With many options (no pun intended) for traders to choose from, how should one go about selecting a binary options broker? There are several things you should keep in mind when choosing the most appropriate binary options broker for you, the most important of which we highlighted below:

Types and Amount of Assets Available To Trade

Each binary options broker has a different set of underlying assets available to trade, so you’re going to have to do a little research on your own if you are interested in a specific asset. For example I like to trade Intel. Unfortunately not every binary options broker offers Intel binary options, so that may be the determining factor in selecting one binary options broker over another. But for the most part the most popular, highly traded, underlying assets are represented on most of the broker trading platforms. So whether you prefer trading forex, commodities, indices, or plain equities a leading binary options broker will likely have a variety of individual assets for you to trade. The pure number of the underlying assets will vary by broker, so be sure to do your homework before signing up.

What Expirations Are Available?

Another question you will need to ask yourself is what time frame are you most interested in trading? A quality binary options broker will most assuredly have binary options that expire in one hour so you won’t have to travel very far if that is all you are interested in. However, if you are also interested in trading either shorter than an hour or greater than an hour binary options with your binary options broker then you will have to dig a little harder. We’ve seen broker with expirations of as little as 15 minutes all the way up to one month. Different trades present different time frames and opportunities so binary options broker flexibility will be huge if you don’t just want to focus on hourly expirations.

How Long Is The Lock Out Period?

This may be the most important binary options broker characteristic. The lock out period is essentially the time frame during which you can no longer alter the trade dynamics for a specific expiration. This is the period of time before expiration. A typical binary options broker lock out period is around 10 minutes, with some offering 5 minute lock out periods and others hitting you with a 15 minute lock out period. It is in your best interest to trade with a binary options broker that has a low as possible lock out period. The more control you have in being able to either add to or hedge your position the better your results should be.