TradeKing Announces Post-Merger Results

Online Equities and Options Broker Begins 2013 with More than 500K Accounts, Determined to Lead on Value, Tools and Client Service

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With its TradeKing and Zecco Trading integration complete, online broker TradeKing enters the New Year with a trading experience now even better equipped to meet the needs of today’s active investor. The “new” TradeKing is a significantly larger online brokerage seven years after its founding, with more than 500,000 total accounts, making it the country’s sixth-largest online broker¹.

“TradeKing intends to live our values every day as we continue to expand and show what excellence means in the online brokerage industry. 2012 was a milestone year for our firm but I truly believe the best is yet to come for TradeKing and our clients in the months ahead.”

Entering this next phase of its history, TradeKing intends to prove to the industry that the core “disrupter” values on which it founded the company -- including low, transparent pricing, exceptional customer service and a commitment to providing some of the industry’s most innovative technology -- will remain unchanged and continue to guide the firm’s future direction.

“Too many online brokerages abandoned a focus on transparency and a ‘customer-first’ mindset as they’ve grown,” said Don Montanaro, CEO of TradeKing. “TradeKing intends to live our values every day as we continue to expand and show what excellence means in the online brokerage industry. 2012 was a milestone year for our firm but I truly believe the best is yet to come for TradeKing and our clients in the months ahead.”

Product:

• TradeKing continues to enhance its TradeKing LIVE platform so active trader clients can leverage fast-performing tools and real-time information. Daily users of TradeKing LIVE have doubled as a result of the Zecco acquisition. The HTML5 site now features:
  • A new redesign that offers both a light and dark background along with the ability for traders to customize features on the main dashboard
  • Streaming charts
  • An enhanced Options Workbench with strategy recognition
  • Real-time, intraday updates that display cost basis on all stock positions

• TradeKing’s mobile apps for the iPhone and Android devices continue to gain traction among investors. Both apps feature streaming quotes and watchlists, the ability to trade stocks and options, charts, option chains and alerts.
• The TradeKing Trader Network social community continues to be a popular channel for investors to connect with one another, share experiences, ideas and strategies, see what others are trading and how they are performing. TradeKing also considers the Trader Network to be an extension of its service channel, giving the firm yet another way to listen to and interact with its clients.
• TradeKing’s open Application Programming Interface (API) remains an important part of the company’s strategy and the API is continually enhanced by TradeKing. The API is specially designed to help developers, partners and tech-savvy investors create highly-customized trading platforms and “Apps,” opening up a whole new avenue to deliver greater choice for the firm’s clients.
  • Increasing numbers of organizations such as SmartStops, ionDesk and CoolTrade have already integrated their tools with TradeKing’s API.
• We launched TradeKing Forex, offering Forex capabilities to help clients diversify their investments. With these capabilities, clients can:
  • Trade over 50 currency pairs, plus gold and silver in real time
  • Benefit from sophisticated trading platforms, premium charting tools
  • Access extensive education, actionable research, detailed charts, and more
• The TradeKing site also underwent a significant brand redesign to integrate features from the former TradeKing and Zecco sites. The new site offers a streamlined look and feel, plus a number of enhancements, including:
  • A new, redesigned research center
  • A new alerts center that enables clients to set up alerts that are delivered via both email and mobile
  • Upgraded navigation to help clients more easily find key features

Education:

• In keeping with its philosophy that an educated trader is a better equipped trader when it comes to navigating a variety of market conditions, TradeKing continues to offer a range of tools and services to help investors hone their craft:
  • In 2012, TradeKing hosted 62 live educational events, including 14 webinars, 38 Midday Market Calls and 10 Weekly Option Reviews. These events drew more than 8,300 attendees, with seven different speakers, 60 different topics, and more than 30 hours of live online programming.
    • This past year, TradeKing introduced its series of Midday Market Calls, a new program of “bite-sized” market analysis and trading ideas for both stock and option traders. Taking place each Tuesday at noon Eastern, the Midday Market Calls (featuring Michael Kahn of Quick Takes Pro and Barron’s “Getting Technical” columnist) have quickly become one of TradeKing’s most popular educational events.
    • TradeKing also launched its new Weekly Options Review each Monday at noon Eastern. Investors can join former CBOE market maker Dan Sheridan of Sheridan Options Mentoring and TradeKing Senior Option Analyst Brian Overby, as they team up to discuss a potential trade set-up and weekly analysis.
  • Online videos continue to be a popular educational resource for investors. In 2012, TradeKing clients watched 289 different videos for a total of 57,103 views over 15,851 hours.

