Best Thread Interactive Brokers

[coolTrader]

I am posting a few minutes after your above post. The current spread for GPB/USD is 2 pips wide 5million x 13million. If you have a problem with that liquidity, I'd be shocked.

cost: we could easily do what other firms do and shave a pip or a have pip off the spread and make that 2 pip spread a 3 pip spread and not charge a commission. However, we don't and the effective rate for a 100K conversion is 0.2 pips or 0.00002.

You also are funding in GBP and trading in USD. You seem to be looking for a free lunch. The fact is, if you want to trade in a market outside of your base, you do NOT have to convert. You can trade, a margin loan will be extended and you would just have to convert back your profit or losses if/when you desire. You don't seem to understand that the marks at the clearing house wil be for or against you in the local currency. IB could automatically sweep that back for you. However, that would be a trading decision and we don't make those for our clients. In addition, we could shave a few pips off the spread like most firms and make it seem you aren't paying a commission to convert funds but we prefer full transparency and actually offer a better deal by providing true interbank rates.

You're complaining about a tiny and very reasonable commission. I don't see you complaining about the free wires, higher interest paid, lower margin charged, etc etc. All in all, we are offering an extremely competitive and fair deal.

As for the questions about your balance in your statement. Please contact the help desk. I'm sure they'll be able to assist in reconciling your account statement.

Your post is laughable! free lunch? I wont go into to that but you don't seem to understand what liquidity means. Commission is commission. You are charging us to convert our money back. if you are unaware and keep converting in not time you have a bill of £!00 or more in a day. So dont tell me about free lunch.

It seems you are the one's getting free lunch from your customers in an unethical way. Can you show me another broker who does the same.

Someone please point out a broker that charges you that way. I will be waiting for your reply!

Free lunch.

Note: please I dont want to go into any slagging match so please dont start any character assassination here simple because I am stating my experience here with you. Speak of your system and not the client you are unaware of. You don't even know me. The sad thing is I have been with you for years and this is what people complain about when they say poor customer service with interactive brokers. As a big company you don't want people to be critical of you.

 

[def]

Your post is laughable! free lunch? I wont go into to that but you don't seem to understand what liquidity means. Commission is commission. You are charging us to convert our money back. if you are unaware and keep converting in not time you have a bill of £!00 or more in a day. So dont tell me about free lunch.

It seems you are the one's getting free lunch from your custormers in an unethical way. Can you show me another broker who does the same.

Someone please point out a broker that charges you that way. I will be waiting for your reply!

Free lunch.

Please enlighten me on your meaning of liquidity. Mine matches what investopedia states:

"1. The degree to which an asset or security can be bought or sold in the market without affecting the asset's price. Liquidity is characterized by a high level of trading activity.

2. The ability to convert an asset to cash quickly. Also known as "marketability"."

Given you can exit your FX position for 2 pips or less with size on both side w/o impacting the market, I'd say our offering is liquid.

Just because others don't charge a commission on FX doesn't mean our offering is unethical. Would you rather pay 3 pips and no commission or 2 pips with a commission that is a fraction of a pip. Our method is more fair.

this is also a quote from our site under the fee page, everything is fully disclosed:

"Whereas other brokers inflate their forex spreads with more than a fair share for commissions, we quote the best bid/offer from multiple large banks and charge a separate transparent commission."

 

[peto]

Your post is laughable! free lunch? I wont go into to that but you don't seem to understand what liquidity means. Commission is commission. You are charging us to convert our money back. if you are unaware and keep converting in not time you have a bill of £!00 or more in a day. .

Hi coolTrader you seem to be losing your cool!

The term 'liquidity' in a market is normaly used to indicate the ready availability of a large number of bids and offers close to the last price traded, and I think it is your interpretation of this term in some other way that is causing some of the confusion here.

There is no need to be converting your account balance back to your base currency dozens of times a day. Why not let you profits build up until you wish to draw on them, and then once a month or so convert them back for a £ or two at near interbank rates?

Pete

 

[coolTrader]

Hi coolTrader you seem to be losing your cool!

The term 'liquidity' in a market is normaly used to indicate the ready availability of a large number of bids and offers close to the last price traded, and I think it is your interpretation of this term in some other way that is causing some of the confusion here.

There is no need to be converting your account balance back to your base currency dozens of times a day. Why not let you profits build up until you wish to draw on them, and then once a month or so convert them back for a £ or two at near interbank rates?

Pete

Well stated peto.

