Best Thread Interactive Brokers

[markus1000]

Thanks for the info, is there any change required to connect thru IB gateway? The reference guide seems to talk about connecting thru TWS, not much is mentioned abt IB gateway.

http://www.interactivebrokers.com/p...de/api/run_the_api_through_the_ib_gateway.htm

However i have never tried the IB gateway for my trading, i advise you to talk to the support and paper trade the system first

 

[Joaquimvl]

I Am Still Waiting For A Answer !!?
@Interactive Brokers !!!!!!

Hello
I'm looking for a professional platform for trading stocks, forex, ... and also cheap.
I think with Interactive Brokers I found what I needed. But I have some questions.
I will start with some simple questions.

How much is the minimum start deposit in € to trade stocks (CFD's ?) ?
How much is the minimum start deposit in € to trade forex ?
Will there be problems with opening an account from Belgium, Europe (where I live)?
I don't really understand the extra costs other than the spread, please explain.

Kind regards

 

[D70]

I Am Still Waiting For A Answer !!?
@Interactive Brokers !!!!!!

Hello
I'm looking for a professional platform for trading stocks, forex, ... and also cheap.
I think with Interactive Brokers I found what I needed. But I have some questions.
I will start with some simple questions.

How much is the minimum start deposit in € to trade stocks (CFD's ?) ?
How much is the minimum start deposit in € to trade forex ?
Will there be problems with opening an account from Belgium, Europe (where I live)?
I don't really understand the extra costs other than the spread, please explain.

Kind regards

I am not surprised Interactive Brokers have not responded.
All the answers to your questions are available on their website or during the account opening procedure.

I suggest you do a little work for yourself like everybody else.

 

[Hittfeld]

D70,

I couldn`t have said this better.

Thanks

 

[Splitlink]

I Am Still Waiting For A Answer !!?
@Interactive Brokers !!!!!!

Hello
I'm looking for a professional platform for trading stocks, forex, ... and also cheap.
I think with Interactive Brokers I found what I needed. But I have some questions.
I will start with some simple questions.

How much is the minimum start deposit in € to trade stocks (CFD's ?) ?
How much is the minimum start deposit in € to trade forex ?
Will there be problems with opening an account from Belgium, Europe (where I live)?
I don't really understand the extra costs other than the spread, please explain.

Kind regards

Contrary to what others may think as to your lack of capacity for work I would put to you that if you cannot understand their site when you want to put money in, you should worry about what is likely to happen when you want to get it out.

It is well known that IB is not easy. The trading platform is ok but the rest of it is a nuisance.

They say that it is easy---they would, wouldn't they? They are very big so, I suppose, they have a lot of contented clients but I'll bet that they have a lot of discontented ones, too.

 

[Jack o'Clubs]

Contrary to what others may think as to your lack of capacity for work I would put to you that if you cannot understand their site when you want to put money in, you should worry about what is likely to happen when you want to get it out.

It is well known that IB is not easy. The trading platform is ok but the rest of it is a nuisance.

They say that it is easy---they would, wouldn't they? They are very big so, I suppose, they have a lot of contented clients but I'll bet that they have a lot of discontented ones, too.

I have to say I've never had a problem with it and in fact use it regularly to transfer money between sterling and euro bank accounts at a wholesale rate as well as normal trading deposits and withdrawals. It's not as straight forward as some but it's not that complicated.

 

[Splitlink]

I have to say I've never had a problem with it and in fact use it regularly to transfer money between sterling and euro bank accounts at a wholesale rate as well as normal trading deposits and withdrawals. It's not as straight forward as some but it's not that complicated.

It is a big broker and that means that there must be a lot of satisfied clients.

These links will present some who are not.

Interactive Brokers Reviews | Interactive Brokers Ratings | interactivebrokers.com reviews and ratings by Forex Peace Army

Interactive Brokers Reviews | Forex Trading Broker

Customer service is very poor.

 

[Jack o'Clubs]

Customer service is very poor.

In my experience it's very good. I'm not being deliberately awkward but it's a known fact that people are more likely to go onto the internet to complain than to praise, so no surprise that if there are 160,000 client accounts there are going to be a fair number of moans about service. Just want to say I'm one of the 160,000 who is completely happy with them.

