Partner Programs

MB Trading (MBT) and MB Trading Futures (MBTF) users must review the following Provisions and indicate their agreement to these provisions by clicking "I agree" below.

MBT and MBTF provides third party links and software applications solely as a convenience or for educational or informational purposes to its users. MBT and MBTF customers / users must review the following Provisions and indicate their agreement to these provisions by clicking "I agree" below.

MBT and MBTF, including its officers, members or employees, may: (1) have an affiliation with independent third party providers; (2) have direct or indirect control over independent third party providers; and/or (3) have discretion to alter the content of any third party link or software application.

MBT and MBTF does review the content of third party websites for compliance with federal, state or SRO rules or regulations regarding promotional material including advertising unless, otherwise not required by regulation. By linking to any third party website, you acknowledge and affirm that upon clicking on a third party link, you will immediately leave a website maintained by MBT and MBTF. You further acknowledge that all websites accessed through any third party application are not controlled by MBT and MBTF, except for MBT and MBTF’s website.

MBT and MBTF does not warrant the timeliness, accuracy or completeness of any facts, material or information contained on any third party website that is outside the control or knowledge of MBT and MBTF. Moreover, MBT and MBTF does not warrant the functionality of any third party application downloaded from its website. By clicking on any third party link or downloading any third party application, you hereby confirm and agree that MBT and MBTF shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage caused by use of or reliance upon facts, material or information obtained through the use of the third party website or application or for any loss or damage caused by use of a third party application.

Any opinions or recommendations expressed on any third party website or within any third party application are solely those of the independent providers and are not the opinions, recommendations or necessarily the views of MBT and MBTF. Furthermore, MBT and MBTF does not provide any legal, tax, accounting or investment advice concerning the suitability or profitability of any security or investment information contained on the third party website. Such links do not constitute a solicitation by MBT and MBTF to buy or sell any security or other investment.

MBT and MBTF reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to add or discontinue third party links or software application downloads on its website at any time and for any reason. Trademarks, logos, and service marks represented on this website are trademarks of their respective companies. Permission was granted for their use.

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Corporate FAQ

General Stocks

General Options

General Futures

General

Who Is MB Trading?

MB Trading is a direct access brokerage firm that develops and markets sophisticated yet simple-to-use direct access trading technology to online investors, institutions, and qualified destinations. Using a proprietary order routing system called MBTX the company allows investors to bypass the middleman and trade directly to the NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX markets, as well as offers direct access executions in the futures and options arena. In addition, MB Trading Futures, the registered Retail Foreign Exchange dealer (RFED), offers customers direct access to a plethora of qualified destinations of liquidity in the Forex markets without the usual burdens of a deal desk.
When Was MB Trading Started?

Based in El Segundo, California, MB Trading was founded in 1999 by CEO Ross Ditlove and a veteran management team with years of experience in the brokerage and technology industries.
Why Was MB Trading Created?

The progressive management team sensed a growing frustration among active online traders of traditional web-based brokers because of delays in trade executions, frequent system failures, and poor customer support. To provide better service, MB Trading built a company that provides high-end technology products encompassing fast executions, the flexibility of either low or no commissions and unmatched customer service.
What is MB Trading's Mission?

MB Trading not only prides itself on providing high-quality technology to their customers, but also places tremendous importance on live customer service. Some online brokerages leave customers waiting on hold for service or require their customers to send questions via email, but MB Trading offers round the clock support, education, and training throughout the trading week via phone, live on-line chat, e-mail, and Skype. The phones are staffed with knowledgeable representatives and information technology specialists, so investors can get their questions answered immediately. With the launch of MBT World, the company seeks to raise the bar in round-the-clock customer support.
What exactly do you offer?

MB Trading offers several platforms to meet your trading needs: MBT Desktop/Desktop Pro, MetaTrader 4, MBT Web, MBT WebLite and MBT Mobile. These platforms offer professional level direct access trading system for NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX securities, Forex, options, and e-mini futures.

The MBT Desktop seamlessly integrates into some of the industry's leading quote applications, including QCharts, and eSignal, providing a complete and advanced online trading system. We offer real time comprehensive support via our internet based chat room and a fully staffed Trade Desk that is available from 7:30am to 8:00pm EST. We are confident that you will not find a more reliable, convenient, and efficient trading platform.
How does your technology differ from other online brokers?

Our trading platforms directly access the markets for quicker trades and lower costs. Your trade isn’t delayed by being routed to us before we send it to the market. We don’t like to call ourselves a discount broker, just a more efficient and effective one.
How does your service differ from other online brokers?

With MB Trading, your orders are sent directly to the exchange or marketplace for your asset class for fast executions, with some of the lowest trading costs available. In contrast, most traditional online brokers route your orders to the broker who then places the order for you, thereby raising your trading costs and slowing down the order process. Additionally, we have customer service professionals on staff 24 hours a day during the trading week (Sunday 5 p.m. EST – Friday 5 p.m. EST) to assist you with software and trading needs.
Can I transfer my existing brokerage account to MB Trading?

