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Interactive Brokers - experiences and opinions

  • #581
  • Sep 5, 2014 4:59pm Sep 5, 2014 4:59pm
Quoting srt
I sure hope the talk here recently about inaccuracies is incorrect but after seeing my account value from yesterday & today after the up move in corn today has me scratching my head a bit. My account is about 95% corn related & even with the decent move higher today, the account value didn't move up a bit from yesterday. This I haven't noticed until today. Looking @ the financials of the company, nothing to brag about & insiders continue to sell. Sure would hate to have to move as they have the lowest commission costs but now I'm not sure I trust...
As Mevo has thrice pointed out (so far) in his self-debate, the monthly balances are usually correct -- it's just the daily variances that have some of us wondering.

You raise a good point though with the poor financials and insider selling. I'd read about the rating downgrade and drop in client DAT previously, but today was the first time this year I'd looked at their financials and when you combine all the information it doesn't paint a very reassuring picture. Unfortunately, Peterffy is a market insider who has testified before the U.S. Senate against banking regulations -- not exactly the kind of leadership you want to see if you're concerned about client-focused business ethics. If you start to notice serious irregularities with your account, don't wait until it's too late to jump ship.

That said, I doubt any brokerage is any more trustworthy than another. Businesses are only as trustworthy as the laws and regulations that force them to be, particularly in the financial sector, but even the best of companies are subject to human error. The only defence is to keep good records and verify all transactions personally. The stock portfolio I actively manage (forty times larger than my IB portfolio) is with Questrade, and over the years I've found several errors (all minor, all human error, nothing malicious) so you should never allow yourself to become complacent.

As far as I'm aware, here in Canada there are only three realistic choices: Oanda, which is purely FOREX and nothign else; Questrade, the only option for stocks, etc. held in RRSP, RIF, and TFSA accounts (and physical metals, interestingly), but they don't offer commodities and their FOREX commission is anywhere from double to quadruple the rates of Interactive Brokers; and Interactive Brokers whose services you're obviously already aware of. Since I trade futures I don't have a choice but to stick with Interactive Brokers for the time being for day/swing trading. Hopefully you have more choices where you live in case you do decide to go with someone else.

I'm curious: Why do you focus on corn? Are you or your family farmers or is there some other reason you've made this your focus?
You can always make money tomorrow provided you don't lose it today.
  • #582
  • Sep 5, 2014 5:53pm Sep 5, 2014 5:53pm
Quoting KADC
{quote} As Mevo has thrice pointed out (so far) in his self-debate, the monthly balances are usually correct -- it's just the daily variances that have some of us wondering. You raise a good point though with the poor financials and insider selling. I'd read about the rating downgrade and drop in client DAT previously, but today was the first time this year I'd looked at their financials and when you combine all the information it doesn't paint a very reassuring picture. Unfortunately, Peterffy is a market insider who has testified before the U.S....



Thanks for the information. I have plenty other broker options but none with the low commissions & all markets in one location.

Why do you focus on corn?

I grew up on a farm so followed the grains my whole life. I can rattle off many stats of the top of my head. My brother still farms over 2000 acres of corn & beans.
As for my current positions there, I've traded this about as ugly as possible. I've been trading it for several years just never had quite the "perfect storm" of weather conditions & I didn't adjust positions properly soon enough thinking the perfect weather wouldn't last. Well, it did so I'm sitting on an $11K drawdown :-(
  • #583
  • Sep 5, 2014 6:43pm Sep 5, 2014 6:43pm
Quoting srt
{quote} Thanks for the information. I have plenty other broker options but none with the low commissions & all markets in one location. Why do you focus on corn? I grew up on a farm so followed the grains my whole life. I can rattle off many stats of the top of my head. My brother still farms over 2000 acres of corn & beans. As for my current positions there, I've traded this about as ugly as possible. I've been trading it for several years just never had quite the "perfect storm" of weather conditions & I didn't adjust positions properly soon enough...
I know many farmers speculate on their crops/livestock. I'm sorry to hear you've taken such a heavy loss. One of the reasons I've stayed away from trading anything that grows is the weather variable. Is corn down now is do you trade it year round?
You can always make money tomorrow provided you don't lose it today.
  • #584
  • Sep 5, 2014 7:09pm Sep 5, 2014 7:09pm
Quoting KADC
{quote} I know many farmers speculate on their crops/livestock. I'm sorry to hear you've taken such a heavy loss. One of the reasons I've stayed away from trading anything that grows is the weather variable. Is corn down now is do you trade it year round?
I'm still in the trade(s) & will be for at least the next 6-12 months so it's not a loss until I close the trade(s).
Yes, corn is down & fundamentals are very ugly so not sure where the bottom is. Record crop size so ..........?

