New Financial Network From Creators of thinkorswim Threatens to Make Finance Fun
CHICAGO, IL–(Marketwire – 05/09/11) – «Let’s mix financial news with entertainment and bring it to the masses,» that’s the vision of tastytrade founder and CEO, Tom Sosnoff, who was also co-founder of the award winning online brokerage thinkorswim. tastytrade offers timely, ‘actionable’ trading ideas, financial insight, deep discounts on financial products and services and entertainment through streaming HD video. Initial live programming runs 7:00 AM – 10:00 AM, Central, weekdays, and is rebroadcast all day. Programming highlights are archived at www.tastytrade.com, and all show content is free 24 hours a day.
tastytrade heralds a new way to deliver financial information and engage self-directed investors — laugh, save, simple, is the tastytrade motto. tastytrade members get exclusive trading ideas and, coming this summer, members will benefit from access to the tastytrade Superstore, with discounts to products, services, and fees from a range of financial companies.
Still in its infancy, tastytrade is already a media sensation. The tastytrade network is operating out of a Chicago brownstone, where Sosnoff and crew have developed a state-of-the-art production facility equipped to scale up home grown financial content.
«We’re a real contrast to established financial broadcast news like CNBC, Fox, and Bloomberg because we’re live, independent, unfiltered and with no commercial advertising,» says Sosnoff. «tastytrade’s goal is to offer self-directed investors discounts in financial products, fees and services, and to attract and engage the millions of people who might be thinking about investing, but just find it boring or intimidating. tastytrade will cure that.»
Joining Sosnoff at tastytrade are thinkorswim founding veterans, former Managing Director Tom Preston, former thinkorswim CTO Linwood Ma, and Kristi Ross, formerly CFO of thinkorswim, now President of tastytrade.
Ross explains the tastytrade model: «Consumers will get meaningful savings on financial products and services while our Superstore partners will greatly reduce the acquisition costs of quality new clients. Since we’re completely agnostic, tastytrade is a sandbox for financial service companies where consumers and vendors can benefit from a new concept of innovative prepaid marketing.»
«Get Tasted,» 7:00 AM – 10:00 AM, Weekdays, Central, features the best talent in the rapidly emerging Chicago financial improv space — Apple earnings, the price of gold, last night’s Bulls game — it’s a fluid riff. Sosnoff, in his signature beret with the tastytrade cherry logo, is ringmaster and head educator who can explain a «parabolic move» with a couple of restaurant butter packets, and «implied volatility» with oranges and Sun Chips. Sosnoff has built a persona in the trading world as a master improvisational educator. Thousands of devotees at tradeshows around the country revel in his ability to make sense of complex trades and markets. His passion for trading is contagious. Sosnoff’s guests include veteran and novice traders, finance luminaries, entrepreneurs, comedians and Chicago personalities.
About tastytrade
tastytrade’s mission is to bring actionable trading ideas and opportunities to the masses through entertaining, educational programming and discounts to trading and investing services. tastytrade.com went live April 18, 2011, and officially launched April 28, 2011 with three hours of live programming. Programming is rebroadcast throughout the day. Membership cost $5/month or $45/year for exclusive trading ideas. The tastytrade Superstore is scheduled to launch in summer 2011. tastytrade was founded by a core group that built thinkorswim into the award-winning online brokerage.
Tom Sosnoff Background
Tom Sosnoff, founder and CEO of tastytrade, is a recognized online brokerage innovator and sought-after financial educator. Tom founded thinkorswim in 1999, before the options market was electronic. Leveraging over 25 years of experience as a market maker for the Chicago Board of Options Exchange (CBOE) and one of the original OEX traders in the S&P 100 Index pit, Tom pursued a vision to educate retail investors in options trading and to build a superior software platform at a brokerage firm that specialized in options. His efforts ultimately changed the way these instruments traded by pioneering single click trading functionality for complex spreads.
Under Tom’s leadership, thinkorswim evolved into the leader in daily retail options trading, and a pioneer in investor education services for options, futures and FX trading. Tom led the company’s corporate strategy and was dedicated to systems development and trading innovations. He continues to advance understanding of the active trading marketplace by personally teaching and executing complex, non-directional option strategies for investors and traders at all levels.