Yes, you can transfer an account to MB Trading by ACAT (Automated Customer Account Transfer) or by DTC (Depository Trust Company) transfer. An ACAT can be used to fund an account and/or transfer securities and/or cash from one financial institution to your MB Trading account. A DTC transfer can be used to transfer a partial account from one financial institution to your MB Trading account. Please visit our "Deposits" page for details.
Is MB Trading a public company?

No, MB Trading and MB Trading Forex are privately held companies.
Have you won any awards?

We have won several awards over the years. We were recently given a top Online Broker rating (4.5 of 5 stars) from Barron’s and were also top ranked for trade experience, trading technology, usability, research amenities, portfolio analysis and reports, and customer service and education. We have had top rankings from Barron’s since 2005!

We received a 2011 award from IB Times for Best Forex Execution, with Excellence Awards for North American Forex Broker, ECN Forex Broker, and Mobile Forex Broker. Additionally, Stockbrokers.com called us “The broker with the cheapest Forex trading” in 2011.

Securities products are offered through Manhattan Beach Trading Financial Services, Inc. ("MBTFS"), member FINRA, SIPC. MB Trading Futures, Inc. (MBTF) is a CFTC registered RFED and member of NFA. MBTF offers execution and settlement services for futures based products and off-exchange foreign currency (Forex) products. Trading in futures, options and Forex is speculative in nature and not appropriate for all investors. Investors should only use risk capital when trading futures, options and Forex because there is always the risk of substantial loss. MBTFS and MBTF are sometimes referred to collectively herein as "MB Trading."

¹MB Trading FX offers two Forex pricing models. Both models employ our RFED to client facing execution system with slightly different pricing and markup models. For purpose of clarity the two pricing models (Plan 1 and Plan 2) both operate on the same technology. The underlying technology is named The MB Trading Electronic Xrossing Network, abbreviated as EXN for the remainder of this disclaimer. The main differentiator between the models is twofold.

A. Difference in amount of markup or markdown of liquidity partner (banks) quotes when displayed to clients.
B. Commission Structure charged to client

Plan 1 or “Pay for Limit” plan employs the EXN technology in a commission model. This model charges a client 2.95 in their base currency per 100k of executed currency for market orders and pays a client 1.95 of base currency for posted, executed limit orders. In the Pay for Limits model, the term "Payment for Limit Order" refers to a non-market order which is not immediately executable and rests on the internal limit order book for some period of time, thus adding liquidity when another order of equal or greater value fills with the resting order.

Free Commission Plan employs the EXN technology in a markup only plan, which means that MB Trading receives a markup embedded in the spread as compensation. This plan does not add an additional commission, does not pay the client a rebate for posted liquidity as Plan 1 does yet does still offer the benefit of allowing the client to post quotes which is displayed to all other clients on Plan 2.

Additional information to note is that “Actual Total Paid to Clients” counter is kept on the company website which displays The Actual Total Paid to Clients currency number which is updated every five minutes and stops counting during the weekend when the market is closed. The number calculates from the launch of Pay for Limits, which was January 31, 2011.

Due to higher cost of business in China, “Get paid for limit orders” is not available for Chinese residents. All Chinese residents have a fee of 2.95 for all order types. Accounts with special commission rates are excluded from Payment for Limit Orders. There is a minimum fee of $0.01 for all Forex and spot trading orders that take liquidity.

MB Trading earned a 4.5 out of 5 star rating in Barron’s 2011 Review of Online Brokers, tying for the top spot overall. The company earned a total of 33.8 points, one tenth of a point under the top score. MB Trading also scored in the top three for separate categories of Range of Offerings, Trade Experience, Trading Technology, Usability, and Customer Service and Education. MB Trading earned a 4.5 out of 5 star rating in Barron's 2010 Review of Online Brokers. The company ranked second overall and tied for first place in the categories of Trade Experience and Portfolio Analysis & Reporting. The company also won the category of Usability. The company also tied for first place in the separate categories of "Best for Frequent Traders" and "Best for Options Traders."

*Real-time Forex Quotes are provided via the MBT Quote API. Quotes are available during platform hours from Sunday at 5 pm EST to Friday at 5 pm EST, except during the scheduled maintenance period from 4:58 pm to 5:06 pm EST. Extended maintenance periods are possible, and messages regarding maintenance are sent via the MBT Desktop, MBT Desktop Pro, and MBT Web 2.0 trading platforms. In addition, MBT begins MetaTrader 4 maintenance at 4:57 pm EST, one minute earlier.

MB Trading provides Google Translation of our website for educational or informational purposes for its international customers. The graphics, applications and some portions of the website are not translated. Customers must bear the sole responsibility of evaluating their regional translation before making any decisions based on such information outside of what the English version of the site represents.