Schwab gives options traders a bunch of research tools to place trades and track real-time info. These tools help traders find opportunities that fit their market views.
The platform has tools to analyze trades before you jump in. Schwab’s options tools work for traders of all experience levels.
The Trade Assessor helps you find trades based on your opinion about a stock or index. You can filter by things like volatility, profit percentage, max gain or loss, and rate of return.
Once you find something interesting you can go straight from discovery to order entry. The results link directly to the trading screen, which is nice.
The Full Option Chains feature shows real-time quotes. You can see which options are in or out of the money.
This tool shows quote details and open interest clearly. It supports options on stocks, indices and ETFs.
Schwab has two types of options screeners. The Customizable Screeners let you set criteria like implied volatility or rate of return.
Since options are based on the underlying stock, these screeners also have stock related filters. The Predefined Screeners are more straightforward with over 10 pre-built strategies you can customize to your liking.
For learning Schwab has the Understanding Options Center. It covers basics, terminology and strategies with examples that actually make sense.
You’ll also find live and recorded webinars on all sorts of topics. The Options Article Library brings in fresh insights from Schwab’s research team.
Costs
Schwab says they charge “low commissions and per contract fees” for options trading but don’t list the prices here. You’ll need a Schwab account to use these tools and there are requirements for options trading approval.
The research tools seem to be included with your Schwab account at no extra cost. Everything is integrated so you can research and trade in the same place.
Once you log in you get access to the full options toolkit. Schwab really wants clients to have everything in one spot.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- You get a bunch of research tools that link to order entry.
- They have educational resources for traders of all levels.
Cons:
- They don’t list pricing on the options tools page which is annoying.
- You’ll need to meet certain requirements to trade options but they don’t really explain what those are.