 

[Splitlink]

In my experience it's very good. I'm not being deliberately awkward but it's a known fact that people are more likely to go onto the internet to complain than to praise, so no surprise that if there are 160,000 client accounts there are going to be a fair number of moans about service. Just want to say I'm one of the 160,000 who is completely happy with them.

I agree that there are two sides to every story and I don't intend to carry on about them because, frankly, life's short and I've moved on. For me IB is history.

Neither, though, do I intend to recommend them.

 

[Interactive Brokers]

(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ GS: IBKR), the largest U.S. electronic broker as measured by number of Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs), was the recipient of top honors in Barron’s 2012 annual ranking of online brokers and the Wall Street Letter 2012 Institutional Trading Awards.

Interactive Brokers Rated Tops by Barron

 

[Adamus]

I have to say I've never had a problem with it and in fact use it regularly to transfer money between sterling and euro bank accounts at a wholesale rate as well as normal trading deposits and withdrawals. It's not as straight forward as some but it's not that complicated.

Jack O'Clubs

completely off-topic but do you really get a cheaper money transfer at a better rate when you transfer money between Euro and GBP bank accounts if you do it through IB?

Let's hope they don't play the same shenanigans that scuppered MF Global.

 

[darrenmo]

Hello,

I have a pretty mundane question but would really appreciate your help.

Could someone explain clearly (or walk me through) how I am supposed to see what I have earned/lost when my position closes, so that I can keep track of how I am doing?

I am primarily selling Puts and Calls, that's it. So, at the end of the month I log in to see how I did. I go to my accounts section and I see lots of figures but I don't see anything clear and simple.

Call me simple but I wish they said; "Your positions have closed. You made $X profit (minus our fee of $X) so you now have $XX in your account."

Please help me decode the hieroglyphics! Screen shots would be awesome if you can?

Cheers guys!

Darren

 

[Jack o'Clubs]

Jack O'Clubs

completely off-topic but do you really get a cheaper money transfer at a better rate when you transfer money between Euro and GBP bank accounts if you do it through IB?

Let's hope they don't play the same shenanigans that scuppered MF Global.

Agree with the MF Global point....

On the forex qn, yes because you can convert your currency balances back to your base currency at the spot rate. So in my case, base currency is GBP, I can make deposits in euros, withdraw to a UK bank in £ and convert any excess balance in Euro to GBP at spot.

 

[Pnty]

(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ GS: IBKR), the largest U.S. electronic broker as measured by number of Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs), was the recipient of top honors in Barron’s 2012 annual ranking of online brokers and the Wall Street Letter 2012 Institutional Trading Awards.

Interactive Brokers Rated Tops by Barron

It is also a broker that manipulates margins on naked futures options, especially near the expiration date to force their clients to close the position. Just compare margins of IB with other brokers like ADM, RJO.

So if your strategy is shorting naked futures options then I would definitely not go with IB.

I would like to hear some comments from IB shadow representatives who are on their promo tour on this site.

If you want to trade just stocks or futures then IB is fine with me.

 

[val12399]

Hey Guys,

Anyone seen the recent FOREX disclosure statement? They have turned into a market maker as a result of this recent move. Does anyone here trade FX through IB and if so what are you doing as a result of this news?

