About Us » Awards & Media

When you do the right things—and do them well—people tend to notice. optionsXpress was named Best Online Broker by Barron’s for four straight years. And, every day, we work hard to get even better.

All-In-One Trade Ticket "model for the industry"
"All-in-One Trade Ticket is a model for the industry." "...the All-in-One Trade Ticket, which enables you to trade just about every possible item on the menu from a single screen and coaches you effectively through the process of placing a trade."
Barron’s, March 14, 2011
Rated 4 Stars and Best for Options Traders
"optionsXpress lets you trade a wide variety of asset classes on several different platforms." "The trading tools are organized according to a customer's experience; the complexity only grows as your level of skill and confidence do."
Barron’s, March 14, 2011
5 Stars for Costs and a "Mecca for Options Buffs"
"The all-around winner on costs, optionsXpress, offer(s) competitive prices on their full menu of services."
Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, February 2011
2010 Broker of the Year
optionsXpress voted "2010 Broker of the Year" by the Options Insider readers. "Uptime" and "New Upgrades" sets optionsXpress apart.
The Options Insider, January 21, 2011
Rated 4 stars for 9th year in a row
"optionsXpress underwent a site redesign that cleaned up navigation considerably. The suite of tools has been consolidated into “hubs,” so that they’re much easier to find and use."
Barron’s, March 15, 2010
5 Stars (Highest) for Trading Tools
Smart Money, May 19, 2009
4 stars » Rated Best Online Broker for Usability
Highly rated for Trade Experience and Research Amenities.
"The new customizable myOX portal lets customers create their own launch pad for the optionsXpress experience."
Barron’s, March 16, 2009
4 Stars » Highly Rated for Usability and Customer Service
"This is a versatile website with loads of tools and ways to track your portfolio."
Barron’s, March 17, 2008
4 Stars
"Screeners, strategizers and pricing calculators all help sort through options and excellent educational information is available."
Barron’s, March 5, 2007
Best of the Web
"The Virtual Trading site lets novices practice without putting money on the table, while the nifty StrategyScan feature generates a game plan based on the investor’s bullish or bearish sentiments on a stock or the market."
Rated "Best Online Broker" 4 Years Running1
"...optionsXpress again tops the list by providing a solid trading platform... a myriad of research tools and reports that let the client understand portfolio performance, as well as the tax implications of a trade"
Barron’s, March 6, 2006
Rated "Best Online Broker" 3 Years Running1
"(Easily) the leading browser-based brokerage… Well ahead of the runners-up."
"Keeps evolving… at a pace that is unimaginable at other brokerages."
Barron’s, March 7, 2005
Rated "Best Online Broker" 2 Years Running1
"…Sitting on top of the leader board for the second year in a row is optionsXpress, with 4 1/2 (actually closer to 4 2/3, if we sliced them into thirds) stars."
Barron’s, March 8, 2004
Smart Money Rates optionsXpress Best Discount Broker—"Nearly Flawless"2
"…optionsXpress has the goods. It beat the others by a nice margin."
Smart Money, August 2004
Technology Fast 500 Rising Star
optionsXpress is recognized by Deloitte and Touche’s new Technology Fast 500 "Rising Stars" category.
Entrepreneur of the Year Award Winners 2004
Ned Bennett and David Kalt of optionsXpress Named Ernst & Young 2004 Illinois Entrepreneurs of the Year®.
Forbes Favorite: Investing » Options3
"This Chicago options brokerage site puts an emphasis on execution, but even more important, it will educate you on the difference between a straddle and a butterfly, and then give you a host of trading ideas."
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Barron’s Rates optionsXpress First-Ever 4 1/2 Stars
"Unprecedented…"4
"…optionsXpress earned an unprecedented 4 1/2 stars in our annual ranking of online brokers. In praise of Xspreads, direct order-entry and the Options Dragon."
Barron’s, March 10, 2003
Life in the Fast Lane
"As noted here last month, optionsXpress recently added streaming quotes to its site (‘Seeking Satisfaction,’ May 12). The brokerage originally started with Money.net’s streamer, but found that it wasn’t easily integrated into its trading screens, plus it didn’t have options quotes."
OTO and Xspreads
"It is clear optionsXpress.com is trying hard to stay ahead of the pack by offering features that simplify trading options as much as possible. The addition of Xspreads and OTO are strides taken in the right direction."5
Barron’s Rates optionsXpress 4 Stars » One of the "Best Online Brokers"6
"optionsXpress will appeal to on-line traders who have outgrown their existing broker’s options capabilities. The order-entry screens are set up specifically for particular options strategies, and go far beyond those we’ve seen on other on-line broker sites."
Barron’s, March 18, 2002
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More Options for Options Traders7
"Last year Shelley Frances Gould opened an account with boutique online broker optionsXpress and hasn’t looked back since. ‘They cater to the options trader and know exactly the kind of information we want,’ she says."
Three Decades of Options and the World is A-Changin’
Seems like just yesterday the Chicago Board of Trade was hatching a plan to capitalize on OTC put/call options in a more regulated setting, bringing exchange-traded stock options to Chicago and a broader public.
SFO Magazine, April 2003

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