Equities As our world becomes flatter and trading becomes even more diverse, global investors are seeking a more efficient way to trade multiple asset classes. BMFS has embraced these seismic industry shifts by offering cross-collateralization of equities, options and futures using a single account number.
Very few people have mastered equity trading. Frankly, most people can only think of one or two people in the world who are true market maestros. So whether you've been investing for a long time or you’ve just started, there is always something to learn and improve on.
What is a Stock? Buy a share of Microsoft and you acquire a tiny sliver of the software giant, tying your fate to that of Chairman Bill Gates, for better or worse. This is ownership in the most literal sense: You get a piece of every desk, contract and trademark in the place.
Options Options are very flexible tools once you master the basics. We'll walk you through the key concepts, and once you've mastered that, we'll teach you about the more sophisticated concepts and strategies you can use.
Option markets are similar to futures markets, in that they give the holder the right to buy or sell the underlying commodity for a specific price on (European options) or before (US options) a specific date in the future (known as the expiration or exercise date), but options have some significant difference from futures, and are traded quite differently.
What is a Stock Option? Stock options are simply contracts that give the owner the right to buy (e.g., call option) or sell (e.g., a put option) a stock at a specific price at some time in the future. That price is called the strike price. The period of time could be as short as a day or as long as a couple years, depending on the option.Â
Mutual Funds It's important to understand that each mutual fund has different risks and rewards. In general, the higher the potential return, the higher the risk of loss. Although some funds are less risky than others, all funds have some level of risk - it's never possible to diversify away all risk. This is a fact for all investments.
Each fund has a predetermined investment objective that tailors the fund's assets, regions of investments and investment strategies. At the fundamental level, there are three varieties of mutual funds:
What are Mutual Funds? A mutual fund is nothing more than a collection of stocks and/or bonds. You can think of a mutual fund as a company that brings together a group of people and invests their money in stocks, bonds, and other securities. Each investor owns shares, which represent a portion of the holdings of the fund.
ETFs Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) can be a valuable component for any investor's portfolio, from the most sophisticated institutional money managers to a novice investor who is just getting started. Some investors use ETFs as the sole focus of their portfolios, and are able to build a well-diversified portfolio with just a few ETFs.
Others use ETFs to complement their existing portfolios, and rely on ETFs to implement sophisticated investment strategies.
One of the most widely known ETFs is called the Spider (SPDR), which tracks the S&P 500 index and trades under the symbol SPY.
What are ETFs? Understanding most ETFs is very straightforward. An ETF trades like a stock on a stock exchange and looks like a mutual fund. Its performance tracks an underlying index, which the ETF is designed to replicate. The difference in structure between ETFs and mutual funds explains part of different investing characteristics.Â
Fixed Income Fixed-income budgeters and investors are often one and the same - typically retired individuals who rely on their investments to provide a regular, stable income stream. This demographic tends to invest heavily in fixed-income investments because of the reliable returns they offer.Â
Individuals who live on set amounts of periodically paid income face the risk that inflation will erode their spending power. Fixed-income investors receive set, regular payments that  face the same inflation risk.
What is Fixed Income? A type of investing or budgeting style for which real return rates or periodic  income is received at regular intervals at reasonably predictable levels. The most common type of fixed-income security is the bond.
TRADING PLATFORMS 
System availability, account access and trade executions may vary due to market volatility, volume, system disruptions and other factors. Please visit our disclosure page before making any investment decision.
Equity funds (stocks) 
