Why is my optionhouse trading buying power balance so slow?

[Tommy]

I have $5,700 in my account with no open trades... I can only buy $800 worth of options (option buying power)? why is this? my previous trade has expired worthless... only thing I can assume is I need to wait a couple of days?

[Suruj]

That’s not a typo. Over at OptionsHouse, stock trades are just $3.95 no matter what. When a company can make money with rates like this, it really makes you wonder how much money other premium stock brokers are making off of us. Recently, OptionsHouse updated its options commission structure to give you two options. Either $8.50 + $0.15 per contract or just $5 for 5 contracts. If you are one of those people who just want to buy yourself some protection, you are very happy with this change.
It is an online stock trading broker with an emphasis on value-priced options trading. PEAK6 Investments, the parent company, launched OptionsHouse to create an online business that expands the reach of the stock market. PEAK6 Investments also created WeSeed, a social network on a mission to educate and prepare people to trade equities. WeSeed is an online community that helps its members to learn and practice trading real stocks in real time with play money.