"RISK DISCLOSURE STATEMENT FOR FOREX TRADING
AND IB MULTI-CURRENCY ACCOUNTS
Rules of the U.S. National Futures Association ("NFA") require Interactive Brokers ("IB") to provide you with the following Risk Disclosure Statement:
RISK DISCLOSURE
OFF-EXCHANGE FOREIGN CURRENCY ("FOREX") TRANSACTIONS INVOLVE THE LEVERAGED TRADING OF CONTRACTS DENOMINATED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY CONDUCTED WITH A FUTURES COMMISSION MERCHANT OR A RETAIL FOREIGN EXCHANGE DEALER AS YOUR COUNTERPARTY. BECAUSE OF THE LEVERAGE AND THE OTHER RISKS DISCLOSED HERE, YOU CAN RAPIDLY LOSE ALL OF THE FUNDS YOU DEPOSIT FOR SUCH TRADING AND YOU MAY LOSE MORE THAN YOU DEPOSIT.
YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF AND CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING POINTS BEFORE DETERMINING WHETHER SUCH TRADING IS APPROPRIATE FOR YOU.
(1) TRADING IS NOT ON A REGULATED MARKET OR EXCHANGE—YOUR DEALER IS YOUR TRADING PARTNER WHICH IS A DIRECT CONFLICT OF INTEREST. BEFORE YOU ENGAGE IN ANY RETAIL FOREIGN EXCHANGE TRADING, YOU SHOULD CONFIRM THE REGISTRATION STATUS OF YOUR COUNTERPARTY.
The off-exchange foreign currency trading you are entering into is not conducted on an interbank market, nor is it conducted on a futures exchange subject to regulation as a designated contract market by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC"). The foreign currency trades you transact are trades with the futures commission merchant or retail foreign exchange dealer as your counterparty. WHEN YOU SELL, THE DEALER IS THE BUYER. WHEN YOU BUY, THE DEALER IS THE SELLER. As a result, when you lose money trading, your dealer is making money on such trades, in addition to any fees, commissions, or spreads the dealer may charge.
(2) AN ELECTRONIC TRADING PLATFORM FOR RETAIL FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSACTIONS IS NOT AN EXCHANGE. IT IS AN ELECTRONIC CONNECTION FOR ACCESSING YOUR DEALER. THE TERMS OF AVAILABILITY OF SUCH A PLATFORM ARE GOVERNED ONLY BY YOUR CONTRACT WITH YOUR DEALER.
Any trading platform that you may use to enter off-exchange foreign currency transactions is only connected to your futures commission merchant or retail foreign exchange dealer. You are accessing that trading platform only to transact with your dealer. You are not trading with any other entities or customers of the dealer by accessing such platform. The availability and operation of any such platform, including the consequences of the unavailability of the trading platform for any reason, is governed only by the terms of your account agreement with the dealer.
(3) YOUR DEPOSITS WITH THE DEALER HAVE NO REGULATORY PROTECTIONS.
All of your rights associated with your retail forex trading, including the manner and denomination of any payments made to you, are governed by the contract terms established in your account agreement with the futures commission merchant or retail foreign exchange dealer. Funds deposited by you with a futures commission merchant or retail foreign exchange dealer for trading off-exchange foreign currency transactions are not subject to the customer funds protections provided to customers trading on a contract market that is designated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Your dealer may commingle your funds with its own operating funds or use them for other purposes. In the event your dealer becomes bankrupt, any funds the dealer is holding for you in addition to any amounts owed to you resulting from trading, whether or not any assets are maintained in separate deposit accounts by the dealer, may be treated as an unsecured creditor's claim.
(4) YOU ARE LIMITED TO YOUR DEALER TO OFFSET OR LIQUIDATE ANY TRADING POSITIONS SINCE THE TRANSACTIONS ARE NOT MADE ON AN EXCHANGE OR MARKET, AND YOUR DEALER MAY SET ITS OWN PRICES.
Your ability to close your transactions or offset positions is limited to what your dealer will offer to you, as there is no other market for these transactions. Your dealer may offer any prices it wishes, and it may offer prices derived from outside sources or not in its discretion. Your dealer may establish its prices by offering spreads from third party prices, but it is under no obligation to do so or to continue to do so. Your dealer may offer different prices to different customers at any point in time on its own terms. The terms of your account agreement alone govern the obligations your dealer has to you to offer prices and offer offset or
liquidating transactions in your account and make any payments to you. The prices offered by your dealer may or may not reflect prices available elsewhere at any exchange, interbank, or other market for foreign currency.
(5) PAID SOLICITORS MAY HAVE UNDISCLOSED CONFLICTS
