Cobra Trading Review

Cobra Trading is a direct access broker with an impressive range of trading platforms, high-speed trade executions and excellent support. What exactly makes it the best platform for day trading? This is precisely what you are going to find out in this review.

cobra trading review

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About Cobra Trading

Chadd Hessing founded Cobra Trading in 2003. Their clients are active day traders who enjoy competitive commission rates, multiple trading platforms, an industry-leading customer service, and one of the best short locate availability. Cobra Trading clears all orders through trustful partners like Wedbush Securities and Interactive Brokers. All Cobra trading client accounts are protected via SIPC and Lloyd’s of London.

Sale: Lifetime 33% Commission Discount (Bonus: Free Pro Platform for 1 Month)

Trading Platforms

cobra trading platforms

Cobra Trading clients can choose between three high-end day trading platforms that provide real-time market data, multiple order routing options and ensure fast order execution.

  • DAS Trader Pro: DAS Trader Pro is the most frequently used direct market access platform for day trading U.S.-listed stocks. The platform offers advanced order types, real-time quotes, order book insights, charting functionalities, basket trading and more.
  • Sterling Trader Pro: Sterling Trader Pro is another leading direct-access trading platform that provides day traders the best possible software with fully customizable layouts, order routing options, charting, real-time quotes, and more.
  • Cobra TraderPro: Cobra TraderPro is Cobra Trading’s most cost-efficient platform. It is a white-label solution based on the popular Sterling Trader Pro framework optimized for Cobra Trading clients. It comes with all features active traders and investors need. That included real-time data, advanced charting, a short locate monitor and hot-key trading.

All three platforms offer similar features and functionalities and allow investors to trade during pre-market, regular trading hours and post-market. New Cobra Trading clients can test one of the platforms for free for one month by using our exclusive offer. In addition, it is possible to switch the platform at any time.

One of the main differences between the platforms is the monthly price:

Trading PlatformPrice per monthFree if you trade more than
Cobra TraderPro$100/month200,000 shares per month
Das Trader Pro$125/month250,000 shares per month
Sterling Trader Pro$200-$230300,000 shares per month

Which platform to choose?

Cobra TraderPro is the best starting point for beginners and has the lowest monthly fees. Cobra TraderPro is based on the popular Sterling Trader framework and offers key features like hotkeys, real-time Level 2 market data, and stop orders.

Another popular solution for day traders is DAS Trader Pro. They offer one of the most complete order routing options and a fair pricing structure. Sterling Trader Pro is another great trading platform with even more routing options.

Day traders value quality when it comes to trading software, especially when day trading is the primary source of income. To invest in the best tools gives traders an edge and unlocks higher profit potential.

Cobra Trading offers a free test drive. Click here to request a free demo and take advantage of the discounted commission rate.

Market Data

Day traders need unfiltered tick data to be able to compete amongst the best in this business. The basic data package for non-professional traders costs $25 per month. It included Nasdaq Level 1 and Level 2 data, NYSE Level 1 and 2 data, basic US indices and pink sheet data.

Pricing

Commissions

The Cobra Trading equity trading commissions usually start at $0.003 per share. Here is the good news: As a daytradingz.com reader, you get a 33% discount at Cobra Trading with $0.0020 per share for all new accounts.

Normally, you have to trade a minimum of 1M shares per month to get a similar rate, which is hard to achieve for beginners. The deal is available to all new accounts with an account minimum of $27,000.

cobra trading commissions
Trade Size per Month Regular Pricing Special Rate Savings
0 to 100k shares $0.003 $0.002 33.0%
100k to 500k shares $0.00275 $0.002 27.27%
500k to 1M shares $0.0025 $0.002 20.0%
1M to 5M shares $0.002 $0.0015 25.0%

Why $30,000, you may ask. According to the SEC rules, traders can execute a maximum of three-day trades in a rolling 5-day period if they have less than $25,000 in their account. Those who want to trade more frequently need a minimum of $25,000 in the account. Once your account value falls below $25,000, the SEC’s PDT Rule comes into play, and your account gets locked for day trading activity. That’s why the account minium at Cobra Trading is $27,000.

You can also trade options using Cobra Trading, paying $0.50 per contract and side, and $0.30 per contract if you trade more than 2,000 contracts per month. All stock- and options trades at Cobra Trading have a minimum of $0 per trade, but they are subject to regulatory fees, ECN charges and rebates. Stocks and options are cleared through Wedbush Securities, one of the largest securities firms in the United States.

Additional information: Future contracts can be traded via Cobra Trading’s subsidiary called Venom Trading. The future contact trades will be cleared via Interactive Brokers.

Why Should I Pay Commissions?

