Investing Overview

Who is Success Trade Securities?

Is Success Trade Securities licensed as a Broker / Dealer in my state?

Is my account at Success Trade Securities insured?

What is the "Success Trade Securities Privacy Pledge"?

Can I open an account with LowTrades if I am a resident of a foreign country?

Does LowTrades offer check writing?

How much money do I need to open an account with LowTrades?

Are there account opening or maintenance fees for opening a LowTrades account?

Trading

What types of securities can I trade through Success Trade Securities?

How much is it to place a trade?

Are there any limits to the size of trade orders that can be placed through LowTrades

What is a day trade?

Am I considered an pattern day-trader?

What is extended hours trading?

When can I place orders for extended hours trade?

How do I place a trade during extended hours?

How do I cancel a trade?

Account Services

How do I open an account with LowTrades, a division of Success Trade Securities?

I have sent a check to deposit into my account - When can I trade?

How do I find out the status of my account application?

When can I expect to receive an account statement?

How can I access past account statements?

Will I receive annual statements?

How do I get my Form 1099?

What do I do if I do not have access to a computer and need to place a trade?

Can I send in one check for deposits to more than one account?

How do I fund my account?

How do I deposit certificates?

How do I transfer funds/assets from another company?

How long will it take my account to transfer?

How do I request a withdrawal from my account?

When will my funds be available for withdrawal?

How can I get stock certificates sent to me?

What should an executor of an estate do upon the death of an account holder?

I forgot my username and password. How can I access my account?

Troubleshooting

The forms on the LowTrades site are not downloading. How can I fix that?

I have installed Adobe Acrobat® but still cannot view "PDF" files. What should I do?

When I enter my username and password and press 'Login', nothing happens. What's wrong?

I keep getting an error message "Invalid password". What am I doing wrong?

I am trying to place a trade and am receiving a message stating "Order not accepted. You do not have enough funds to perform this transaction".

I am trying to sell my position but am receiving a message stating "Position does not exist".

I saw the last price fall / rise past my limit price. Why hasn't my order executed?

I am trying to place a trade during Extended Market Hours and my trade is being rejected.

I canceled my sell order after the market closed. When can I enter in another order?

My trading desk is not loading, what could be the problem?

What is a firewall?

Investing Overview

Who is Success Trade Securities?
Success Trade Securities is the parent company of LowTrades and is a licensed online brokerage firm that was registered in March 1999 by the SEC. Success Trade Securities is a member of the FINRA and SIPC.
 

Is Success Trade Securities licensed as a Broker / Dealer in my state?
Success Trade Securities is registered to operate in all states except for New Hampshire and North Dakota. Registration in these states is currently pending and will be admitted shortly.
 

 Is my account at Success Trade Securities insured?
Your LowTrades / Success Trade account is insured up to $100,000 in cash, and up to $400,000 in securities are insured by the SIPC. Penson Financial Services also provides additional protection up to $10 million.
 

What is the "Success Trade Securities Privacy Pledge"?
All the information required for account forms is required by the SIPC. Success Trade Securities is devoted to ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of your personal finances.
 

Can I open an account with LowTrades if I am a resident of a foreign country?
Non U.S. citizens or resident can open an account by simply filling out the proper forms noted on our site. However, Success Trade Securities is currently not registered to operate in Canada and cannot accommodate accounts for Canadian residents at this time.

Does LowTrades offer check writing?
Check writing and debit card privileges are available with your cash or margin account by submitting a Money Market Application with your new account application. For non U.S. citizens or residents, please complete a Foreign Checkcard Agreement ..
 

How much money do I need to open an account with LowTrades?
Cash Accounts do not have a minimum and Margin Accounts have a minimum of $2,000. Active Investors must have a minimum of $25,000.
 

Are there account opening or maintenance fees for opening a LowTrades account?
There are no account opening fees for Cash or Margin accounts. There is a $25 setup fee and $35 annual fee for IRA accounts. There is no maintenance but a $50 inactivity fee is charged every 6 months at the end of June and December of each year. To avoid this inactivity fee, all you need is to make two trades a year - one between January and June, one between July and December.

