IB Forex

[Gary (IB Rep UK)]

IB has implemented the following enhancements to our IDEALPRO forex services:



Trading now available starting at 01:00 EST. This will move to 21:00 (or 20:00) within a few weeks.

minimum order size has been reduced to approximately 25'000 USD (or rounded equivalent in other currencies)

advanced order types are supported: GTC, GTD, stop, stop-limit. We will add contingent and most other IB order types within a week.


Other substantial changes are planned but we don't have a fixed delivery date yet, although it will not be very far away:


reduction in the haircuts for non-base currency assets to roughly 2% (50:1)

additional liquidity providers

 

[TRADERguy]

IB has implemented the following enhancements to our IDEALPRO forex services:



Trading now available starting at 01:00 EST. This will move to 21:00 (or 20:00) within a few weeks.

minimum order size has been reduced to approximately 25'000 USD (or rounded equivalent in other currencies)

advanced order types are supported: GTC, GTD, stop, stop-limit. We will add contingent and most other IB order types within a week.


Other substantial changes are planned but we don't have a fixed delivery date yet, although it will not be very far away:


reduction in the haircuts for non-base currency assets to roughly 2% (50:1)

additional liquidity providers

Gary,

Who are your current liquidity providers? Also is there a way for people to look at your bid/ask in real time so that we can make an informed decision as to whether to open an IB account? Also do you plan to raise your maximum trade size in the future?

 

[Gary (IB Rep UK)]

Gary,

Who are your current liquidity providers? Also is there a way for people to look at your bid/ask in real time so that we can make an informed decision as to whether to open an IB account? Also do you plan to raise your maximum trade size in the future?

Hi TRADERguy,

Liquidity provider is Bear Stearns. The maximum deal size is $ 5 million, I am not aware of any plans to increase this at the moment. I will put the idea of allowing real time quotes on the demo.

Gary

 

[shogun]

gary

i have been looking at the new ibforex and there are a few things that i am not sure about,

1/ when you are looking to enter a order if you click on the bid/ask of the currency pair it brings up a order ticket, ( why does it not just open the order line below like with the futures)

2/ when the order ticket is open it has under order description "Quantity" is that the number of lots @ $25000 or do you put in the dollar amount you want to trade , so if i wanted to trade $50000 chf would i put in 2 or 50000.

3/ i notice also some of the cross rates are available to trade in ideal but not in ideal pro as a daytrader can i trade with ideal or only what is in ideal pro.

4/ also how do you bring up margin check with the ibforex and are there two rates of margin ie initial margin & maintenance margin as with the futures,

5/ are there any plans to tighten the spreads in the future as you are currently only offering the same as deal4free or worse and they have no charges on the spreads , typically you can get a 1-2 point spread on the forex futures on your platform ,where as the idealpro is quoting 3-4 point & i have seen them widen to 10 -12 points on the cad & chf .

 

[shogun]

oh nearly forgot is it possible to put a order inside the bid/ask spread or not,

sorry to be a pain,

 

[frugi]

I can't find the original "Spot on is now IDEAL" thread so I'll post this here. After complaining to IB regarding a rogue fill I have received, after a rude brush off, this reply:

"This is in response to your complaint regarding your Ideal Pro execution
on June 29th.

IB changed, as you already noticed, the minimum order size from 250000 to 25000.

IB will break trades on Ideal Pro that are more than 3% away from the
market. The market was at 1.2139 at the time your execution at 1.2175 occurred.
Your execution price is less than 3% away from the market price. You can find
this information on our website under following link.
<http://www.interactivebrokers.com/php/retailAccount/exchanges/usIB-pro.php?ib_entity=IB-UK>

Based on information provided above, our actions with respect to your
account activity on June 29th, were in accordance with the bust policies
on Ideal Pro and, as such, support a decision to not provide any
compensation in this matter. If you are dissatisfied with the resolution of this
complaint you may complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service, details
of which are attached at
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm"

JonnyT was right to imagine they would brandish the terms and conditions instead of honouring the market price. A $90 lesson to ensure I use limit orders only from now on! I suggest others do the same.

 

[JonnyT]

I wish IB would get their act together.

They have told me that $25000 are not yet available yet on message boards they say they are.

