), buy 5 or more stocks every month and timing isn't important to you, Sharebuilder does appear to be cheaper than OptionsHouse's $2.95 rate, but if you want to try out options, you know where to go.

 

[Zippyjuan]

well i like sharebuilders auto investing and the fact that I could chose 10 stocks and only pay 4 bucks. Plus i can buy partial shares and reinvest dividends automatically. Also, I don't know if this is accurate, but it says there is no per trade charge for options, just $1.25 per contract.

So I can not sell with my batch buy order? I feel like they could easily front run all their orders and give the investor a bad price.

I have no clue about share builder but if you want to be able to buy partial shares in dividend stocks and reinvest the dividends automatically, check into Dividend ReInvestment Plans or DRIPs. I have one with a local utility. All I needed was at least one share to get started and after that they take care of everything. You may be subject to taxation on the dividends but there is no fee for rolling over the dividends into new shares. I just checked a statement- I got charged ten cents last year. When I sent in $3,000 to buy more shares, I was charged $1.52 (one dollar and fifty two cents). Hard to get easier and cheaper than that. Remember that costs decrease your returns.

It isn't options trading but a good way to invest.

 

[cubical]

It isn't. Scottrade's commission structure for options, while expensive, is actually much cheaper than sharebuilder's. It says the pricing for options trading is the Real-time Trade Commission ($9.95) plus $1.25 per contract for the basic plan. So if you trade 20 contracts with Sharebuilder, that would cost you $34.95. OptionsHouse would cost you $11.50 to trade 20 contracts. OptionsHouse also has another pricing plan, which you might like if you always trade less than 10 contracts at a time. That plan involves a $5 minimum for up to 5 contracts + $1 for any contract over 5 with no flat fee.



I'm not sure where you got that you only pay 4 bucks once. It says you pay $4 per investment. Are you sure you can split each investment up 10 ways? I don't believe that's the case. Anyway, if you go with the Advantage Plan ($12 monthly subscription plus $1 for each investment over 12), buy 5 or more stocks every month and timing isn't important to you, Sharebuilder does appear to be cheaper than OptionsHouse's $2.95 rate, but if you want to try out options, you know where to go.

I'm pretty sure its $4 per batch investment. I could be wrong. Sharebuilder has cheaper option prices if I am only buying or selling a few contracts. The more I trade the better it would be to go to optionhouse or another broker.

 

[sluggo]

4 per stock.

If you plan to purchase more than three different stocks per month, one of their upgraded plans is the way to go.

Thinkorswim looks nice, legion.

 

[cubical]

ah, never mind then. thanks for the help.

 

[legion]

Damn, Ron Paul 4 America. Do work for OptionsHouse or have an SEO contract with them or something?

 

[RonPaul4America]

Damn, Ron Paul 4 America. Do work for OptionsHouse or have an SEO contract with them or something?

No, I just have an account with them. Sorry about the hard sell. I just saw an opportunity to pick up some easy free trades as most here are using a much more expensive brokerage, but my tactics did not pay off.

 

[legion]

No, I just have an account with them. Sorry about the hard sell. I just saw an opportunity to pick up some easy free trades as most here are using a much more expensive brokerage, but my tactics did not pay off.

I don't think suggesting an options broker to someone that is asking about sharebuilder is very prudent...

 

[RonPaul4America]

I don't think suggesting an options broker to someone that is asking about sharebuilder is very prudent...

Yeah, I definitely got that feeling later on, but if you read his earlier posts, he wanted to trade options with Sharebuilder. I was suggesting a much cheaper alternative. Also, Sharebuilder's Basic Plan for buying stocks is 36% more expensive, but, yes, their Advantage Plan could be considered a better deal if you buy over 5 stocks a month and timing is of no importance to you.

FYI, I hadn't posted since yesterday and was going to just let this thread die before you brought up my annoying sales pitch.