Trading

What types of securities can I trade through Success Trade Securities?
Stocks listed on US exchanges and foreign securities trading over-the-counter in the U.S. can be traded online. Orders for mutual funds and foreign securities must be placed over the telephone with a broker by calling 1-800-597-8767. Broker-assisted rates will apply.
 

How much is it to place a trade?
Buy side transactions for less than 100,000 shares will cost $5. Sell side transactions for less than 100,000 will cost $5 plus regulatory fees (FINRA and SEC fees). All transactions for 100,000 shares or more will be charged an additional block-trading fee, which is 1% of the principal amount.
 

Are there any limits to the size of trade orders that can be placed through LowTrades?
Our systems will allow you to place up to 5 million shares per order.
 

What is a day trade?
A day trade is the purchase and sale (or the sale and purchase in a short account) of the same security on the same day. This does not apply to the sale of a position or the purchase to cover a short position that has been held over night.

Am I considered an pattern day-trader?
Day traders rapidly buy and sell stocks throughout the day in the hope that their stocks will continue climbing or falling in value for the seconds to minutes they own the stock, allowing them to lock in quick profits. Day trading is extremely risky and can result in substantial financial losses in a very short period of time.

A pattern day trader is defined as any client who executes four or more day trades in an account within a five business day period, provided the number of day trades is more than 6% of the total number of trades in the account during that same period.
 

What is extended hours trading?
Extended hours trading provides the opportunity to place orders before major U.S. Markets are open and after they are closed using the Archipelago or Island Electronic Communications Networks (ECNs). Your orders are paired with other orders through the ECN. It is important to note that extended hours trading is unlike trading during regular hours. Trading in the extended hours market involves additional risks such as wider spreads, lack of liquidity, higher volatility, communication delays, lack of access to other markets and market information, and risk of missed news announcements.
 

When can I place orders for extended hours trade?
Extended hours trading is available before the U.S. markets open from 8:00 am - 9:30am EST and after the U.S. markets close from 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm EST.

How do I place a trade during extended hours?
Place an extended hours trade just like any other trades. Please remember that all orders placed during Extended Market Hours must:

1. Be placed through a specified 'Destination' - either Island (ISLD) or Archipelago (ARCA)
2. Set 'Time in Force' to DAY+Extended Hours
3. Be placed as Limit Orders
    

How do I cancel a trade?
To cancel an open order, you must first click on the link 'Open Orders' under the heading 'Activity'. Then, scroll all the way to the left of your screen until you see Cancel. You will be able to click on Cancel to initiate your request. Please refresh your screen by clicking on 'Activity Today'. Please be advised that merely clicking on Cancel is not a guarantee that your trade has been cancelled. There are times when a customer will attempt to cancel while the order is being filled. At this point, your order will not be cancelled and you will see that your order has executed.
 

Account Services

How do I open an account with LowTrades, a division of Success Trade Securities?
The account application process starts with choosing the type of account you would like to open. Once that has been decided, you will need to download, complete, and mail in the required documents. Start your application process by clicking here.
 

I have sent money to deposit into my account - When can I trade?
Under normal circumstances, wire transfers will take about 24 hours to post. All checks are held for 10 business days from the time of receipt and funds will be credited to your account on the 11th business day.
 

How do I find out the status of my account application?
To find out the status of new account application, please e-mail info@LowTrades.com. Please include your full name, the type of account you are trying to open, and the date the application was placed in the mail.
 

When can I expect to receive an account statement?
Once your account has been funded, statements are mailed at minimum on a quarterly basis (March, June, September, and December of each year). Statements for all other months will only be generated and mailed if there has been some sort of activity (i.e. trading, interest charges, etc.).

How can I access past account statements?
You may access past account statements (by logging onto https://online.penson.com). Please call 1-800-597-8767 to obtain your log-in information.
 

Will I receive annual statements?
No, you will not receive annual statements. However, you will be provided with a Form 1099 that gives a summary of interest / dividend income and proceeds from any sales executed through Success Trade Securities. A Schedule D listing all trade activity with Success Trade Securities will also be available online at https://online.penson.com in February of the following year.
 