Service:

• Providing the industry's best client service continues to be TradeKing's number one commitment. To achieve that end, TradeKing boasts some of the most highly qualified customer service associates in the industry:
  • More than 49% of the firm’s registered reps hold FINRA Series 4 licensing (Registered Options Principal) and 51% have the Series 24 license (General Securities Principal).
  • TradeKing’s outstanding service was once again recognized by the industry with a four-star ranking for the sixth consecutive year in Barron’s 2012 Online Broker Survey and was selected #1 for customer service for the fourth time in SmartMoney’s annual broker survey.
• TradeKing also appreciates the value of social media as an important channel for client interaction. The firm participates actively on Twitter, Facebook and Google+, with a growing presence that today numbers more than 16,500 Twitter followers and nearly 30,000 Facebook “likes,” among the highest in the industry.

Corporate:

• The management team of the “new” TradeKing includes some of the industry’s most highly experienced financial services executives, all of whom are TradeKing founders:
  • Donato Montanaro, CEO
  • Richard Hagen, President and COO
  • Thomas Desmond, CFO
  • Philip Claxton, Chief Compliance Officer

About TradeKing Group, Inc.

TradeKing Group, Inc. (www.tradeking.com) consists of companies that provide online brokerage services, social communities for investors, investor education and more. Its subsidiary, TradeKing, is a nationally licensed online broker/dealer dedicated to empowering the independent, self- directed investor. It offers simple, low flat fees ($4.95 per trade for both equity and option trades with $0.65 per options contract).² The TradeKing platform features powerful online equity, options, ETF, mutual fund and fixed-income trading tools accompanied by a rich set of news, research and analysis capabilities.

Follow TradeKing on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TradeKing,
Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/tradeking,
YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/tradeking,
LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/company/tradeking,
Google+ at https://plus.google.com/+tradeking/posts.

1 Source: Dow Jones Newswires, May 15, 2012.

2 Please see www.tradeking.com/rates for more details on trade commissions for low priced stock, bonds, mutual funds and other securities.

Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. For more information, please review the Characteristics and Risks of Standard Options brochure before you begin trading options. Options investors may lose the entire amount of their investment in a relatively short period of time.

$4.95 for online equity and option trades, add 65 cents per option contract. TradeKing charges an additional $0.35 per contract on certain index products where the exchange charges fees. See our FAQ for details. TradeKing adds $0.01 per share on the entire order for stocks priced less than $2.00. See our Commissions and Fees page for commissions on broker-assisted trades, low-priced stocks, option spreads, and other securities.

Online trading has inherent risks due to system response and access times that vary due to market conditions, system performance and other factors. An investor should understand these and additional risks before trading.

TradeKing provides self-directed investors with discount brokerage services, and does not make recommendations or offer investment, financial, legal or tax advice. The content of this press release is provided for educational and informational purposes only, does not constitute a recommendation to enter in any of the securities transactions or to engage in any of the investment strategies presented herein, and does not represent the opinions of TradeKing or its employees.

Content, research, tools, and stock or option symbols are for educational and illustrative purposes only and do not imply a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell a particular security or to engage in any particular investment strategy. The projections or other information regarding the likelihood of various investment outcomes are hypothetical in nature, are not guaranteed for accuracy or completeness, do not reflect actual investment results and are not guarantees of future results.

Foreign exchange trading (Forex) is offered to self-directed investors through TradeKing Forex. TradeKing Forex, Inc. and TradeKing, LLC are separate, but affiliated companies. Forex accounts are not protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corp. (SIPC).

Forex trading involves significant risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Increasing leverage increases risk. Before deciding to trade forex, you should carefully consider your financial objectives, level of investing experience, and ability to take financial risk. Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices or other information contained does not constitute investment advice. Please note that spot gold and silver contracts are not subject to regulation under the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act.

TradeKing Forex, Inc. acts as an introducing broker to GAIN Capital Group, LLC ("GAIN Capital"). Your forex account is held and maintained at GAIN Capital who serves as the clearing agent and counterparty to your trades. GAIN Capital is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and is a member of the National Futures Association (NFA) (ID # 0339826). TradeKing Forex, Inc. is a member of the National Futures Association (ID # 0408077).

TradeKing Group, Inc. is not a broker/dealer.

© 2013 TradeKing Group, Inc. All securities and investments are offered through TradeKing, LLC. Member FINRA/SIPC. Forex offered through TradeKing Forex, Inc., Member NFA.