The proof is in the pudding in that I cannot trade $25000 lot sizes...

IB please get your act together and provide some clarity.

JonnyT

 

[shogun]

frugi
your post might just have saved me some money i have just looked at the market depth for the euro on ideal-pro and i note that there is none so using market orders is not a option, imo ,

perhaps gary (interactive brokers) might like to comment on why this is .?

 

[shogun]

ok worked out the order ticket you have to put in 25000 for each lot , also it would seem you can trade inside the spread as i put a limit order to buy 1 pip above bid price and it closed the spread to 2 pips , that was filled so i put in a order to close the long at 1 pip below the ask price , and as the mkt moved it got filled , so i would think that as the volume picks up the spread should tighten to 1 pip , ,

there was just one thing that was of concern and it was when i was in the trade the unrealized P&L was showing -$370 is this normal ? also it used up £2675 of margin to have the position open, thats nearly 20% of the trade size, a bit steep for forex i would say.

also i noted i opened the position with IBFX and closed it with BEARFX ,is that normal ?

and the result on the test run a 2 pip profit or $5.00 ,

 

[JTrader]

Hi

Over what sort of time frame are IB likely to reduce the EUR/USD 3 pip spread to 1 or 2 pips? 1, 3, 6 or 12 months etc.?

Cheers

jtrader.

 

[ianp]

Can anyone tell me the symbol I need to use to get Ideal data into Sierra charts ?

thanks
Ian

 

[ewilcox]

Gary

Does IB trade any other products using Bear Stearns?

ew.

 

[JTrader]

I hadn't realised that IB charge a commission on Ideal Pro - besides the spread. So, on EUR/USD - there is a 3 pip spread most of the time. You also pay a % commission that is $5 minimum per transaction = $10 per round trip.

Why would anyone do this?

granted, a trader may get a better service through IB - in that IB have nothing to gain through manipulating the prices they offer (as the bucket shops may do). However, is this really worth an added $10 minimum per trade?

Or, would you just rather trade with the likes of FXCM - where the only costs you need to cover are the 3 pip spread?

In any case the additional commission - in my opinion - means that IB's Ideal Pro is not very competitive and cost efficient for traders..........

I think they need to go away and rethink this service in order to make it more competitive........

Would the Globex futures with a 1 pip spread on EUR/USD and comparable commissions would seem a better option still ????

 

[d1618us]

IB IDEAL Pro Forex -

IB has been making progress on their spot FX offering, however, the following are 2 adjustments that should be made for IDEAL Pro FX:

1. Daily Blackout Period(s)

My understanding is that there is currently a shutdown time for the entire Trader WorkStation (TWS) system. There are 2 choices available for the shutdown time; either you can be on the NY server (default) and be shut out from 11:45 PM - 1:00 AM ET or on the Asia server and be shut out from 4:10 PM - 5: 00 PM ET.

Also, on the IB internet site, there is a shutdown time posted for IDEAL Pro from 5:00-6:00 PM ET. I am assuming that this is in addition to the TWS server shutdown times.

Regardless, not being able to have any orders whatsoever and no trading ability is a major drawdown - If you are holding a big position or are jammed, you can only hedge etc with an account from another broker or have 2 IB accounts - 1 set up on each server.

Solution - The should be revamped such that there is not shut down time - the markets are open from Sunday through Friday ++++ IB offers international market trading so this is commensurate with their offering strategy...


2. Basic Position Management - P&L

There is no real-time P&L for spot currency positions in TWS. My understanding is that this is a legacy problem from IDEAL which is just designed as a currency exchange system (convert cash balances in your account from one currency to another).

Solution - On-line spot currency brokers have included real-time P&L as part of their trading systems for a long. Even some had a matrix profile set up to show your theoretical P&L for you over a range of market for your positions (and I think even hypothetical positions). Of course, most everyone has their own systems/spreadsheets to make these simple, yet critical calculations. I am sure that I am not alone in having all of this updated by TWS on a real-time automatic basis....

Most everything I have observed about IB's IDEAL Pro FX shows that they are serious about spot currency trading and are making improvements. I think that they need to address these basics that really do count ASAP...

Any comments are much appreciated, especially from IB