How do I get my Form 1099?
Form 1099s are generated and mailed to the account address of record in January of the following year. If you need an additional copy, please send an e-mail request with your account number to info@LowTrades.com.
 

What do I do if I do not have access to a computer and need to place a trade?
If computer service is not available, orders can be made via telephone by calling 1-800-597-8767. Broker-assisted trading fees will apply.
 

Can I send in one check for deposits to more than one account?
In accordance with the SEC, each check must be specified one account.

How do I fund my account?
You may fund your account by check, wire, account transfer, or with stock certificates. For detailed information on funding your account please click here.
 

How do I deposit certificates?
You will need to fill out and send a Stock Power Form along with your original stock certificate to:
Penson Financial Services, Inc.
Attn: Peggy Klocek
1700 Pacific Ave, Suite 1400
Dallas, TX 75201
 

How do I transfer funds/assets from another company?
You may transfer assets from another company to your cash or margin account by simply completing and forwarding an Account Transfer Form to Success Trade Securities. IRA accounts will need to complete an IRA Account Transfer Form .
 

How long will it take my account to transfer?
Under normal circumstances, account transfer process will take 10-20 days to complete. Transfers that are unable to be processed through the ACAT system take approximately 3-4 weeks to complete. For more information regarding transfers, please click here.
 

How do I request a withdrawal from my account?
You may request a withdrawal from your account in a number of different ways. Please Click here for detailed information.

When will my funds be available for withdrawal?
There is a 3 day settlement for all equity transactions. Your funds will be available on the 3rd business day after executing a sell transaction. For example if you execute a sell on Monday, your funds will settle by Thursday morning.
 

How can I get stock certificates sent to me?
Clients can request stock certificates at a charge of $75 per certificate to be sent to them by submitting a signed written request by fax or mail to:

Success Trade Securities, Inc.
1900 L Street NW Suite 525
Washington, DC 20036
Fax: (202) 466-6895

Requests will not be processed unless cash is available in the account to cover all costs. Please be sure that all checks are made payable to our clearing firm, Penson Financial Services.
 

What should an executor of an estate do upon the death of an account holder?
Upon notice of the death of an account holder, the Executor or Administrator of the Estate should first contact a Success Trade Securities representative at 1-800- 597-8767 to have them place a freeze on the account. This will prevent any account activity while the Estate Account is being established. The Executor and Administrator should then obtain and send in the following to Success Trade Securities:

• Your name, relationship to the deceased, phone number, address, date of death, and name of the executor (if not yours).
• An Estate Account application, which should be completed by the executor or administrator of the estate.
• A notarized Affidavit of Domicile is needed to establish the state of residence at the time of death.
• A Letter of Testamentary or other legal docment from the court appointing the executor or administrator. The letter must be dated within 60 days of the death and under the seal of the court.
• A certified copy of the death certificate is needed.
• A Letter of Authorization requesting to move assets from the existing account into the Estate account will also be required.
• Provide any other related account information.
   

I forgot my username and password. How can I access my account?
Please contact Customer Services toll-free at 1-800-597-8767. You will be asked to verify account information before any client confidential information is released.
 

Troubleshooting

The forms on the LowTrades site are not downloading. How can I fix that?
Most documents on our site (such as New Account forms) have special formatting needs and appear on our site as ".pdf" (page document formatted) files. These files provide the highest level of document-quality formatting, and can be printed exactly as shown.
In order to view ".pdf" files, you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader® plug-in software. You may download this program for free from Adobe's Internet site at http://www.adobe.com.
.

