Charles Schwab today announced the launch of futures and forex trading, as well as portfolio margin, on its thinkorswim platform suite, part of Schwab’s overall trading offer, Schwab Trading Powered by Ameritrade.
The introduction of these sophisticated capabilities is the first time Schwab has enabled forex trading, and in addition to reinforcing Schwab’s leadership in derivatives trading, marks an important step in integrating the full range of trading capabilities previously available through thinkorswim at Ameritrade.
In October 2023, Schwab introduced Schwab Trading Powered by Ameritrade, a reimagined trading experience made possible by the combination of two of the industry’s most innovative firms, Charles Schwab and Ameritrade. Schwab Trading Powered by Ameritrade unites the thinkorswim trading platforms with Schwab’s trading capabilities on Schwab.com and Schwab Mobile, alongside extensive trading education and specialized service designed for traders of all types and levels of expertise to create an exceptional trading experience.
“The introduction of these latest capabilities reinforces our commitment to deliver a robust, innovative, and sophisticated trading experience through Schwab Trading Powered by Ameritrade,” said James Kostulias, Managing Director and Head of Trading Services at Charles Schwab. “Adding these capabilities builds upon an already strong offer for traders – and in particular, derivatives traders – which includes the thinkorswim platforms, Schwab’s trading capabilities on Schwab.com and Schwab Mobile, 24-hour five-days-a-week trading, sophisticated tools and support for options traders, extensive trading education content, and specialized service designed for traders of all types and levels of expertise.”
In addition to forex trading, Schwab now offers futures trading on the thinkorswim platforms. Previously only available via its StreetSmart platforms, futures enable qualified traders to buy or sell a specific commodity asset or index at a set future date for a set price.
Within the thinkorswim platforms at Schwab, futures-approved clients have access to:
- Real-time futures charting
- Predefined futures watchlists and technical indicators
- In-depth research and commentary, all within thinkorswim
- Access to dedicated futures specialists for clients seeking support
- Greater Access to the Global Markets with Forex
The introduction of forex trading at Schwab delivers a new opportunity for traders to potentially hedge against the risks that come along with international currency and interest rates, possible geopolitical events, and diversify their portfolio and respond to changes even when the stock market is closed.
Today, Schwab offers more than 65 tradable currency pairs on thinkorswim. To aid in these transactions, Schwab offers support from forex specialists 24 hours a day, five days a week. Specialized forex tools and education are also built in directly to the thinkorswim trading platforms, and forex trading is offered commission-free, with trade costs reflected in the bid/ask spread.
Also now available through Schwab’s thinkorswim platform is Portfolio Margin, an alternative calculation that bases margin requirements on the risk of an entire portfolio rather than the sum of individual positions and strategies. For qualifying clients, Portfolio Margin often results in lower margin requirements and increased leverage. Schwab’s highly competitive, tiered interest rates mean the more a client borrows, the lower their margin borrowing rate may be.
“This rollout also represents our focus throughout the integration of Schwab and Ameritrade to deliver the best of what both firms provide to clients,” said Kostulias. “Schwab clients are already deeply engaged with thinkorswim since it became available to them last fall, and with futures and forex trading along with portfolio margin now available on the platforms, we are ideally positioned to welcome the final group of Ameritrade clients to Schwab in May.”