You may wonder why you should pay commissions when huge online brokers like Charles Schwab and E-Trade offer commission-free trading. The simple answer to the question is speed and flexibility.

There is no doubt that retail brokers like Charles Schwab and TD-Ameritrade are excellent choices for retail traders buying stocks and ETFs every once in a while, focusing on long term investments. They offer nearly every kind of investment types, a wide variety of tools, services, and financial products. Their trading platforms have all functionalities you can think of with excessive charting features, tons of indicators, and other fancy looking things.

The point is, as a day trader, you need speed and flexibility before anything else.

A direct-access broker focuses on speed by sending orders as fast as possible to the best possible stock exchange and ECN. As a direct access broker, Cobra Trading also offers the flexibility to route the order directly to your preferred exchange.

Why Speed Matters

cobra trading fast trade execution

Let’s assume that you are new to day trading. You place 20 orders a day with 500 shares per order and a $20 price per share. The fast order execution gives you 2 cent better trade executions with each trade because of speedy execution.

What is the benefit? 20 orders with 500 shares and $0.02 better executions on each trade = 20 orders * 500 shares * $0.02 = $200. Trading 200 days a year equals savings of 200 days * $200 savings a day = $40,000 of savings total.

Sure, you have to pay commissions on each trade using Cobra Trading. But the trading commissions are only a fraction of a cent, and with the daytradingz.com discounted rate, you pay only $0.00225 per share as beginner, which means 20 orders * 500 shares * $0.00225 = $22.5 in commissions per day * 200 trading days = $4,500 in commissions. The hypothetical net-benefit in this szenario is $40,000-$4,500 = $35,500.

Many variables are having an impact on the overall benefit, but the example clearly shows the benefit of fast order executions. If you ever waited a couple of seconds or even minutes before a trade was executed, you know what I am talking about.

Click the buy or sell button, get a fill immediately and see the order status in real-time in your trading platform. This is what Cobra Trading is all about. Speed is one of the main requirements for day trading successfully.

Routing Fees

The broker receives the commissions while the routing fees are being paid to the exchange. But on some occasions, you may even earn rebates from the exchange. How is that possible? The exchange makes a difference in adding liquidity and removing liquidity.

Exchanges like ARCA and BATS pay you $0.002 per share for providing liquidity, and they charge you $0.0035 when removing liquidity. Other routings like CODAREB, IEX and ITGMRT neither charge nor credit something and let trade you without paying routing fees.

Customer Service

cobra trading support team

Instant support by real people that understand day traders’ needs and language instead of chat robots, voice mails and long waiting times.

Are you tired of automated phone systems with long holding times? Did you ever try to close a trade via chat, getting the message that you can leave your email because the live-chat is not currently available? Once you have a problem, the real value of customer service becomes visible. Hopefully, you never have an issue with your internet provider or PC.

If you have a position of 10,000 shares, and your internet goes dark, you want to talk to a representative immediately to close your position.

Customer service is Cobra Trading, Inc’s priority. You have their trade desk on the line when you need their help, and broker-assisted trades incur no additional cost.

Shorting Stocks

Shorting stocks intraday opens a whole new world of profitable short term trading with a good risk-reward ratio. The most challenging part of shorting stocks is finding a counterpart that borrows the shares to short.

Cobra Trading works diligently with its clearing firm Wedbush Securities to locate even hard-to-borrow stocks fast and easily. The short locate list with shortable stocks is another main benefit compared to retail brokerages.

See Also: Best Brokers for Short Selling

Summary

Cobra Trading is the best day trading broker for traders who value the added benefit of fast order executions. Their short locate functionality is excellent, all important order types are supported, and direct market access leads to fast trade executions. Daytradingz.com readers can request a free platform demo and start trading stocks with commissions as low as $0.0015 per share.

The software fees are fair, and the costs can be waived when trading frequently. The direct access trading platforms are Cobra TraderPro, Sterling Trader Pro, and DAS Trader Pro. Their customer support is fantastic, and you can open and close trades via phone at no additional cost.

Various order routing options are available, and traders can receive rebates from exchanges by adding liquidity. The account types supported include individual and corporate accounts. Trades can be executed on margin where Cobra Trading has a margin rate of only 5.25% on margin balances of up to $1,000,000.00.

Accounts are protected via SIPC, and Cobra Trading is also a member of FINRA and NFA.

Best Offer: 33% equity commission discount (for life) and free trading software (DAS Trader Pro, Cobra TraderPro, Sterling Trader Pro).

Pros

  • Direct Access broker with fast trade executions
  • Free platform demo and 33% discount available
  • Support via chat, and phone (free broker-assisted trades)
  • Good short locate, also on hard-to-borrow shares
  • Competitive commission schedule.

Cons

  • Account minimum $27,000.

Rating: ★★★★★