I have installed Adobe Acrobat® but still cannot view "PDF" files. What should I do?
If you have installed Adobe Acrobat® correctly and still are experiencing difficulties downloading '.pdf' files, there are some possible solutions:

Your version of Adobe Acrobat® should be at least version 4.0. In order to determine what version you are using:

• Open the Adobe Acrobat Reader® under All Programs in your Start Menu.
• Click on the Help Menu and select "About Acrobat Reader"
• You may download the current version from Adobe's Internet site at  http://www.adobe.com .
• If your version of Adobe Acrobat is current and you are using a Netscape Navigator browser, please follow these steps:
• Click on your Netscape browser's Options Menu, then click on "Network Preferences," \  and finally click on the "Cache" tab of the "Network Preferences" window. The check box  labeled "Allow Persistent Caching of Pages Retrieved Through SSL" should be checked
• Then, in the same window, click on the "Clear Memory Cache Now" button and then on  the "OK" button. Click on "Clear Disk Cache Now," and then the "OK" button.
• Click "OK" again to close the "Preferences" window.
• Exit your browser and then restart it. You should now be able to view the "pdf" file.

When I enter my username and password and press 'Login', nothing happens. What's wrong?
To access your LowTrades account, you must have the latest version of Java installed on your operating system. The latest version of Java can be downloaded by visiting http://www.java.com . Please be sure that all older versions of Java are removed by accessing your system's Add/Remove Programs feature.
 

I keep getting an error message "Invalid password". What am I doing wrong?
If you have changed your password, please make sure that you are entering it in correctly. Your password access is case-sensitive. Often times, a client will mistakenly leave their Caps Lock on. If you are still having difficulties, please contact Customer Services at 1-800-597-8767.
 

I am trying to place a trade and am receiving a message stating "Order not accepted. You do not have enough funds to perform this transaction".
It could be one of three common mistakes:

1. Often times, securities listed on the Pink Sheets do not have an electronic bid or ask being quoted. Check the current quote that is given on your Preview Page. If there is bid/ask being quoted, you must place a limit order. Market orders will not be accepted for stocks without a bid or ask.
2. Our systems will withhold a minimum of $10 in available cash balance. Please deduct this amount when you are placing a buy order.
3. Check to be sure that you have taken into account all commission fees and any order type surcharges (i.e. logical orders) when calculating you actual available balance to trade. If you are routing directly to an ECN, please do not forget to figure in the ECN surcharges.
    

I am trying to sell my position but am receiving a message stating "Position does not exist".
Please check your Open Orders page to make sure that you do not already have an order that is live at the market center. If you currently have an open order to sell your position, our systems will not allow you to place another sell order for the same position until the current open order is cancelled.
 

I saw the last price fall / rise past my limit price. Why hasn't my order executed?
There could be a number of reasons why your order did not execute. Often times, the last price does not provide you with the on-goings of the moving market. You must take into account what the bid and ask was at the time of the execution, the type of order you are placing, the liquidity of the stock you are trading, etc. If you are concerned about an open order, please contact our Support Staff at 1-800-597-8767.
 

I am trying to place a trade during Extended Market Hours and my trade is being rejected.
All orders placed during Extended Market Hours must:

1. Be placed through a specified 'Destination' - either Island (ISLD) or Archipelago (ARCA).
2. Set 'Time in Force' to DAY+Extended Hours
3. Be placed as Limit Orders
    

I canceled my sell order after the market closed. When can I enter in another order?
Cancel requests submitted after the market close will not attempt to confirm with market centers until market open the following business day. You will not be able to re-enter your order until we receive confirmation from the market center.

My trading desk is not loading, what could be the problem?
You may need to install Java into your computer. Please go to http://www.java.com and download the latest version of Java. The latest version of Java can be downloaded by visiting http://www.java.com. Please be sure that all older versions of Java are removed by accessing your system's Add/Remove Programs feature. Another possible reason why your trading desk might not be working is the presence of a firewall. In order for trading desk to work properly, you need to open ports: 55555 and 11001. Please contact your system administrator in order to gain access.
 

What is a firewall?
A firewall is made up of a combination of hardware and software which is designed to securely separate the Internet from internal computer systems and databases. At Success Trade Securities, data coming from customer computers via the Internet flows through a series of safety checkpoints on its way to our internal systems. Data is encrypted between your system and internal systems to protect it from unauthorized disclosure or modification. Due to existence of a Firewall on most networks, there may be certain instances when a customer cannot gain access to the LowTrades site. If this has been determined, the customer will need to contact their system administrator in order to gain access.