Why are trades not being filled if it is very liquid? I wont go into pending cases with them but...

I forgot to add why do trades get broken for sizes that on oanda get filled up. I cannot even mention the size because it is so small it boggles the mind.

Also this is with regards to currency trading not the dow futures etc...


on the question of converting.... Why should i have to convert it at all? As I said show me other brokers that do this.

It is not obvious at first that you get charged to convert it otherwise yes I will convert it once a month but if you have a losing position. You are charged for that :cheesy:

Anyway Enough said. I know what I am talking about so lets leave it at that.
..........................................................................

Legal notes

(3) IB acts as agent or riskless principal in foreign currency exchange transactions. Such transactions are executed against an IB affiliate or a third party, which acts as principal in such transactions and may have a long or short position and may have profited or lost in connection with the transaction. Foreign currency exchange transactions executed by Customer through IB are not regulated or overseen by the SEC or the CFTC.

 

[Robanpadd]

Hello guys,
sorry to move off the current discussion but i'm after some advice on opening an account and was hoping for some help.

I am relatively new to trading but have been studying hard for the last 10 months.

I called IB customer service today and asked how strict they were on the 100 previous trades minimum and was told that it wasn't that strict but I should be aware of the risk involved in trading.

Unfortunately when I came to the part of the application where I have to enter my financial information I get an error saying I do not meet the required level (don't make/have enough money).

Does anyone know how much I need to be worth to open an IB account?

Should I just go back to spread betting?

Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to answer.

Rob

 

[Interactive Brokers]

Hello guys,
sorry to move off the current discussion but i'm after some advice on opening an account and was hoping for some help.

I am relatively new to trading but have been studying hard for the last 10 months.

I called IB customer service today and asked how strict they were on the 100 previous trades minimum and was told that it wasn't that strict but I should be aware of the risk involved in trading.

Unfortunately when I came to the part of the application where I have to enter my financial information I get an error saying I do not meet the required level (don't make/have enough money).

Does anyone know how much I need to be worth to open an IB account?

Should I just go back to spread betting?

Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to answer.

Rob

Dear Rob:

Please contact our UK office to address your particular query and quote the above (tel: 020 7 776 7801)

Thank you

 

[frugi]

Or simply increase the relevant figures on the application till the error message disappears.

 

[Robanpadd]

Thanks for the speedy reply IB.

 

[Slapshot]

Or simply increase the relevant figures on the application till the error message disappears.

I can't believe you'd do such a thing frugi

 

[Robanpadd]

Thanks Frugi

I had thought about that but didn't know how serious the results might have been.

I've left a message with IB and I'm waiting for a reply. I'm not in a rush but would really like to use IB instead of going back to spread betting.

Thanks for your advice. (I'm just hoping I don't have to use it )

 

[tradesenior]

1. Who at IB has the authority to credit your account?
2. Does the compensation department that I emailed have that authority?
3. What is the best method to discuss this with someone at IB over the phone who has the authority to credit your account.
4. Has any U.S. customer EVER received compensation or a credit from Interactive Brokers?

 

[Interactive Brokers]

TradeSenior:

Please refer to the following link for an overview of how to get the best IB service http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/general/contact/bestService.php?ib_entity=uk

In brief, please contact the helpdesk, they can take your query and escalate it to senior management who will respond accordingly.

 

[tradesenior]

TradeSenior:

Please refer to the following link for an overview of how to get the best IB service http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/general/contact/bestService.php?ib_entity=uk

In brief, please contact the helpdesk, they can take your query and escalate it to senior management who will respond accordingly.

I've done everything that that link suggests, including contacting the helpdesk. Your answer is evasive. Can you please respond to my first 3 questions, or at least the 3rd question which is "What is the best method to discuss this with someone at IB over the phone who has the authority to credit your account?"

 

[tradesenior]

Sorry, but the IB rep's post above just pissed me off. It is just more obfuscation. I've never dealt with a company in my life where I could not talk to management over the phone. I assumed before opening an account with Interactive Brokers that I would be able to speak directly with management if a problem arose. I was wrong, and that is my mistake for not researching Interactivebrokers further before opening an account with them.

Also, see this link
http://www.trade2win.com/boards/showthread.php?t=20271&page=1&pp=10

 

[Interactive Brokers]

Sorry, but the IB rep's post above just pissed me off. It is just more obfuscation. I've never dealt with a company in my life where I could not talk to management over the phone. I assumed before opening an account with Interactive Brokers that I would be able to speak directly with management if a problem arose. I was wrong, and that is my mistake for not researching Interactivebrokers further before opening an account with them.

