Stocks
Consider the following advantages of trading stocks at Best Mastery Capital:
- Commissions as low as $0.005 per US share all-in.
- Earn extra income on the fully-paid shares of stock held in your account by joining BMC'sStock Yield Enhancement Program.
- View the number of shares that are available to short, as well as the current interest rate charged on borrowed shares and the current Fed Funds rate in Trader Workstation (TWS), or use our Short Stock Availability Tool, a fully electronic, self-service utility, to search for real-time availability of shortable stocks.
- Use a variety of specialized stock trading toolsn Trader Workstation, such as the Accumulate/Distribute algo and ISW (Integrated Stock Window), to help achieve best execution on large volume orders, and provide quick access and comprehensive stock order management.
- Trade large or complex orders with the help of an experienced broker at our Stocks and Options Trade Desk. Each broker on our trade desk has over 15 years trading experience, and will strive to get the best possible execution for your trades.
Options
Best Mastery Capital has its roots in options trading going back 40 years. Our sophisticated trading technology is built by professionals for professionals, and offers significant benefits to options traders who are serious about their results.
- Commissions as low as $0.15 - $0.70 per US options contract.
- Our suite of Option Labs and advanced trading tools offer support to help you discover and implement optimal trading strategies. For example, our Probability Lab offers a practical way to think about options without the complicated mathematics, and the Option Strategy Lab lets you create simple and complex multi-leg option orders based on your own price and volatility forecast.
- T+2 accelerated stock settlement supports the purchasing of new shares to cover assigned options, thereby avoiding a potentially higher tax liability.
- Take advantage of Trader Workstation's real-time technical, fundamental and price/risk analysis tools.
- Download our free Options Pricing Calculator and Options Strategies widgets to help with everyday trading tasks.
- Trade large or complex orders with the help of an experienced broker at our Stocks and Options Trade Desk. Each broker on our trade desk has over 15 years trading experience, and will strive to get the best possible execution for your trades.
Futures and FOPs
Trade futures, commodities and futures options on 35 market centers worldwide.
- Commissions as low as USD 0.85 per contract plus exchange and regulatory fees.
- Our volume tiered pricing structure saves volume traders additional cost, with commission typically within the range of USD 0.25 - 0.85 per contract based on monthly trading volume, plus exchange, regulatory and carrying fees.
- Take advantage of Trader Workstation's real-time technical, fundamental and price/risk analysis tools.
- Use Trader Workstation's advanced trading tools,including:
- SpreadTrader, which lets you easily create combo orders and spreads from among 18 predefined strategies, or create your own leg-by-leg positions;
- ComboTrader, which lets you create unique combination orders manually leg by leg, or create complex combination orders using named strategy templates; and
- Index Arbitrage Meter, which shows you the extent of the premium (or discount) of the lead month futures price above (or below) its fair future value with respect to the index price.
- Direct access to interbank quotes.
- Commissions as low as 0.08 to 0.20 basis points * Trade Size.
- ECN-like market structure.
- Currency Conversion and Cash Forex allow you to convert currencies and/or trade currencies with leverage.
- Multi-asset display.
- Automatic overnight position rolls.
- 22 trading currencies.
- Trade forex markets in our optimizedFXTrader.
- Learn about the reduced cost of carry opportunities with BMC'sFX Auto Swap Program.
Contracts for Difference (CFDs)
We offer three kinds of CFDs: BMC Share CFDs, BMC Index CFDs and BMC Forex CFDs.
BMC Share CFDs
In addition to the potential tax benefits, trading CFDs through BMC offers the following benefits:
- Transparent, low commissions and financing rates.
- Trade CFDs alongside the underlying shares.
- Margin efficiency.
- Efficient CFD reference pricing.
BMC Index CFDs
BMC Index CFDs present an opportunity to gain broad market exposure more easily than with many other instruments.
- Flexible exposure to global markets.
- Low commissions & financing rates.
- Transparent quotes.
BMC Forex CFDs
- Direct access to interbank quotes.
- Commissions as low as 0.08 to 0.20 basis points * Trade Size.
- Automatic overnight position rolls.
Bonds
Best Mastery Capital offers electronic access to US and European corporate bonds, US government securities, US Municipal bonds, non-US Sovereign bonds in Asia and Europe, fixed income futures and fixed income options, all from a single account.
- Multiple fixed income instruments.
- Client bond quotes for trading in TWS.
- Comparable bonds all in one place.
- US corporate bonds scanner.
- Smartest routing with multiple bond market centers.
- Submit corporate and municipal bond RFQs.
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
Diversify your BMC portfolio with ETFs.
- Take advantage of short-term fluctuations in the market by trading ETFs inTrader Workstation (TWS) just like stocks.
- Invest in a wide range of equity and bond indices on 28 exchanges in 14 countries, including short ETFs and leveraged ETFs.
- Take advantage of greater liquidity through hands-on trading like a stock.
- ETFs are supported in options trading and short selling.
- Enjoy greater transparency through daily reporting of the ETF's holdings.
