thinkorswim has made a big splash in the pool of online stock trading services. This online broker is dedicated to educating clients about investing in the stock market through web resources and even live seminars at a location near you.

With thinkorswim you can place orders and manage your account through their TOS software, though their web-based app or with your cell phone. They offer stocks, options, Futures and currency exchanges.

We like their casual approach to traditionally serious subjects and their inventive trading education tools, and we really like that they have embraced all things mobile.

Fees/Commissions        

This broker doesn’t have tiered commission rates, which is advantageous if you have a smaller account or don’t trade a lot. Everyone, regardless of account size or trade activity, pays $9.95 per trade (market or limit orders; 5,000 shares maximum). Or they offer trades at $.015 per share with a $5 minimum. Options are priced at $.95 to $2.95 per contract, depending on the rate plan you choose. Or you can get them at $1.50 per contract plus $9.95 (for unlimited spread legs). Mutual funds, the first three trades per month are free, and the rest are only $15 per fund trade. Futures are $3.50 per contract (inclusive of exchange fees). Overall, they offer some really reasonable prices.

thinkorswim does have a minimum account requirement, but it's more affordable than most, at $500. To open an account you must deposit $3500 or more. This is a good broker for the young investor or someone just starting their portfolio.

Investments Offered        

Though thinkorswim specializes in options, they offer a variety of other investments and accounts. You can trade stocks, mutual funds, exchange–traded funds, bonds, currency and T-Bills.

You can set up an IRA for retirement or an education savings plan to fund your own or your children’s higher education. The education savings plans include Coverdell ESAs, Custodial Accounts and 529 Plans.

Ease of Use        

The website and software platform have tabs that make navigation simple. They offer demos on a variety of topics that will teach you the ins and outs of how to use the service and tools.

Trading/Investment Tools        

thinkorswim has four different trading platforms, so you can trade from your home office, a cyber cafe, or a hammock stretched between palm trees. The four platforms are think desktop, web-Based trading, think anywhere and think mobile.

A brief overview of each platform: Think Desktop is a premiere software–based platform that has charts, quotes, alerts and more. This is the one to install on your home office computer or laptop. WebBased trading has the most powerful features of think desktop and is available from any computer with an Internet connection. Think Anywhere is a platform for your handheld device (i.e. Palm or Blackberry) that allows you to trade from anywhere you have a cell phone signal. And new to thinkorswim, is Think Mobile. This is a wireless platform for mini web–browsers–monitor quotes and orders, create simple orders or cancel any working order from you cell phone.

Besides technologically advanced tools, thinkorswim also provides a wealth of information and education to their clients. This is the only service that offers live seminars, many are free to anyone–no strings attached. Visit their website and sign up for a seminar near you.

They also have a fun trading app called paperMoney, it works with all think trading applications, and it is essentially a virtual trading module. It has a virtual margin account and virtual IRA account each funded with $100K of “play” money for experimental and virtual trading.

They also have an Options School, a blog, reports and calendars, a magazine, FAQS, market info and rules and much more.

Support/Customer Service        

thinkorswim only has one location in Chicago; however, you can contact customer support by email, telephone or live chat. They will be happy to answer your questions and help with trades. They also post quite a few tutorials on their trading platforms.

They have a new support service called Swim Coach, for a monthly subscription price you can send in your own questions to be answered by a trading “coach,” or you can access audio, Q&A and live instruction through this service and check out the questions other traders are asking.

Summary

thinkorswim is a fun service to use, with great mobile options. The fee schedule can get a bit confusing, but once you figure it out, you can choose the option that is best for you. We really liked that they had a variety of mobile apps and that they have live chat support for accounts, trading and technical support. We also liked thinkorswim’s casual approach to trading, they offer serious tools and good information, but they deliver their services and information in a non-stuffy package.