[Feature Request šŸ”§] US Options Trading

Trading 212 does not do options though. It only offer Contracts for difference. Last i checked, the only credible company offering option trading is Interactive Brokers and they require customers to have an income and at least 10k of savings (or something like that).

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Options trading is pure gambling, donā€™t trust the skewed view on WSB. Freetrade donā€™t even agree with shorting so this is the wrong place I think, theyā€™re trying to convince the world stocks can be safe and responsible saving. On the flip side if 212 could offer it they probably would so maybe thereā€™s regulations.

Ps There are euro options on degiro. Or go all in on GGP.

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Yes, Robinhood did terrible work with their platform. I hope they are ā€˜payingā€™ for it now. And hope, they will learn. For sake of their customers and they own sake. Let it be a lesson for others.
Having said that, there is nothing wrong with options. When a person does not know how to play with fire, should not play.
Educate, scan for opportunities, plan and manage a trade and risk connected with it.
So I hope I will see options here.

Options trading is not gambling. Gambling it will become when it is mishandled.
When we do not understand a subject we should not engage before we educate ourselves.
Educate, scan for opportunities, execute, manage the trade and risk. Simply, be prepared. (Yes I know, easy to say, not so easy to do. It mostly goes wrong. If those good trades cover bad once and leave little extra for tomorrow, everything is fine.)
Short selling. When I know there is something wrong with a company or economy, why not to profit from it. I would try in February only if Freetrade did offer short sale in any form; put options or short ETF (options better - cheeper).

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Robinhood and how to lose money

You might enjoy this

I agree and I would love to see options trading available, but Freetrade needs to ensure its systems can sieve out the non-finance individUals. Simply saying ā€œyou should educate yourself before trading optionsā€ isnā€™t going to stop amateurs from signing up to options trading and loosing all their money. Strong Checks need to be put in place and thatā€™s no easy task to do.

So, in my opinion, for the time-being the focus should continue to be on expansion and optimisation as opposed to adding new features like options trading.

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Out of curiosity, what do you think a strong check would look like? Iā€™ve been wondering if you could have a 20 question timed test or something similarā€¦

Disagree, FT is miles better than any other broker by offering free instant orders for all users.
It doesnā€™t need to compromise on that achievement by adding high risk speculation contracts or bring leverage into the mix.

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The one for DeGiro is fairly long, its an extra test for options. But all the questions are like ā€˜true or false, I can lose more than my initial depositā€™ etc so its not hard to get through if youā€™re desperate to lose money.

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What about just having the option to write covered calls? I think perhaps that suggestion could have a different thread as itā€™s very different to other options trading in general.

I feel like this would be a good Freetrade+ feature that could really make users a solid return on their Ā£10/month

If the recent trend in stock splits continues there could more be more US stocks that investors could be able to write calls on without massive holdings.

I think it might be a bit of way off in terms of liquidity (and I have no idea how practical it is in reality) but fractional covered calls could be a real USP for freetrade for people without 100 shares.

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Freetrade is far from the best out all the brokers they need to offer something different to other platforms and do Options. They should just released new 10Ā£ a month feature and there is nothing special

I heard its apparently due to high stamp duty on options in the UK.

Iā€™m curious to know if trading US options inside an ISA would even be allowed.

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Hmm thatā€™s a good point, I donā€™t think you can trade options in an ISA, you could in a SIPP though - which will presumably be part of FT+ once implemented.

Was just about to post an ā€œideaā€ on options being implemented into freetrade and this popped up.

Assuming there hasnt been any mention of it?
I understand this might not be in the business plan behind freetrade which is focusing on long hold investing, along with the extra work a UI for options etc will bring with it.

Option trading is very limited to platforms within the UK and europe at this moment in time. It would seem the first platform to bring option trading would have a niche in the current market. That is if the demand and interest is there?

Possibly be an additional incentive for being a premium user?

This is a real gap in the UK market. The only retail brokers that I am aware that offer Option trading forr retail are Interactive Brokers and Saxo Bank (where in the latter the cost is too high).

This market is ready for disruption.

It is beyond believe that CFD and Spread betting products are marketed as investment products in the UK still where in truth those brokers are like casinos since essentially there is a conflict of interest between the trader and the broker which is the counterparty on each trade.

Without short selling or the ability to buy a put option we are essentially locked in a long view in every single stock position.

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I do agree but makes me wonder if its available on those platforms why isnā€™t it widely used? Are they expensive or hard to use? Far as I understand Robinhood made it easier to get into for your average retail investor, maybe there are rules in UK about marketing to the uninitiated? They obviously pulled out of the UK. I read that over 50% of their income is options so I wonder if thatā€™s part of it.

Youā€™re right, if someone got it right it could really take off but like I said above, Freetradeā€™s ethics aside, if T212 or similar could offer it, Iā€™m sure they would by now because its a potential goldmine.

They are used in Interactive Brokers and the fees are very reasonable. Option trading is even allowed on a SIPP. Often investors will use a deep OTM SPY put option to hedge their portfolios against Black Swan events.

I suspect this is not available in the spread betting/cfd brokers (IG) because it would not be lucrative for them. Instead of taking the opposite view and also make money on fees on your trade their revenue would be reduced to just take a single commission on each trade; so it is not in their interest to offer this product.

You can spread bet on options in IG. Not sure if you can do it for for individual stocks but you can do it for indexes

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I came across a similar forum on t212, with users requesting option trading. It seemed the consensus was that t212 plan to bring option trading to the platform but are focusing on other things higher up on their list. With option trading in sight next year?

On the point of RobinHoods option trading. It seems they simplified the whole ui and trading far too much. It looked more like a gambling site than a trading platform in that regard.

If option trading was to be implemented into similar platforms, I think alot more thought would have to be put into it.

Further additions could be brought in for premium subs. In regards to educational lessons and training for option training. Creates a barrier also protecting new investors from jumping into option trading without knowing what theyā€™re getting into.

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