The futures commission merchant or retail foreign exchange dealer may compensate introducing brokers for introducing your account in ways which are not disclosed to you. Such paid solicitors are not required to have, and may not have, any special expertise in trading, and may have conflicts of interest based on the method by which they are compensated. Solicitors working on behalf of futures commission merchants and retail foreign exchange dealers are required to register. You should confirm that they are, in fact registered. You should thoroughly investigate the manner in which all such solicitors are compensated and be very cautious in granting any person or entity authority to trade on your behalf. You should always consider obtaining dated written confirmation of any information you are relying on from your dealer or a solicitor in making any trading or account decisions.
FINALLY, YOU SHOULD THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATE ANY STATEMENTS BY ANY DEALERS OR SALES REPRESENTATIVES WHICH MINIMIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF, OR CONTRADICT, ANY OF THE TERMS OF THIS RISK DISCLOSURE. SUCH STATEMENTS MAY INDICATE POTENTIAL SALES FRAUD.
THIS BRIEF STATEMENT CANNOT, OF COURSE, DISCLOSE ALL THE RISKS AND OTHER ASPECTS OF TRADING OFF-EXCHANGE FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSACTIONS WITH A FUTURES COMMISSION MERCHANT OR RETAIL FOREIGN EXCHANGE DEALER.
PERFORMANCE OF INTERACTIVE BROKERS RETAIL CUSTOMER FOREX ACCOUNTS FOR PAST FOUR CALENDAR QUARTERS:
The table below sets forth the percentage of non-discretionary retail forex customer accounts maintained by Interactive Brokers LLC that were profitable and unprofitable for the past four calendar quarters. The accounts were identified and these statistics were calculated according to the definitions and interpretations set forth by the CFTC and NFA1.
TIME PERIOD NUMBER OF ACCOUNTS PERCENTAGE OF PROFITABLE ACCOUNTS PERCENTAGE OF UNPROFITABLE ACCOUNTS
Q4 2011 45053 51.0% 49.0%
Q3 2011 45058 51.2% 48.8%
Q2 2011 41651 38.8% 61.2%
Q1 2011 40370 40.4% 59.6%
PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT NECESSARILY INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS.
FURTHER INFORMATION PROVIDED BY INTERACTIVE BROKERS:
A. Overview: Interactive Brokers Multi-Currency enabled accounts allow IB Customers to trade investment products denominated in different currencies using a single IB account denominated in a "base" currency of the customer's choosing. IB Customers can also use their Multi-Currency enabled accounts to conduct foreign exchange transactions in order to manage credits or debits generated by foreign securities, options or futures trading, to convert such credits or debits back into the Customer's base currency, or to hedge or speculate.
B. Nature of Your Account and Whether SIPC Covers Foreign Currency: Foreign currency trading at Interactive Brokers takes place in a securities account. Your IB securities account is governed by rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. In addition, IB observes the rules of the National Futures Association in connection with foreign currency trading.
Interactive Brokers LLC is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation ("SIPC"). SIPC protects cash and securities held with Interactive Brokers as specified in the Securities Investor Protection Act. SIPC protects cash, including US dollars and foreign currency, to the extent that the cash was deposited with Interactive Brokers for the purpose of purchasing securities.
Whether foreign currency in your IB account would be protected by SIPC would depend in part on whether the cash was considered to be deposited with Interactive Brokers for the purpose of purchasing securities. Interactive Brokers expects that at least one factor in deciding this would be whether and the extent to which the customer engages in securities trading in addition to or in conjunction with forex trading. For further information, you must contact your own legal counsel or SIPC.
C. General Risk: Customer understands and acknowledges that buying and selling securities, options, futures and other financial products that are denominated in foreign currencies or traded on foreign markets is inherently risky and requires substantial knowledge and expertise. Customers applying for Interactive Brokers Multi-Currency enabled accounts represent that they are aware of and understand the risks involved in trading foreign securities, options, futures and currencies and that they have sufficient financial resources to bear such risks.
