Trade on our US options and futures platform in the UK
Get a rundown of our award-winning US-listed options and futures platform1 and how its capabilities can help enhance your trading. Find out how to join the tastynation through our streamlined platform.
What is our US options and futures platform?
- Our awad-winning US options and futures platform1 was built by experts at tastytrade to trade pure-form futures and options, and is now exclusively available in the UK with us
- Features advanced risk visualisation tools to optimise risk-reward ratios, and you won't pay any platform costs
- The platform is seamlessly available on both our online trading platform and mobile app from your MyIG dashboard. Not got an account? Explore our US-listed options and futures offering
US options and futures trading platform features
Use curve analysis to set up trades in an intuitive way with clear profit and loss zones that enable you to adjust strikes and expirations
Make quick order adjustments like cancelling, replacing, duplicating, and inverting working orders that haven’t been filled yet
See your exchange-traded fund (ETF) futures equivalent delta to gauge the risk of shifts in the price of the underlying asset
Roll your options position into the next expiration cycle using quick roll or set your default rolls to the next weekly or monthly expiration cycle
Manage winning trades automatically by setting percent-of-profit limit orders based on a certain proportion of your trade value
Stay up to date with price movements of assets that you’re interested in using your own custom watchlists
Why trade US options and futures with us?
Trade on Investopedia’s number one options platform1
Open positions on an award-winning platform1 with innovative risk management tools and other handy capabilities
Explore inspirational content
Improve your trading knowledge with countless resources that are suitable for all experience levels
Get personalised support
Contact us for expert support whenever you need it, 24 hours a day from 8am Saturday to 10pm Friday (UK time)
Pay low commissions2
Trade options from $1.00 per contract to open and no charge to close; and from $0.85 commission to open and close a micro futures contract, each way2
Choose a cash or margin account
Choose your preferred account type: a margin account to trade using leverage,3 with access to more options strategies, or a cash account*
Go long, short, or non-directional
Speculate on rising, falling, and sideways markets. You’ll use options strategies for range-bound positions when you think prices will move sideways
* Futures are only available in a margin account.
How to use our US options and futures platform
Watch the below video to learn how to navigate our US options and futures trading platform.
Open an account with us to trade US options and futures
To open a US options and futures trading account with us, you can follow these steps:
Understand how US options and futures work
Click on the ‘add an account’ tab in My IG
Complete an account opening form
FAQs
Which devices can I use to trade US options and futures?
You can trade US options and futures on our platform using your Mac or PC via our online trading platform, or your iOS or Android mobile device through our app.
Which markets can I trade with the US options and futures platform?
You can get exposure to US-listed options that track stocks, ETFs and broad-based indices. You can also trade US-listed futures, which provide exposure to various asset classes, including equity indices, volatility, forex, interest rates and commodities as underlying assets. Futures options are also available for most contracts.
What option strategies are available to me?
When you trade in a margin account, you’ll have bullish, bearish and neutral options strategies available to you – eg selling naked call options, defined-risk options spreads, as well as buying or selling futures and futures options.
Options are non-marginable (ie, you can't borrow against them or borrow cash to buy options), so you'll have to pay the value of the entire trade upfront when trading any long options strategies. However, when trading any short premium strategies in a margin account, you generally only put up a portion of the contract's value, or the max loss potential.
When trading options in a cash account, you can trade long calls or long puts and pay the entire options trade upfront. Cash accounts may sell puts, but they must be fully cash-secured, and calls may only be sold against round lots (a quantity of 100) of stock.
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1 tastytrade was awarded the best options trading platform at the 2024 ADVFN International Finance Awards. It was ranked the best overall options trading platform of 2024 by Investopedia. The criteria, evaluation, and ranking were determined by Investopedia. tastytrade is the No.1 desktop options trading platform and the no.1 desktop futures trading platform as awarded at the 2024 StockBrokers.com annual awards. Our streamlined platform gives you access to the tastytrade options and futures products from My IG.
2 $1.00 commission to open per options contract, $0 commission to close per options contract. Applicable exchange, clearing, and regulatory fees still apply to all opening and closing equity options trades. Some additional applicable commissions are capped at $10 per leg on equity option trades. The following index products are excluded from the capped commissions offer: SPX, RUT, VIX, OEX, XEO, DJX, and XSP. Learn more about our charges.
3 Leveraged products such as spread bets, CFDs and US-listed futures are complex financial instruments, with which an upfront deposit – called margin or buying power – is used to open a larger trade. Your margin will only be worth a certain percentage of your trade, but potential profits and losses will be calculated based on the total position size, not your margin. This makes leveraged trading inherently risky and should never be approached without a trading strategy and adequate risk management in place. Listed options are non-marginable, even when traded in a margin account.
Futures and futures options trading involves substantial risk and isn’t suitable for all investors. Please read all applicable futures risk disclosures prior to trading futures products.
All trading activity involves risk of loss. Please carefully consider the risks associated with trading opportunities that you’re interested in and whether or not they’re suitable for you before deciding to trade certain products or strategies. You’re solely responsible for making your investment and trading decisions and for evaluating the risks associated with your trades and investments.
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Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 71% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Professional clients trading spread bets and CFDs can lose more than they deposit.
Options and futures are complex instruments which come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. They’re not suitable for most investors. Before you invest, you should consider whether you understand how options and futures work, the risks of trading these instruments and whether you can afford to lose more than your original investment.
Trading stocks and shares ‘on margin’ within a US options and futures account – meaning that you only finance part of the cost of acquiring a position in a security – carries additional risks over buying securities on a fully funded basis and may result in losses exceeding your original investment. Trading on margin will also result in additional costs to you as the investor and any securities purchased using margin may be held as collateral by the lender, restricting both your rights as shareholder, and your ability to use the securities until the margin trade is closed. You should familiarise yourself with these risks before trading on margin.
The value of shares, ETFs and other ETPs bought through a share dealing account, a US options and futures account, a stocks and shares ISA or a SIPP can fall as well as rise, which could mean getting back less than you originally put in. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Some ETPs carry additional risks depending on how they’re structured, investors should ensure they familiarise themselves with the differences before investing.
Share dealing and IG Smart Portfolio accounts provided by IG Trading and Investments Ltd, CFD accounts and US options and futures accounts are provided by IG Markets Ltd, spread betting provided by IG Index Ltd.
IG is a trading name of IG Trading and Investments Ltd (a company registered in England and Wales under number 11628764), IG Markets Ltd (a company registered in England and Wales under number 04008957) and IG Index Ltd (a company registered in England and Wales under number 01190902). Registered address at Cannon Bridge House, 25 Dowgate Hill, London EC4R 2YA. IG Markets Ltd (Register number 195355), IG Trading and Investments Ltd (Register Number 944492) and IG Index Ltd (Register number 114059) are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
The information on this site isn’t directed at residents of the United States, Belgium or any particular country outside the UK and isn’t intended for distribution to, or use by, any person in any country or jurisdiction where such distribution or use would be contrary to local law or regulation.