The Watch Lists table on your account home page contains six customer-entered data columns that enable you to input your own data - cost, entry date, entry price, entry commission, long/short, and quantity - to monitor potential investment strategies. Let's say you added stock XYZ to one of your watch lists and you want to know how XYZ would have impacted your account if you bought 100 shares of the company's stock at $5 per share with a $7 commission charge. You enter $5 in the Price per Share column, $7 in the Commission column, and 100 in the Quantity column. The Market Value column will now calculate the total value of a trade (current price x quantity) based off the quantity you entered. You can compare the current Market Value to the Cost of your virtual trade to see if you would have come out ahead or behind based on the data you entered.

Oscar Pineda-Madrid

Scottrade Web Services Trading Analyst

Yes, the OptionsFirst platform has options charting available through the Streaming Charts and News tool. To get individual option prices, follow the quick steps listed below.

1. Go to the Tools tab of your account.
2. Launch the Streaming Charts and News tool.
3. Click the Symbol Lookup link.
4. Open the Find drop-down menu and choose Option.
5. Enter an underlying stock symbol.
6. Set your desired contract preferences, and click Display Option Chain.
7. From the option chain displayed, click on any individual option to view a price and quote for that contract.

Josh Sampson

OptionsFirst Education Specialist

Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Detailed information on our policies and the risks associated with options can be found in Scottrade's Options Application and Agreement, Brokerage Account Agreement, and Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options available at your local Scottrade branch office or from the Options Clearing Corporation at 1-888-OPTIONS or by visiting www.888options.com. Market volatility, volume, and system availability may impact account access and trade execution. Supporting documentation for any claims will be supplied upon request.

Use the Retirement Calculator in the Knowledge Center to help you outline your personal retirement plan.

1. Visit the Knowledge Center and choose Interactive Learning.
2. Click Calculators and then select the Retirement Calculator.
3. List your current information including your annual contributions that are tax-deferred, taxable and/or tax-free.
4. List your current retirement savings and investment asset allocation information.
5. Choose your expected annual expenses during retirement.
6. Input the amount of Social Security, part-time income and other financial aid you will receive during retirement in the entry fields provided.

As you make changes to the retirement information displayed, the Retirement Calculator will adjust to reflect the information you have chosen. In the Your Results section, a brief description of your retirement plan will be listed. The Your Results section will either say that your plan is projected to be off track or on track in meeting your retirement goals based on the information you entered. If your plan is projected to be off track, you can find out what changes would need to be made to bring your plan on track by changing the values entered into the Retirement Calculator.

Jaci Kueker

Scottrade Customer Education Editor

The tax statement Form 1099 will be mailed to all qualified accounts. The statement is not available for download on the platform. Please contact the OptionsFirst Department at 1-877-223-3344 or by e-mail at OptionsFirst@scottrade.com to have a duplicate statement sent to you if required.

Josh Sampson

OptionsFirst Education Specialist

There's a new World Markets page under the Quotes & Research tab of your account that's designed to help you track global trading activity. From the World Markets page, you can access at-a-glance performance data for major indexes in Asia, Europe and the Americas. For all the indexes shown, a Market Leader chart provides data in a graph format to give you a visual report of current market trends. You can also check the performance and current value of the major world currencies on the World Markets page. Read World Markets in the Knowledge Center to learn more about the new World Markets page and how you can use it to keep track of global activity that could impact your U.S. investments.

Amy Walther

Scottrade Trading Analyst

Every OptionsFirst account has a virtual account that allows you to practice your trading strategies while using same tools and features as the live account. To use virtual trading, click Manage Accounts, select the virtual account option, and click Change Account. You will then be able to view and trade in your virtual account. Learn more at options.scottrade.com.

Josh Sampson

The option markets now provide a variety of expiration dates. Standard option contracts will expire the third Friday of the month of expiration. The third Friday is used because it is the Friday with the fewest market holidays throughout the year. Weekly contracts expire at the end of each week, and Quarterly options expire on the last business day of the quarter (not necessarily a Friday).

Josh Sampson

OptionsFirst Education Specialist

Once you are logged into your account, select the Trade tab. In the left-hand margin, you will see a Quick Quote search box. You can get extended-hours bid and ask prices by entering the ticker symbol of the stock you're researching into the Quick Quote box and then adding a .Q or a .T to the end of the symbol, depending on where that stock is listed. For stocks that are listed on the NASDAQ, enter a .Q to the end of the ticker symbol to see the extended-hours bid and ask prices for that particular stock. For example, if stock XYZ is listed on the NASDAQ, you would enter XYZ.Q to access pre- and post-market bid and ask prices. If XYZ is traded on any other exchange, you would type XYZ.T to retrieve the extended-hours bid and ask.

Oscar Pineda-Madrid

Scottrade Trading Analyst

No, you have to be approved to trade options, which you can request by filling out an Options Application either when you open your account or after your account is active. Your account on Scottrade.com allows two levels of options trading: covered calls and the purchase of long puts and calls. Advanced options trading such as spreads and naked writing can only be completed in an OptionsFirst account. More information is available at options.scottrade.com.

Josh Sampson

OptionsFirst Education Specialist

Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Detailed information on our policies and the risks associated with options can be found in Scottrade's Options Application and Agreement, Brokerage Account Agreement, and Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options (available at your local Scottrade branch office or from the Options Clearing Corporation at 1-888-OPTIONS or by visiting www.optionsclearing.com). Market volatility, volume, and system availability may impact account access and trade execution. Supporting documentation for any claims will be supplied upon request.