The LSE Directory / CFD and forex brokers
TradeStation is a US online brokerage and trading-technology company offering self-directed trading in stocks, ETFs, options, futures, futures options, and mutual funds through its own proprietary software rather than a third-party platform. Its flagship desktop platform, alongside the newer TITAN X (launched January 2026), TradeStation Web Trading, a mobile app, and FuturesPlus for futures-focused accounts, is built around charting, strategy backtesting, and EasyLanguage, the company's own scripting language for coding and automating trading strategies. The company also publishes brokerage and market-data APIs for developers who want to build on top of its infrastructure. TradeStation differentiates itself from mainstream retail brokers by targeting active, technical, and algorithmic traders rather than casual buy-and-hold investors: its tools center on strategy design, systematic backtesting, and automation, and it offers a "Private Brokerage" tier with dedicated service for its most active clients plus a separate institutional division. Outside the US, it does not operate as a direct broker; TradeStation International Ltd, marketed as TradeStation Global, is an FCA-authorised introducing broker giving UK and EEA clients access to stocks, ETFs, futures, forex, CFDs, and bonds across more than 100 markets, with client money held by Interactive Brokers UK Ltd rather than TradeStation itself, since an introducing broker is not permitted to custody client assets. The company traces to 1982, when brothers William and Rafael Cruz founded it as Omega Research, Inc., building software that let traders design and automate strategies; EasyLanguage followed as the mechanism for that automation. Omega Research went public on Nasdaq in 1997, and the corporate structure was reorganised in 2001 with TradeStation Group becoming the parent and the ticker changing from OMGA to TRAD. The firm became a self-clearing equities and options brokerage by 2004 to 2005, and its UK subsidiary gained FCA authorisation in 2006. In 2011, Japanese online financial services group Monex Group acquired TradeStation Group, which remains a wholly owned subsidiary today. TradeStation Securities is a registered broker-dealer with the SEC, a futures commission merchant with the CFTC, and a member of FINRA and NFA; the group is headquartered in Plantation, Florida, with additional offices including New York, Chicago, Richardson (Texas), London, Sydney, and Costa Rica. In January 2026, TradeStation Securities introduced TITAN X as its next-generation flagship platform, built around fully customisable, multi-monitor workspaces, expanded charting (eleven chart types, unlimited charts), and deeper options tools for managing multi-leg strategies; it anchors an ecosystem that also includes the HUB onboarding and account hub (introduced in late 2024), the mobile app, and TradeStation's APIs.
