Why TradeZero America's Commission-Free Trading Is Good News For Short Sellers

Online broker TradeZero America launched commission-free stock trading one montha ago, granting users access to its suite of advanced desktop and mobile trading features without the hassle of paying for each stock and option trade.

TradeZero is one of a growing number of online brokers that are transitioning to a no-fee model. With all the options out there for traders, unique features and differentiated offerings are the key to standing out in the crowd.

Benzinga recently spoke with TradeZero founder Dan Pipitone and CEO Michael Haupt about why traders get more out of the TradeZero experience than they do from the typical online broker.

“We’re definitely multi-dimensional. We’re not just about free trading, and it’s not just about trading from a mobile app and getting commission-free trades,” Pipitone told Benzinga.

Making Short Selling Simple

TradeZero provides tools that are typically used by professional traders and hedge funds, including Level 2 quotes, advanced charting and the ability to trade using hotkeys, Pipitone said. 

One of the ways the CEO said TradeZero stands out is by making short selling easier than ever.

“We’ve incorporated some powerful tools that allow traders to not only trade the easy-to-borrow stocks, which are the stocks that everyone can trade on the short side very easily, but also access to one of the biggest pools of hard-to-borrow stocks that are available." 

Partnerships with multiple vendors provide both easy access and competitive pricing when it comes to borrowing fees, which can often be extremely high for hard-to-borrow stocks, he said.

“We have made it very easy for someone to get into a hard-to-borrow stock using any one of our platforms by the way in which we’ve crafted our Locate window and the ways in which we’ve created ample supply for our users based on the vendors that we’re working with,” Pipitone said.

TradeZero users also have access to a large universe of stocks, including stocks that trade on the OTCBB market and the pinksheets, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET every trading day.

Multiple Platforms

TradeZero also makes it easy for users to customize their account and choose which platform fits their trading style best.

TradeZero offers four trading platforms, two of which are free and two of which require a monthly subscription for access to advanced features.

The TradeZero Pro platform is $59 per month. Pro subscribers can easily disable their subscriptions temporarily to avoid subscription fees while on vacation or taking a break from trading, Haupt said. 

“We want to make everything extremely affordable for the client,” the TradeZero founder said.

“The ease of the client saying 'hey, I’m going to be out for the summer' — they may go away, turn off their platform. They’re not closing their account down, but they still have access to the free platforms if they want to buy or sell.”

Traders who want more information or wish to test out the different TradeZero platforms for free can visit the TradeZero website for a free demo of each platform.

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Photo courtesy of TradeZero.