D. Customer Responsibility for Investment Decisions: Customer acknowledges that IB representatives are not authorized to provide investment, trading or tax advice and therefore will not provide advice or guidance on trading or hedging strategies in the Multi-Currency enabled account. Customers must evaluate carefully whether any particular transaction is appropriate for them in light of their investment experience, financial objectives and needs, financial resources, and other relevant circumstances and whether they have the operational resources in place to monitor the associated risks and contractual obligations over the term of the transaction. In making these assessments, IB strongly recommends that Customers obtain independent business, legal, and accounting advice before entering into any transactions.
E. Exchange Rate Risk: Exchange rates between foreign currencies can change rapidly due to a wide range of economic, political and other conditions, exposing the Customer to risk of exchange rate losses in addition to the inherent risk of loss from trading the underlying financial product. If a Customer deposits funds in a currency to trade products denominated in a different currency, Customer's gains or losses on the underlying investment therefore may be affected by changes in the exchange rate between the currencies. If Customer is trading on margin, the impact of currency fluctuation on Customer's gains or losses may be even greater.
F. Currency Fluctuation: When Customer uses the foreign exchange facility provided by IB to purchase or sell foreign currency, fluctuation in currency exchange rates between the foreign currency and the base currency could cause substantial losses to the Customer, including losses when the Customer converts the foreign currency back into the base currency.
G. Nature of Foreign Currency Exchange Transactions Between Customer and IB: When Customer enters into a foreign exchange transaction through IB, Customer will be entering into a privately negotiated transaction with one of IB’s affiliates or with a third party bank. In such transactions, IB’s affiliate or the third party bank ("the Forex Counterparty") is acting solely in the capacity of an arm's length contractual counterparty in connection with the transaction and not in the capacity of a financial adviser or fiduciary. Customer should be aware that the Forex Counterparty may from time to time have substantial positions in, and may make a market in or otherwise buy or sell instruments similar or economically related to, foreign currency transactions entered into with Customer. The Forex Counterparty may also undertake proprietary trading activities, including hedging transactions related to the initiation or termination of foreign exchange transactions with Customer, that may adversely affect the market price or other factors underlying the foreign currency transaction entered into with Customer and consequently, the value of such transaction.
H. Prices on the IB Forex Platforms: The prices quoted by IB to Customers for foreign exchange transactions on IB’s IdealPro platform will be determined based on Forex Counterparty quotes and are not determined by a competitive auction as on an exchange market. Prices quoted by IB for foreign currency exchange transactions therefore may not be the most competitive prices available. For purposes of maintaining adequate scale and competitive spreads, a minimum size is imposed on all IdealPro orders (USD $25,000 as of February 2012 but this is subject to change at any time). Orders below the minimum size are considered odd lots and their limit prices are not displayed through IdealPro. While odd lot marketable orders are not likely to be executed at the inter-bank spreads afforded to IdealPro orders, they will generally be executed at prices only slightly inferior (1-3 ticks). You should also understand that because of the inherent possibility of transmission delays between and among Customers, IB and Forex Counterparties, or other technical issues, execution prices may be worse than those displayed on the IB platform. IB will charge transaction fees as specified by IB for foreign currency exchange transactions. The Forex Counterparty will try to earn a spread profit on these transactions (differential between the bid and ask prices quoted for various currencies).
I. Other Risks: There are other risks that relate to trading foreign investment products and trading foreign currencies that cannot be described in detail in this document. Generally, however, foreign securities, options, futures and currency transactions involve exposure to a combination of the following risk factors: market risk, credit risk, settlement risk, liquidity risk, operational risk and legal risk. For example, there can be serious market disruptions if economic or political or other unforeseen events locally or overseas affect the market. In addition to these types of risk there may be other factors such as accounting and tax treatment issues that Customers should consider.
(1)Information regarding the performance of Interactive Brokers retail forex customers for the past 5 years is available upon request. "