As for the weather uncertainty, I see it no different then the uncertainty in any market. Look @ the rate cut by ECB yesterday. That was a bit of a shocker to many also.
  • #585
  • Sep 7, 2014 5:43am Sep 7, 2014 5:43am
Sorry this question in not about interactive brokers and this is the first time I have posted and I am be in the wrong thread. I have had a demo account with IBFX and was considering going live but they have now been taken over by tradestation. Why I was with IBFX was because I liked Raghee Horner's Grab indicator which they offered. Does anyone know how I can access this indicator if I go with another broker. I is not a normal indicator ohn the MT4 platform I found this colour coding of candlesticks very helpful in my trading.
  • #586
  • Sep 7, 2014 4:56pm Sep 7, 2014 4:56pm
Quoting fergusm
Sorry this question in not about interactive brokers and this is the first time I have posted and I am be in the wrong thread. I have had a demo account with IBFX and was considering going live but they have now been taken over by tradestation. Why I was with IBFX was because I liked Raghee Horner's Grab indicator which they offered. Does anyone know how I can access this indicator if I go with another broker. I is not a normal indicator ohn the MT4 platform I found this colour coding of candlesticks very helpful in my trading.

Click the attachments(paperclip) near the top of the page when you go to this site:
http://www.forexfactory.com/showthre...ghlight=horner
  • #587
  • Edited 10:23am Sep 12, 2014 7:48am | Edited 10:23am
Quoting srt
{quote} I'm still in the trade(s) & will be for at least the next 6-12 months so it's not a loss until I close the trade(s). Yes, corn is down & fundamentals are very ugly so not sure where the bottom is. Record crop size so ..........? As for the weather uncertainty, I see it no different then the uncertainty in any market. Look @ the rate cut by ECB yesterday. That was a bit of a shocker to many also.
I took a pretty big hit when I started trading gold futures. I was up $500 within a few minutes, I went to the washroom and came back with my position down $1,500. Not long thereafter I was down $6,000. I ended up losing about $16,000 in all which I chalk up to an expensive lesson in cutting losses and limiting risk.
You can always make money tomorrow provided you don't lose it today.
  • #588
  • Edited 10:22am Sep 12, 2014 9:27am | Edited 10:22am
Is anyone doing manual profit/loss calculation comparisons of their trades? Except for spot checks, I'd stopped until recently because TWS was accurate for several straight years. Today my spot check revealed the unrealized profit of my AUD/NZD short became short exactly $30 at 8:30 a.m. EST, the commencement of intraday maintenance. In contrast, my EUR/AUD trade remained precisely correct.

It's currently 9:05 a.m., a half hour into the combined European/U.S. premarket session and the LAST offer which TWS bases its calculations on is is consistent within the ASK/BID spread which is ranging between 0.00015 and 0.00020, a maximum value of $5.00.

If you'd like to verify my math, a single $25k lot short was entered at 1.12165, ~ the 61.8% retracement of the move down from last Friday. It's currently at 1.10850, a difference of 0.01315 which translates to $328.75 profit. Adjusting for AUD/CAD exchange @ 1.00225 gives $328.01 in my base currency of Canadian dollars. TWS shows the unrealized profit in base currency as $298, a $30 difference.