ETFs vs Mutual Funds
| Benefit | ETFs | Mutual Funds |
|---|---|---|
| Diversification |  |
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| Active fund management |  |
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| Lower expense ratios | |
|
| Hands-on intraday trading | |
|
| Financial transparency | Portfolio Holding
Reported Daily |
Portfolio Holding Reported Semiannually or Quarterly |
| Options trading | |
|
| Stagnant index | |
|
| Short selling | |
|
| Time control | |
|
| Dividends reinvested automatically | |
|
Mutual Funds
US Mutual Funds
Our direct, low-cost policy allows us to offer mutual funds.
We do not currently offer any mutual funds that include a front-end load.
- Your funds' value will be included as equity with loan value.
- Invest in more than 9,000 funds from over 160 families of mutual funds.
- We offer over 3,800 funds with No Transaction Fees.
- Most of BMC's mutual funds are no-load.
- Active, professional fund management.
- Electronic-only prospectus delivery.
- Automatic dividend reinvestment.
- Unlike other market offered products, orders for mutual funds are submitted and collected during the trading day, and then submitted to the fund company at the close of New York trading. The fund companies then collect all orders from all brokers and determine a price for the day which is communicated back to the brokers. Clients seeking a transparent market environment with real-time price updates may want to consider trading ETFs as an alternative.
Offshore Mutual Funds
Our non-US customers can invest in offshore mutual funds and enjoy increased access to global markets,
greater diversification, and lower operating costs and management fees.
- All funds are denominated in US dollars.
- Be sure to check a fund's Offering Statement/Prospectus for important residency requirements.
- Trade settlement is T+3.
- Fund values are included as Equity with Loan Value when held over 30 days.
- Automatic dividend and capital gains reinvestment.
- Electronic-only prospectus delivery.
Offshore funds are not available to U.S. and Canadian clients.
Metals
Trading BMC Spot Gold and BMC Spot Silver gives you access to the London bullion market, which is the center for the international over-the-counter (OTC) market for gold and silver.
- Low, transparent commissions and financing rates.
- Efficient pricing in accessible quantities.
- Trade BMC spot gold and BMC spot silver alongside gold futures.
- Leveraged exposure.
Spreads and Combinations
Whether you're trading pairs (stock-stock), option and stock combinations, straight option combinations, ETF and future combinations, or futures spreads, BMC makes it easy.
- BMC ComboTrader lets you choose from a selection of predefined combinations or create any customized combination of unlimited legs.
- BMC SpreadTrader lets you instantly view and trade futures calendar spreads.
- Delta Neutral combinations are automatically computed.
- BMC Risk Navigator displays real-time value at risk (VAR) on all positions across asset classes.
- BMC ScaleTrader lets you set up and monitor large volume scale trades for stock-stock pairs and multi-leg combos.
For more information on these and other Trader Workstation features, see our Desktop Trading page.
Hedge Fund Investing
Best Mastery Capital clients who are Accredited Investors or Qualified Purchasers under SEC rules can view information about independent Hedge Funds available through BMC's online Hedge Fund Marketplace, part of the Investors' Marketplace.
- Browse and invest in participating Hedge Funds from qualified third-party managers through a secure, password-protected area on our website.
- Contact the Fund management company or request that the Fund contact you.
- View and download basic information about participating Funds, including documentation, private placement memoranda and subscription information.
Exchange for Physicals (EFPs)
An Exchange for Physical (EFP) is a transaction in which you sell stock and buy it back for future delivery by buying a Single Stock Future (SSF), or you buy the stock and sell the SSF.
- Swap a long or short stock position for a Single Stock Future (SSF), combining the two legs into one EFP transaction.
- Increased leverage; SSFs have only a 20% margin requirement.
- Sell SSFs short on a downtick.
Smart Beta Portfolios combine the benefits of actively managed fund stock selection techniques with passive ETF low cost automation to provide broad market exposure and potentially higher returns.
All of Covestor's Smart Beta Portfolios feature:
- Lower costs, including industry-low brokerage commissions and a low management fee of 0.08%;
- Automated investing based on active management stock selection techniques that seek to outperform passive benchmarks over a long period;
- Diversification even with a small investment, using fractional shares;
- Automatic rebalancing to maintain each portfolio's optimal strategic composition;
- Ease of buying and selling, just like stocks, because investors own the portfolio securities directly, unlike owning an ETF or mutual fund.
Get started.
Smart Beta Portfolios are available to BMC clients as well as Advisor clients, who can now pass these benefits along to their clients by connecting those clients to Covestor.
See how Covestor Smart Beta portfolios compare to ETFs and active mutual funds.
View Comparison
View Comparison
View the benefits of Covestor Smart Beta portfolios.
View Benefits
View Benefits
Learn more about Covestor Smart Beta Portfolios at covestor.com
Indices
BMC offers many commonly-used market index products as well as exchange-traded index futures around the world.
- Monitor key market movements over time by displaying and charting indices in TWS.
- Create continuous charts for index futures and index options.
- Compare the performance of your portfolio to selected indices using PortfolioAnalyst, our online reporting and analysis tool.
- Use as a reference for trading products such as ETFs, options and futures.