Tradestation is an online broker that deals in online securities. It is a platform that offers a wide range of tools that help with the analysis of the market, push trades, and manage your account in the comfort of your house or while on the move.
It offers comprehensive and advanced trading technologies, education, online brokerage services, trade stocks, options and futures online, without the need to install any application. All you need is an internet connection.
Tradestation is a fast-growing platform. Although it still needs to fill some spaces in the fast-growing market, it has a lot of potentials to beat competitors in coming years and become one of the most influential players in the market.
In this Tradestation review, you’ll be learning all you need to know, ranging from information, interesting statics, and ratings you need to decide if this online broker is suitable for your investment needs.
Popularity
Tradestation is still on its way to attaining more recognition in the trading market. Since Tradestation is an online platform, its popularity is essential to its growth and reaching a wider scope of traders. Tradestation experienced online website traffic of about an estimated 1. 46 million, with one of the highest traffic from the United States as of August 2020.
Boasting of a Twitter account with an estimate of about 14,000 followers, Facebook followers of about 27,000, Tradestation is not doing bad at all but still has more milestones to climb in the world of trade in terms of popularity. Below is a full analysis of Tradestation and its popularity in 2020.
| Query | Answer | Reference URL | Date |
| Number of users (approximate) | 80K+ as of June 2012 | https://www.facebook.com/TradeStation/posts/a-question-how-many-tradestation-users-are-there/346770458730753/ | 24 Aug 2020 |
| Website traffic (estimated) | 1.46m | https://www.similarweb.com/website/tradestation.com/ | 24 Aug 2020 |
| # results on web | 1.26m | https://www.google.com | 24 Aug 2020 |
| Search volume Google | 15K | https://searchvolume.io | 24 Aug 2020 |
| Twitter followers | 14K | https://twitter.com/tradestation | 24 Aug 2020 |
| FB followers | 27K | https://www.facebook.com/TradeStation/ | 24 Aug 2020 |
| How popular on mainstream media? | Low | Benzinga, Finance Magnates, The Tokenist, Business Wire | 24 Aug 2020 |
| Negative media? | Low | https://cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/7338-16 | 24 Aug 2020 |
| Notable awards | Best Professional Platform, Best Real-Time Data, Best Institutional Platform and more | https://www.tradestation.com/why-tradestation/Awards/ | 24 Aug 2020 |
User Rating
This online platform has a little below average rating compared to big competitors in the market. It is rated low on account fees, number of no-transaction-fee mutual funds, etc. A lot of customers usually complain about problems relating to customer service.
Tradestation would need to work on improving areas customers have issues. Meanwhile, the reviews on options trade, stock trading costs, account minimum, commission-free ETFs, etc., are excellent. Here is a full analysis of Tradestation and its users’ rating.
Background Information
Tradestation was founded by William (Bill) and Raphael (Ralph) Cruz, the Cuban-born brothers. Their aim was to design, test, and automate their own customized trading strategies. In 1982, the company was formed and named Omega Research Inc. In 1991, Omega research Inc. launched Tradestation, and in the year 2000, the online-based Tradestation was established.
This was the foundation of the company’s direct access to brokerage services. In 2001, Omega Research Inc was replaced by Tradestation Groups. Tradestation Groups became the parent of two subsidiary groups, namely Tradestation Security Inc and Tradestation Technologies. In 2011, Tradestation Groups was acquired by Monex Group in Japan.
| Company public/private | Public | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TradeStation |
| Revenue Data | – | – |
| CEO and bio | John Bartleman – has been with the company for over 20 years, time in which he climbed to very top and became the President of TradeStation Group, Inc. | https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartleman/ |
| Number of employees | 371 | https://www.owler.com/company/tradestation |
| Notable investors (private companies) | None | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/tradestation-technologies |
Security
Tradestation is known to have the necessary security measures that you would expect or require in an online platform. It employs the use of technologies to protect users’ accounts. Some of the ways Tradestation secures its transactions include:
- Account and Trade Monitoring: It employs the use of sophisticated tools, anti-fraud, and anti-money laundering specialists to monitor trade and customer accounts. This constant monitoring helps detect suspicious activities that might be taking place, and then prompt action will follow to curb fraudulent activities and protect customer accounts.
- Customer Alerts: Customers are notified of any change or transaction made on their account. Changes to login information, Contact Information, Accounts settings, and so on need to be verified before they are granted. Through this, changes not from Customers would be appropriately reported and acted upon promptly.
- Uptight Privacy Policies: The confidentiality of non-public information of customers is a security measure from Tradestation. Sharing of information of customers without their consent is not done outside of the security affiliate clearing firm.
- Encrypted Communications: Websites and Applications use 256 – bit data encryption to protect and secure transactions and communication online.
- Advanced Firewalls: Advanced hardware and software firewalls are used to prevent unauthorized parties from accessing systems and accounts.
| Query | Answer | Reference URL |
| HTTPS Certificate | Yes | https://www.tradestation.com |
| 2FA ? | Yes | https://uploads.tradestation.com/uploads/online-identity-theft-and-security-reminders.pdf |
| Device monitoring? | Yes | https://www.tradestation.com/faqs/ |
| New device extra security? | Yes | https://www.tradestation.com/faqs/ |
Fees & Offering
Tradestation is not the cheapest broker online and probably not the most expensive. However, it is advised to be careful and do a lot of research about the fees and Offering before you start trading, especially if you do not have any experience. Certain fees like margin fee, fixed income fees, mutual fund fees do apply for Tradestation.
| Query | Answer | Reference URL |
| Account minimum | None for TS GO $2,000 for TS Select | https://www.tradestation.com/pricing/ |
| Account fixed fees | None | https://www.tradestation.com/pricing/ |
| Fractional shares? | No | https://www.stockbrokers.com/review/tradestation/fees-features |
| Margin costs | Variable | https://www.tradestation.com/pricing/margin-rates/ |
| ETF buying fees | None | https://www.tradestation.com/trading-products/etfs/ |
| Stock buying fees | None | https://www.tradestation.com/pricing/ |
| Option buying fees | None | https://www.tradestation.com/pricing/ |
| Short selling fees | Fees Vary | https://www.tradestation.com/pricing/service-fees/ |
| Futures buying fees | None | https://www.tradestation.com/pricing/ |
| Future options buying fees | None | https://www.tradestation.com/pricing/ |
| Cryptocurrency fees | Fees Vary | https://www.tradestation.com/pricing/ |
| Fixed income fees | $14.95 + additional $5 per bond | https://www.tradestation.com/pricing/ |
| Mutual funds fees | $14.95 per trade | https://www.tradestation.com/pricing/ |
Trading App
The TradeStation mobile app is well received by its users. With an average rating of 4.35 out of 5, the app has one of the best ratings in the market. A common consensus is that somehow the iOS app works better than the Android version.
Final conclusions:
Tradestation has undoubtedly put a great effort into making themselves an option for many. The online broker is currently leading in trader technology with its robust application that makes trading even easier and more convenient. It offers great tools like desktop, web-based, and mobile variations.
It’s certain that with much more efforts in increasing publicity on social media and internet space, Tradestation would scale up high in the world of trading.