Lightspeed is a US brokerage offering powerful and advanced trading platforms and research tools. The minimum deposit required is $10,000 whilst they do not offer Forex, CFD or Crypto trading.
show 1 Lightspeed Review, Pros & Cons 2 Lightspeed Overview 3 Lightspeed Regulation 4 Lightspeed Countries 5 Lightspeed Platforms 5.1 Lightspeed Trader 5.2 Lightspeed Web/Mobile Trader 5.3 Lime Trading Gateway 5.4 Sterling Trader 5.5 Livevol X Options Trading 5.6 Eze EMS (formerly RealTick) Pro and Express 5.7 Eze EMS (formerly RealTick) Pro 5.8 Eze EMS (formerly RealTick) Express 5.9 Derivix 5.10 SILEXX OEMS 5.11 Wex 5.12 efutures Platform 6 Lightspeed Trading Tools & Education 7 Lightspeed Instruments 8 Lightspeed Accounts & Fees 9 Lightspeed Support 10 Lightspeed Deposit & Withdrawal 11 Lightspeed Account Opening 12 Lightspeed Summary
Lightspeed Review, Pros & Cons
In this detailed Lightspeed review, our online broker research team have covered some of the most important aspects for you to consider when choosing the best broker for your online trading needs.
Lightspeed Overview
Lightspeed is an online broker that offer trading stocks, futures, options, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for retail and institutional traders. They provide an electronic trading platform to trade financial assets with competitive fees.
In addition to this, they offer a range of trading tools, margin lending accounts and money management services. The minimum required to trade with Lightspeed is a lot more than most online brokers ($10,000), thus they are likely to be more suited to active professional traders.
Founded in 2010 in the United States and headquartered in New York city, Lightspeed brokerage is catered towards the more frequent day traders with a choice of multiple trading platforms to choose from including the proprietary Lightspeed Trader and LivevolX platforms. They also offer platforms that have a monthly subscription fee, Eze EMS (formerly RealTick) and Sterling Trader Pro. They send orders to over 100 order routing destinations through multi-threaded servers.
In May of 2018, Lightspeed Trading merged with Lime Brokerage and efutures. The brokerage continued to operate under the name Lightspeed Trading, owned by Limelight Holdings LLC.
Lightspeed Regulation
Lightspeed brokerage is a division of Lime Brokerage, a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) scheme in the United States.
FINRA enables investors and firms to participate in the market with confidence by safeguarding its integrity. It is a non-governmental organisation that regulates member brokerage firms and exchange markets.
The SIPC is an investor protection scheme established in order to protect clients against the loss of cash and securities in case the broker cannot fulfil their financial obligations. The SIPC protection is limited to $500,000 with a $250,000 limit for cash.
In addition to the SIPC coverage, Lightspeed’s clearing agent Wedbush also provides an excess SIPC bond that grants additional coverage for up to $25,000,000 in cash and securities for each client account carried by Wedbush on behalf of Lightspeed, subject to an aggregate loss limit of $100,000,000. This bond covers cash credit balances to a maximum of $900,000 for a total of $1,150,000 in cash balances.
Lightspeed Countries
Lightspeed is a US online brokerage that can accept clients internationally. Some Lightspeed broker features and products mentioned within this Lightspeed review may not be available to traders from specific countries due to legal restrictions.
Lightspeed Platforms
Lightspeed Trading Plaforms
Lightspeed offer traders a range of powerful and intuitive trading platforms to help them achieve their goals. The robust software is highly customisable, allowing traders to see key information in real time with low latency. They are continuously developing and improving the platforms based on client feedback.
There are five primary trading platforms to choose, each platform coming with its own unique benefits. All of the platforms allow clients to trade options and equities.
Whether you are an active or professional trader, institution or hedge fund, you can opt for the platform that is most suited to your needs. Lightspeed offer free demo account for each platform so you can trial them all before making your choice if you are undecided.
Lightspeed Trader
Lightspeed Trader is the flagship trading platform and preferred solution for day traders. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customise layouts and rules to best fit their trading style. Keyboard traders and point and click traders are covered with fully customisable home screens and Lightspeed Trade Reporting.
Lightspeed Trader Features Include:
Lightspeed Web/Mobile Trader
This platform is suitable for traders who prefer web or mobile trading platforms for conveniently trading whilst on the go from Android and iOS compatible devices, provided you have an internet connection. It is designed to look, feel, and function in a similar way to the downloadable platforms. There are no monthly software or market data fees.
Lightspeed Web/Mobile Trader Features Include:
Lime Trading Gateway
The Lime Trading Gateway is for experienced automated traders who require direct market access with superior liquidity. It offers access for low latency trading via a C++ or JAVA API and FIX. It is developed to handle demanding applications with reliability whilst being affordable. It includes market data and trading platforms that allow clients to trade efficiently and anonymously across all major lit and dark market venues.
Lime Trading Gateway Features Include:
Sterling Trader
Sterling Trader Pro is a full-featured Level II trading platform that has been designed specifically with professional traders in mind. The terminal includes advanced pinpoint accuracy for order routing and management and real-time profit/loss capabilities, making it particularly suitable for trading groups.