Also, see this link
http://www.trade2win.com/boards/showthread.php?t=20271&page=1&pp=10

Trade Senior:

Respectfully, our procedures to deal with client complaints are, you can contact the helpdesk, provide the helpdesk with the facts of your issue, investigate your issue then escalate it accordingly to senior management. Afterwards, we will respond to your issue. Our helpdesk is monitored by management. It sounds that you are a US client thus from the US you can all our toll free number 1 (877) 442-2757. Only senior management has the authority to credit your account.

If you have already contacted the helpdesk and have provided them the facts of your issue they will be responding shortly.

 

[tradesenior]

Trade Senior:

Respectfully, our procedures to deal with client complaints are, you can contact the helpdesk, provide the helpdesk with the facts of your issue, investigate your issue then escalate it accordingly to senior management. Afterwards, we will respond to your issue. Our helpdesk is monitored by management. It sounds that you are a US client thus from the US you can all our toll free number 1 (877) 442-2757. Only senior management has the authority to credit your account.

If you have already contacted the helpdesk and have provided them the facts of your issue they will be responding shortly.

There is a problem with this procedure. It appears to be left up to the helpdesk to decide whether it should go to senior management. The helpdesk may not refer it to senior management, and the customer has no way of knowing whether it was sent to senior management or not. If a customer wants to discuss a matter with senior management, they should be able to.

 

[Interactive Brokers]

There is a problem with this procedure. It appears to be left up to the helpdesk to decide whether it should go to senior management. The helpdesk may not refer it to senior management, and the customer has no way of knowing whether it was sent to senior management or not. If a customer wants to discuss a matter with senior management, they should be able to.

Respectfully, our management team monitors the helpdesk and views complaints. In addition they have created our complaints procedures that is in line with industry practice. Our helpdesk representatives job when listening to a complaint is to gather the facts of the case. Afterwards, the complaint is escalted internally based off the facts. Then and answer is provided to the client.

You can forward future feedback addressed specifically to IB management by denoting your comments in the following link
http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/general/contact/feedbackForm.php?ib_entity=uk

 

[tradesenior]

... they have created our complaints procedures that is in line with industry practice.

Respectfully, I do not believe your procedure is "in line with industry practice". If this is true, please name 5 other futures brokers who follow this practice.

 

[Interactive Brokers]

Correct me if we I am wrong but your issue with our procedure is:

It appears to be left up to the helpdesk to decide whether it should go to senior management. The helpdesk may not refer it to senior management, and the customer has no way of knowing whether it was sent to senior management or not. If a customer wants to discuss a matter with senior management, they should be able to.

Again, respectfully, our management team monitors the helpdesk and views complaints. In addition they have created our complaints procedures that is in line with industry practice. Our helpdesk representatives job when listening to a complaint is to gather the facts of the case. Afterwards, the complaint is escalted internally based off the facts. Then an answer is provided to the client.

Can you name five online brokers that are capitalized over $2 billion where clients can call up and request to speak over the phone to senior management ad hoc? For example, from the following link http://iinews.com/site/pdfs/IIMag_Interactivebrokers_April_2005.pdf

 

[kbloor]

Margin requirements

Hi there,

Just a question about margin requirements - I'm interested in the YM. Your site says the margin requirements for the mini-dow contracts are:

Intraday initial 1219
Intraday maintenance 975
Overnight initial 2438
Overnight maintenance 1950

Then another page says this:
All Futures products will be margined at 50% of the normal margin requirements during normal liquid trading hours for each product type. Each day at 15 minutes before the close of the normal trading session for a product, margin requirements will revert back to the 100% requirement until the opening of normal trading hours the next day. Margin requirements will always be applied at 100% for all spread transactions.

I'm just trying to get clear exactly how much margin is required and it would help if you could spell out to me whether I'm correct/incorrect in describing the margin requirement in this way:

The way I read your site means that on market open until 15:45 EST (or earlier in the case of early closing) I would need 1219/2 = $609.50 per contract in an IB account to open a position, and to stay in the market I would need a minimum of 975/2 = $487.50 per open position as my account value? (This is of course subject to your minimum account funding requirements too). And if I were to trade just before market close (say 10 minutes before) I'd need $1219 per contract to open a position and $975 per contract traded as my minimum account value to keep it in the market?

If you could confirm whether I was correct or clarify what the actual situation would be that would help me a lot - many thanks.