Where to start trading US options?

Hi, Newbie to the forum and fairly new to options -

I have been reading and studying options trading for the last 10 years and am finally ready to begin trading -

I want to trade US options and i have found that to be difficult from Aus, in terms of finding a broker

I used to spend ages practising with play money on thinkorswim and loved using their platform- but they dont provide that service to australians anymore - i was about to begin with Optionsexpress.com.au - until a friend of mine who is into options trading told me that options express charged huge commissions and had a terrible platform - which i agreed with (especially coming from think or swim) their platform was disappointing and hardly provided any stats -

My friend recommended Interactive Brokers - but putting 10k into the account just to start - seemed too much for me -i have 5-8k ready for trading and dont want to put everything in like that

So does anyone know any good platforms or brokers for Australian beginners to trade US options?

Thanks and great to be part of the community

curtisaus said:

My friend recommended Interactive Brokers - but putting 10k into the account just to start - seemed too much for me -i have 5-8k ready for trading and dont want to put everything in like that

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Beg, borrow, or steal the 2-5k extra required to open IB account. Unparalleled as far as I know for Aus, not just commissions but currency exchange is another major factor. I don't know of any alternatives if you're doing equities options. You don't have to risk it all, just pretend you only 5-8k of capital. I've heard it might be possible to open account with 10k and then withdraw some. Search this forum I've read it somewhere here.

Sounds like you're into equities options only ? If you're doing only futures options then your options open up a bit..GAIN capital (and it's various introducing brokers) is a viable alternative.

I have traded AUS options for almost a year now. I have traded several different strategies, generally successful with a few moderate draw downs.
I want to enter the US Options market now due to more liquidity, less slippage, and far more choice.
I have an AUS IB account with a good balance.
I would welcome some advice/guidance on the practicalities of .....
1. Getting access to US account and data ( already have AUS option account)
2. AUS Tax implications and US tax form requirements.
3. $USD requirements re do I have a separate $USD account within IB.

I would plan to paper trade for 2-3 months before putting real cash in slowly with a few years a week.

If any ASF’ers do this I would welcome some guidance.

Gunnerguy

Gunnerguy said:

I have traded AUS options for almost a year now. I have traded several different strategies, generally successful with a few moderate draw downs.
I want to enter the US Options market now due to more liquidity, less slippage, and far more choice.
I have an AUS IB account with a good balance.
I would welcome some advice/guidance on the practicalities of .....
1. Getting access to US account and data ( already have AUS option account)
2. AUS Tax implications and US tax form requirements.
3. $USD requirements re do I have a separate $USD account within IB.

I would plan to paper trade for 2-3 months before putting real cash in slowly with a few years a week.

If any ASF’ers do this I would welcome some guidance.

Gunnerguy

Click to expand...

Hi Gunnerguy, I just came across you post thus the delay in responding. I have been learning and trading options on stocks and ETF's on NYSE. I am currently using Saxo as my broker but you can do this from your IB account, just arrange data from NYSE with your broker.

In my Saxo account I have my money in Aus$ so a conversion is done automatically by the broker when I enter and exit a trade. Sometimes the conversion will increase your return and sometimes it goes against you, time in the trade is a factor. For example a recent trade I did that lasted about a week and a half, I made 30% net on the trade incorporating a 5% loss on currency conversion. IB would do the same but I think with IB you have the option of selecting the currency in which to hold your account.

I've been learning options and trading with a small account at the moment so I don't have worry about tax because I'm retired. In the past though when I was working and trading futures, years ago, my tax was very straight forward because I only traded derivatives, no stocks. So if you are only trading options and not the stock or ETF, then your tax would also be more straight forward as mine was.