Charles Schwab experienced a platform outage on March 25, 2026, around noon Eastern time. Users reported inability to access the thinkorswim platform, execute trades, and view positions during the disruption. For options traders with open positions, outages like this create real risk – here’s what happened and how to prepare.
What Was Affected
Reports indicated the thinkorswim desktop application and web platform were impacted. Mobile app access was intermittent. The timing – midday on a Tuesday – was particularly problematic for options traders managing short premium positions through what was an active session.
Why Outages Are Especially Risky for Options Traders
Stock investors can usually tolerate a few hours of platform downtime – their positions aren’t time-sensitive in the same way. Options traders face a different reality:
- Short options can move quickly. An iron condor that was fine at 10am can breach a strike by noon if the market moves.
- Expiration risk. Options expiring same-day (0DTE) or next-day can go from profitable to max loss without the ability to close or roll.
- Assignment risk. In-the-money short options approaching expiration can be assigned, resulting in stock positions you didn’t plan for.
How to Protect Yourself
Have a Backup Broker Account
The most practical hedge: maintain a funded account at a second broker. Many active options traders keep accounts at both tastytrade and thinkorswim – if one is down, you can close, hedge, or roll at the other. This costs nothing if you’re not actively trading the secondary account.
Know Your Broker’s Phone Trading Line
All major brokers offer phone-based order execution as a fallback. Schwab’s trading line: 1-800-435-4000. tastytrade: 1-888-247-1963. This costs more per trade but can save you from a max-loss scenario if you need to close something urgently.
Size Positions to Survive Without Management
The best insurance is sizing positions conservatively enough that a few hours of inability to manage them doesn’t cause catastrophic damage. If a position requires constant monitoring to stay within acceptable risk, it’s likely too large.