Very dissapointed with this.

Would love your comments. Cheers.

 

[Joaquimvl]

I Am Still Waiting For A Answer !!?
@Interactive Brokers !!!!!!

Hello
I'm looking for a professional platform for trading stocks, forex, ... and also cheap.
I think with Interactive Brokers I found what I needed. But I have some questions.
I will start with some simple questions.

How much is the minimum start deposit in € to trade stocks (CFD's ?) ?
How much is the minimum start deposit in € to trade forex ?
Will there be problems with opening an account from Belgium, Europe (where I live)?
I don't really understand the extra costs other than the spread, please explain.

Kind regards

If I don't get answers on my questions how can i believe that I get answers on my questions when I am a client, maybe IB will think again: 'It's not important' or 'We don't care to loose a client, so we don't answer.'

@Interactive Brokers : It's your job to answer !!!!

 

[Adamus]

Hey Guys,

Anyone seen the recent FOREX disclosure statement? They have turned into a market maker as a result of this recent move. Does anyone here trade FX through IB and if so what are you doing as a result of this news?

"RISK DISCLOSURE STATEMENT FOR FOREX TRADING
AND IB MULTI-CURRENCY ACCOUNTS
Rules of the U.S. National Futures Association ("NFA") require Interactive Brokers ("IB") to provide you with the following Risk Disclosure Statement:
RISK DISCLOSURE
OFF-EXCHANGE FOREIGN CURRENCY ("FOREX") TRANSACTIONS INVOLVE THE LEVERAGED TRADING OF CONTRACTS DENOMINATED IN FOREIGN CURRENCY CONDUCTED WITH A FUTURES COMMISSION MERCHANT OR A RETAIL FOREIGN EXCHANGE DEALER AS YOUR COUNTERPARTY. BECAUSE OF THE LEVERAGE AND THE OTHER RISKS DISCLOSED HERE, YOU CAN RAPIDLY LOSE ALL OF THE FUNDS YOU DEPOSIT FOR SUCH TRADING AND YOU MAY LOSE MORE THAN YOU DEPOSIT.
YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF AND CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING POINTS BEFORE DETERMINING WHETHER SUCH TRADING IS APPROPRIATE FOR YOU.
(1) TRADING IS NOT ON A REGULATED MARKET OR EXCHANGE—YOUR DEALER IS YOUR TRADING PARTNER WHICH IS A DIRECT CONFLICT OF INTEREST. BEFORE YOU ENGAGE IN ANY RETAIL FOREIGN EXCHANGE TRADING, YOU SHOULD CONFIRM THE REGISTRATION STATUS OF YOUR COUNTERPARTY.
The off-exchange foreign currency trading you are entering into is not conducted on an interbank market, nor is it conducted on a futures exchange subject to regulation as a designated contract market by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC"). The foreign currency trades you transact are trades with the futures commission merchant or retail foreign exchange dealer as your counterparty. WHEN YOU SELL, THE DEALER IS THE BUYER. WHEN YOU BUY, THE DEALER IS THE SELLER. As a result, when you lose money trading, your dealer is making money on such trades, in addition to any fees, commissions, or spreads the dealer may charge.
(2) AN ELECTRONIC TRADING PLATFORM FOR RETAIL FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSACTIONS IS NOT AN EXCHANGE. IT IS AN ELECTRONIC CONNECTION FOR ACCESSING YOUR DEALER. THE TERMS OF AVAILABILITY OF SUCH A PLATFORM ARE GOVERNED ONLY BY YOUR CONTRACT WITH YOUR DEALER.
Any trading platform that you may use to enter off-exchange foreign currency transactions is only connected to your futures commission merchant or retail foreign exchange dealer. You are accessing that trading platform only to transact with your dealer. You are not trading with any other entities or customers of the dealer by accessing such platform. The availability and operation of any such platform, including the consequences of the unavailability of the trading platform for any reason, is governed only by the terms of your account agreement with the dealer.
(3) YOUR DEPOSITS WITH THE DEALER HAVE NO REGULATORY PROTECTIONS.
All of your rights associated with your retail forex trading, including the manner and denomination of any payments made to you, are governed by the contract terms established in your account agreement with the futures commission merchant or retail foreign exchange dealer. Funds deposited by you with a futures commission merchant or retail foreign exchange dealer for trading off-exchange foreign currency transactions are not subject to the customer funds protections provided to customers trading on a contract market that is designated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Your dealer may commingle your funds with its own operating funds or use them for other purposes. In the event your dealer becomes bankrupt, any funds the dealer is holding for you in addition to any amounts owed to you resulting from trading, whether or not any assets are maintained in separate deposit accounts by the dealer, may be treated as an unsecured creditor's claim.
(4) YOU ARE LIMITED TO YOUR DEALER TO OFFSET OR LIQUIDATE ANY TRADING POSITIONS SINCE THE TRANSACTIONS ARE NOT MADE ON AN EXCHANGE OR MARKET, AND YOUR DEALER MAY SET ITS OWN PRICES.
Your ability to close your transactions or offset positions is limited to what your dealer will offer to you, as there is no other market for these transactions. Your dealer may offer any prices it wishes, and it may offer prices derived from outside sources or not in its discretion. Your dealer may establish its prices by offering spreads from third party prices, but it is under no obligation to do so or to continue to do so. Your dealer may offer different prices to different customers at any point in time on its own terms. The terms of your account agreement alone govern the obligations your dealer has to you to offer prices and offer offset or