Price has been near flat since I took my first calculation at 7:30 a.m., dipping down briefly which would create a positive position change if TWS was "resetting" periodically with remote updates with the IB server, which, if this were the case, should correct value deviations, not create them.

Even if you don't believe TWS should be accurate (which makes no sense, but I digress) it must base it's calculations on something -- they aren't just random numbers chosen out of the ether. Numbers that were accurate at 7:30 a.m. with an improvement in price between then and now have no reason to be short any amount, and even if there were a reason, why is my EUR/AUD trade still precisely correct?

Update: All values were the same at 9:20 a.m. EST, EUR/AUD is still precisely correct and AUD/NZD is still short $30. Price has moved very slightly now at 9:50 a.m. -- TWS unrealized profit/loss values are still precisely correct for EUR/AUD and still short exactly $30 for AUD/NZD.

It doesn't matter if this balances out when I eventually exit the trade, there is no rational reason why TWS, or any computer software, should ever be off by any amount, particularly with live data to base all calculations on. I'm still hoping to find a fixed cause of these balance deviations so in the future we'll know where to look for verification any time we notice an incorrect value.

...

On a completely unrelated note, Alibaba's (BABA) IPO is September 19th. Alibaba is the world's largest online retailer, based out of China and currently twice the size of Amazon, and just entering the North American market (currently by invitation only, presumably a controlled betatest). The have an eBay style delivery system (i.e. they don't fulfill orders themselves which gives them a better than 50% profit margin compared to Amazon's 1%). Their initial valuation is twice that of Facebook, and unlike Facebook (or eBay, Twitter, etc.) they are already a profitable company, plus they are starting out with access to the Chinese market, something their competitors lack. Amazon stock has been declining since the Alibaba IPO date was announced (doesn't help that they downgraded their earning forecasts). Yahoo! owns a 25% stake in Alibaba and will be selling off 9% after the IPO. Yahoo! stock has risen steadily, gaining 22% so far since the release of this news. I don't day-trade the stock market; I'm selling my Amazon stock and buying Yahoo! (and hopefully I can get Alibaba stock at a reasonable price) because Yahoo!'s September to April seasonality is a better fit with my investment portfolio.
You can always make money tomorrow provided you don't lose it today.
  • #589
  • Sep 12, 2014 12:01pm Sep 12, 2014 12:01pm
Quoting KADC
Is anyone doing manual profit/loss calculation comparisons of their trades? Except for spot checks, I'd stopped until recently because TWS was accurate for several straight years. Today my spot check revealed the unrealized profit of my AUD/NZD short became short exactly $30 at 8:30 a.m. EST, the commencement of intraday maintenance. In contrast, my EUR/AUD trade remained precisely correct. It's currently 9:05 a.m., a half hour into the combined European/U.S. premarket session and the LAST offer which TWS bases its calculations on is is consistent...
I don't know why the $30 difference but what I've noticed on my TWS is sometimes during the day while markets are open they value the instrument based upon the bid & other times they base it upon the ask. As an example, I will be long $25 Calls & looking @ the "market value" they'll be calculating it based upon the current bid price & yet I can also be long $24 Calls in the same market & they'll calculate the "market value" based upon the ask price. Strange why they don't always use bid or always use ask.
  • #590
  • Sep 12, 2014 12:25pm Sep 12, 2014 12:25pm
Quoting srt
{quote} I don't know why the $30 difference but what I've noticed on my TWS is sometimes during the day while markets are open they value the instrument based upon the bid & other times they base it upon the ask. As an example, I will be long $25 Calls & looking @ the "market value" they'll be calculating it based upon the current bid price & yet I can also be long $24 Calls in the same market & they'll calculate the "market value" based upon the ask price. Strange why they don't always use bid or always use ask.
When this happens, look at the LAST price which should match either the BID or ASK depending on whether the last system trade was a buy or sell.
You can always make money tomorrow provided you don't lose it today.
  • #591
  • Sep 30, 2014 5:45pm Sep 30, 2014 5:45pm
Hi, just checking for info on Interactive Brokers Canada. I am curious as to the leverage available, as well as info on hedging, and info for account miminums, as well as the trading platform, etc.. basically anything you can tell me..

