Tradeking

Infobox_Company
company_name = TradeKing
company_
company_type = Private | founded = 2005
Headquarters = Boca Raton, Florida locations = Boca Raton, Florida ,Charlotte, North Carolina USA
key_people = Donato A. Montanaro, Chairman & CEO
Richard J. Hagen, Jr. President & COO
Thomas A. Desmond, Chief Growth Officer

industry = Financial Services
products = stock brokerage
homepage = [http://www.tradeking.com www.tradeking.com]

TradeKing is a privately held, FINRA-member discount brokerage firm with headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida, and subsidiary offices in Charlotte, NC.

History

Launched in December 2005, TradeKing offers online brokerage services geared to active stock, option and ETF traders. The firm pioneered the concept of social networking for investors and traders, offering free blog support and other Web 2.0-based tools to registered members and accountholders since the firm’s inception. [ [http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_37/b4049089.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5 “MySpace for Traders”, Business Week, September 10, 2007.] [http://www.reuters.com/news/video/videoStory?videoId=64309 "Cyber Traders Turn to Blogging", August 21, 2007, Reuters video.] [http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/2007-07-11-social-network-sites_N.htm “Investors share tips, track records online, July 12, 2007, USA Today.] ]

In March 2007, the firm opened a second office in Charlotte, NC.

In July 2007, TradeKing released the Options Playbook [ [http://www.optionsclearing.com/publications/risks/riskchap1.jsp Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Please read Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options.] [] [ [http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/columnist/krantz/2007-11-16-options_N.htm?csp=34 “Better Know Your Option Options” by Matt Krantz, USA Today, November 16, 2007] ] [ [http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_45/c4057086.htm?chan=search “A Playbook for Traders”, by Jeffrey M. Laderman, Personal Business – Plus column of Business Week, November 5, 2007] ] , a primer for options trading explaining common options trading strategies (or “plays”) in jargon-free terms.

In May 2008, TradeKing became one of the first retail brokerages to introduce binary options to self-directed investors under the name "Fixed Return Options".

Rankings

TradeKing was ranked the #1 discount broker in 2006 and 2007 [ [http://www.smartmoney.com/brokers/index.cfm?story=august2007 Smart Money August 2007 brokerage survey ranking] ] by Smart Money, the Wall Street Journal’s business magazine. The survey ranked brokerages based on commissions, interest rates, mutual funds, investment products, banking amenities, trading tools, research, and customer service.

In Smart Money’s 2008 survey, TradeKing finished top-3 overall, earning the maximum five stars for both trading tools and customer service [ [http://www.smartmoney.com/brokers/ Smart Money May 2008 brokerage survey rankings] ] . The firm was also the only brokerage in the survey to earn five stars for customer service.

SmartMoney’s 2008 broker survey compared a total of sixteen brokerages on their merits across five categories: mutual funds & investment products, banking services, trading tools, research and customer service.

TradeKing also earned 4 stars in Barron's two years running (2007 [ [http://online.barrons.com/article/SB117288684364425609-search.html?KEYWORDS=tradeking&COLLECTION=barrons/6month Barron’s March 2007 brokerage survey rankings (subscription required)] ] and 2008 [ [http://online.barrons.com/article/SB120554254483438485.html Barron’s March 2008 brokerage survey rankings] ] ) in Barron's annual survey of online brokers.

Consumer Reports also ranked TradeKing third out of 19 brokerages reviewed in an independent survey conducted in May 2007. [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18385093/ Consumer Reports review of online brokers, as reported by MSNBC] ]

ee also

* Stock broker
* Options broker
* Web 2.0
* List of social networking websites
* Fixed return options

External links

* [http://www.tradeking.com/ TradeKing official website]
* [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0979773601 TradeKing Options Playbook listing on Amazon.com]

Notes