liquidating transactions in your account and make any payments to you. The prices offered by your dealer may or may not reflect prices available elsewhere at any exchange, interbank, or other market for foreign currency.
(5) PAID SOLICITORS MAY HAVE UNDISCLOSED CONFLICTS
The futures commission merchant or retail foreign exchange dealer may compensate introducing brokers for introducing your account in ways which are not disclosed to you. Such paid solicitors are not required to have, and may not have, any special expertise in trading, and may have conflicts of interest based on the method by which they are compensated. Solicitors working on behalf of futures commission merchants and retail foreign exchange dealers are required to register. You should confirm that they are, in fact registered. You should thoroughly investigate the manner in which all such solicitors are compensated and be very cautious in granting any person or entity authority to trade on your behalf. You should always consider obtaining dated written confirmation of any information you are relying on from your dealer or a solicitor in making any trading or account decisions.
FINALLY, YOU SHOULD THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATE ANY STATEMENTS BY ANY DEALERS OR SALES REPRESENTATIVES WHICH MINIMIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF, OR CONTRADICT, ANY OF THE TERMS OF THIS RISK DISCLOSURE. SUCH STATEMENTS MAY INDICATE POTENTIAL SALES FRAUD.
THIS BRIEF STATEMENT CANNOT, OF COURSE, DISCLOSE ALL THE RISKS AND OTHER ASPECTS OF TRADING OFF-EXCHANGE FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSACTIONS WITH A FUTURES COMMISSION MERCHANT OR RETAIL FOREIGN EXCHANGE DEALER.
PERFORMANCE OF INTERACTIVE BROKERS RETAIL CUSTOMER FOREX ACCOUNTS FOR PAST FOUR CALENDAR QUARTERS:
The table below sets forth the percentage of non-discretionary retail forex customer accounts maintained by Interactive Brokers LLC that were profitable and unprofitable for the past four calendar quarters. The accounts were identified and these statistics were calculated according to the definitions and interpretations set forth by the CFTC and NFA1.
TIME PERIOD NUMBER OF ACCOUNTS PERCENTAGE OF PROFITABLE ACCOUNTS PERCENTAGE OF UNPROFITABLE ACCOUNTS
Q4 2011 45053 51.0% 49.0%
Q3 2011 45058 51.2% 48.8%
Q2 2011 41651 38.8% 61.2%
Q1 2011 40370 40.4% 59.6%
PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT NECESSARILY INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS.
FURTHER INFORMATION PROVIDED BY INTERACTIVE BROKERS:
A. Overview: Interactive Brokers Multi-Currency enabled accounts allow IB Customers to trade investment products denominated in different currencies using a single IB account denominated in a "base" currency of the customer's choosing. IB Customers can also use their Multi-Currency enabled accounts to conduct foreign exchange transactions in order to manage credits or debits generated by foreign securities, options or futures trading, to convert such credits or debits back into the Customer's base currency, or to hedge or speculate.
B. Nature of Your Account and Whether SIPC Covers Foreign Currency: Foreign currency trading at Interactive Brokers takes place in a securities account. Your IB securities account is governed by rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. In addition, IB observes the rules of the National Futures Association in connection with foreign currency trading.
Interactive Brokers LLC is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation ("SIPC"). SIPC protects cash and securities held with Interactive Brokers as specified in the Securities Investor Protection Act. SIPC protects cash, including US dollars and foreign currency, to the extent that the cash was deposited with Interactive Brokers for the purpose of purchasing securities.
Whether foreign currency in your IB account would be protected by SIPC would depend in part on whether the cash was considered to be deposited with Interactive Brokers for the purpose of purchasing securities. Interactive Brokers expects that at least one factor in deciding this would be whether and the extent to which the customer engages in securities trading in addition to or in conjunction with forex trading. For further information, you must contact your own legal counsel or SIPC.
C. General Risk: Customer understands and acknowledges that buying and selling securities, options, futures and other financial products that are denominated in foreign currencies or traded on foreign markets is inherently risky and requires substantial knowledge and expertise. Customers applying for Interactive Brokers Multi-Currency enabled accounts represent that they are aware of and understand the risks involved in trading foreign securities, options, futures and currencies and that they have sufficient financial resources to bear such risks.