Sterling Trader Pro Features Include:
Livevol X Options Trading
Livevol X is the next-generation execution platform that combines the intelligence of Livevol Pro with advanced options trading capabilities and sophisticated risk analytics. LVX has a range of unique features that can be used for identifying potential trading opportunities and developing trading strategies.
Livevol X Options Trading Features Include:
Eze EMS (formerly RealTick) Pro and Express
Eze EMS was created by Townsend Analytics and is suited to active traders, registered investment advisors (RIAs), and hedge funds. It delivers powerful trading tools, access to a vast amount of liquidity, real-time data, charting, analytics and real time streaming news. Lightspeed offer two versions of Eze EMS to meet different trader needs.
Eze EMS (formerly RealTick) Pro
Full featured trading software for professional traders.
Eze EMS (formerly RealTick) Express
A value-oriented alternative to the full featured Pro version.
Derivix
Derivix gives traders an all-in-one solution for pricing & analytics, portfolio risk management and multi-broker electronic execution for equities and derivatives markets.
SILEXX OEMS
SILEXX OEMS is a multi-asset class trading platform that provides streamlined execution, real-time analytics, and comprehensive risk management.
Wex
Wex’s options functionality gives options traders the tools they need for efficient options trading.
efutures Platform
The efutures platform gives futures traders a platform full with features that is powered by CQG to help them execute trades in a prompt manner.
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Lightspeed Trading Tools & Education
In addition to the fast and reliable trading technology that Lightspeed offer, they also provide free trading tutorials, webinars, news updates and other educational materials to help you increase your trading knowledge and skills. There are risk management tools and research tools to assist with conducting in-depth market analysis.
Lightspeed Instruments
Lightspeed have a good selection of stocks, futures, options, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for retail and institutional traders to choose from. However, they do not offer forex, CFD or cryptocurrency trading.
The Lightspeed trading fees are very competitive compared to other online brokerages with tiered pricing that depends on the clients trading volume. Rates can go as low as $0.001 per share for those who have a significant trading volume of at least 250,000 shares per month.
Lightspeed Accounts & Fees
Lightspeed have a variety of different account types to suit each individual traders requirements. Clients can conduct all of their trading from a single Lightspeed account, whether you are trading equities or options, trading to multiple destinations, or trading for multiple funds. Minimum account balances start from $10,000 on the web trader platform which is a lot more than most online brokers.
There are accounts for new and experienced traders. All accounts gain access to the risk management tools, competitive commission rates and dedicated customer service. Before choosing account you will need to determine if you are a professional or non-professional trader. It could be argued that the account types are over complicated for those who are just looking for a standard trading account.
Active Trade Account Types:
Other Accounts:
As broker fees can vary and change, there may be additional fees that are not listed in this Lightspeed review. It is imperative to ensure that you check and understand all of the latest information on the official Lightspeed website before opening a brokerage account.
Please note the following minimum funding requirements for new accounts:
Lightspeed Support
Lightspeed offer a personalised levels of customer support via telephone and email during normal market hours. The friendly support team are on hand to answer all general, technical and account questions in a prompt and efficient manner. Lightspeed state that they take great pride in the quick and personal level of support that is given to every client by the experienced customer relations staff.
Unfortunately, they do not currently offer online web chat support which some users would find more convenient.
Lightspeed Deposit & Withdrawal
Lightspeed offer funding via wire transfer, check and ACH. Accounts initially funded by check or ACH are subject to a 5-business day hold. They do not accept third-party checks or wires.
There is no charge for ACH transfers which can take up to 2 days to complete. Withdrawal requests received by 2:30PM EST are processed same business day. Wire transfers are permitted between like-named accounts. Wire transfers are usually received by the bank on the same business day and there is a $20 fee for domestic wires and a $50 fee for international wires.
It would be advantageous if the broker offered online payment processors such as PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, etc.
Lightspeed Account Opening
You can click the “open account” button located throughout the Lightspeed website to start the application process. You will need to choose your required account type, submit personal information, read and agree to the terms and conditions if you are happy with them. During the account opening process you will need some documents at hand to verify your identity and address.
It can take a few days for the account application to be reviewed and approved. The accounts team will contact you if they require any additional information. New clients who open an account with Lightspeed will be able to start trading within 24 hours after the account is funded by wire transfer.
This online trading broker has 2-step verification for an added layer of security and protection to clients account and fund transfers. They send one-time-use pass codes to your mobile device for authenticating actions.
Lightspeed New Account Application
Lightspeed Summary
Lightspeed brokerage offers a wide variety of powerful trading platforms and advanced trading tools. They charge competitive fees with a range of different account types to choose from. However, the minimum deposit required is high compared to other online brokers at $10,000 and funding options are also limited. Furthermore, they do not offer forex, CFD or cryptocurrency trading.
Trading complex instruments can come with a high risk. You should consider whether you understand how investments and trading work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing all of your money.
Min $10,000 Deposit
Lightspeed is a US brokerage offering powerful & advanced trading platforms & research tools. The minimum deposit is $10,000 whilst they do not offer Forex, CFD or Crypto trading.
Lightspeed Details