The offices are now closed, and the website for Canada, is not too god for finding any of this info oddly enough.

Thx,
M
  • #592
  • Oct 1, 2014 12:41pm Oct 1, 2014 12:41pm
Hello,

does anybody know of an introducing broker for interactive brokers in USA?

Thanks
  • #593
  • Oct 11, 2014 3:23am Oct 11, 2014 3:23am
Interactive Brokers has been around for so many years. May I ask how do you veterans position size your trades with IB? I'm researching IB & studying the demo platform TWS, but I can't seem to find a way to position size each trade (Forex, Futures, Stocks, etc) at a fixed dollar risked using SL & TP.

Hope someone knowledgeable could enlighten me. Much appreciated & thanks.
  • #594
  • Nov 29, 2014 12:54pm Nov 29, 2014 12:54pm
i would like to know from anyone who uses IB what is its liquidity depth, for example during ny session how many millions does it have available for eur/usd, thanks.
  • #595
  • Mar 9, 2015 11:46am Mar 9, 2015 11:46am
Hello!

Can anyone advise me the best well structured, best looking, with lots of functions on trading, analysis and tickicking/monitoring API Platform that works with IB? What's the biggest/most used platform that "The Big Guys" are trading with? The Platform's price is Irrelevant.
I'm asking this because TWS is a little bit outdated in their lookings.

Best Regards.
  • #596
  • Mar 9, 2015 12:54pm Mar 9, 2015 12:54pm
Quoting edgarlemos
Hello! Can anyone advise me the best well structured, best looking, with lots of functions on trading, analysis and tickicking/monitoring API Platform that works with IB? What's the biggest/most used platform that "The Big Guys" are trading with? The Platform's price is Irrelevant. I'm asking this because TWS is a little bit outdated in their lookings. Best Regards.
Not sure about Big Guys as you put it or what even that means, but I would presume the two most common platforms would be...

http://ninjatraderecosystem.com/Brokers.php

http://www.multicharts.com/brokers/

Neither are really expensive for a life time licence, maybe they are too cheap for you if price is irrelevant
  • #597
  • Mar 9, 2015 5:07pm Mar 9, 2015 5:07pm
Quoting mitch77
{quote} Not sure about Big Guys as you put it or what even that means, but I would presume the two most common platforms would be... http://ninjatraderecosystem.com/Brokers.php http://www.multicharts.com/brokers/ Neither are really expensive for a life time licence, maybe they are too cheap for you if price is irrelevant
Thanks for your answer @mitch77! What I meant with "Big Guys" was the Institutional Trader, the professionals, the guys that only trade by profession.
I already know that platforms, are anyothers around?

Best regards.
  • #598
  • Mar 27, 2015 3:37pm Mar 27, 2015 3:37pm
They use stuff like https://www.tradingtechnologies.com/...ytics/xtrader/ or http://www.cqg.com/Products/CQG-Integrated-Client.aspx.

Both start around $500+ a month for the most basic packages.
  • #599
  • Mar 27, 2015 10:08pm Mar 27, 2015 10:08pm
Quoting jayrenard
Hello, does anybody know of an introducing broker for interactive brokers in USA? Thanks
Interactive Brokers don't use IB's, period. I dunno if they use IB's for futures trading but certainly not for forex.

Good luck!
Make your losses in demo. Earn your profits live.
  • #600
  • Mar 27, 2015 10:48pm Mar 27, 2015 10:48pm
Quoting Forexia
{quote} Interactive Brokers don't use IB's, period. I dunno if they use IB's for futures trading but certainly not for forex. Good luck!

IB does have IBs. For example https://www.captrader.com/en/ or http://www.lynxbroker.de/
They offer TWS with less initial deposit but more expensive fees.
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