D. Customer Responsibility for Investment Decisions: Customer acknowledges that IB representatives are not authorized to provide investment, trading or tax advice and therefore will not provide advice or guidance on trading or hedging strategies in the Multi-Currency enabled account. Customers must evaluate carefully whether any particular transaction is appropriate for them in light of their investment experience, financial objectives and needs, financial resources, and other relevant circumstances and whether they have the operational resources in place to monitor the associated risks and contractual obligations over the term of the transaction. In making these assessments, IB strongly recommends that Customers obtain independent business, legal, and accounting advice before entering into any transactions.
E. Exchange Rate Risk: Exchange rates between foreign currencies can change rapidly due to a wide range of economic, political and other conditions, exposing the Customer to risk of exchange rate losses in addition to the inherent risk of loss from trading the underlying financial product. If a Customer deposits funds in a currency to trade products denominated in a different currency, Customer's gains or losses on the underlying investment therefore may be affected by changes in the exchange rate between the currencies. If Customer is trading on margin, the impact of currency fluctuation on Customer's gains or losses may be even greater.
F. Currency Fluctuation: When Customer uses the foreign exchange facility provided by IB to purchase or sell foreign currency, fluctuation in currency exchange rates between the foreign currency and the base currency could cause substantial losses to the Customer, including losses when the Customer converts the foreign currency back into the base currency.
G. Nature of Foreign Currency Exchange Transactions Between Customer and IB: When Customer enters into a foreign exchange transaction through IB, Customer will be entering into a privately negotiated transaction with one of IB’s affiliates or with a third party bank. In such transactions, IB’s affiliate or the third party bank ("the Forex Counterparty") is acting solely in the capacity of an arm's length contractual counterparty in connection with the transaction and not in the capacity of a financial adviser or fiduciary. Customer should be aware that the Forex Counterparty may from time to time have substantial positions in, and may make a market in or otherwise buy or sell instruments similar or economically related to, foreign currency transactions entered into with Customer. The Forex Counterparty may also undertake proprietary trading activities, including hedging transactions related to the initiation or termination of foreign exchange transactions with Customer, that may adversely affect the market price or other factors underlying the foreign currency transaction entered into with Customer and consequently, the value of such transaction.
H. Prices on the IB Forex Platforms: The prices quoted by IB to Customers for foreign exchange transactions on IB’s IdealPro platform will be determined based on Forex Counterparty quotes and are not determined by a competitive auction as on an exchange market. Prices quoted by IB for foreign currency exchange transactions therefore may not be the most competitive prices available. For purposes of maintaining adequate scale and competitive spreads, a minimum size is imposed on all IdealPro orders (USD $25,000 as of February 2012 but this is subject to change at any time). Orders below the minimum size are considered odd lots and their limit prices are not displayed through IdealPro. While odd lot marketable orders are not likely to be executed at the inter-bank spreads afforded to IdealPro orders, they will generally be executed at prices only slightly inferior (1-3 ticks). You should also understand that because of the inherent possibility of transmission delays between and among Customers, IB and Forex Counterparties, or other technical issues, execution prices may be worse than those displayed on the IB platform. IB will charge transaction fees as specified by IB for foreign currency exchange transactions. The Forex Counterparty will try to earn a spread profit on these transactions (differential between the bid and ask prices quoted for various currencies).
I. Other Risks: There are other risks that relate to trading foreign investment products and trading foreign currencies that cannot be described in detail in this document. Generally, however, foreign securities, options, futures and currency transactions involve exposure to a combination of the following risk factors: market risk, credit risk, settlement risk, liquidity risk, operational risk and legal risk. For example, there can be serious market disruptions if economic or political or other unforeseen events locally or overseas affect the market. In addition to these types of risk there may be other factors such as accounting and tax treatment issues that Customers should consider.
(1)Information regarding the performance of Interactive Brokers retail forex customers for the past 5 years is available upon request. "

Very dissapointed with this.

Would love your comments. Cheers.

Do you want to point out which section it is that alarms you? Don't want to sound lazy but the first couple of paragraphs I read before giving up were irrelevant to the point you're making.

Thanks.....

 

[rawrschach]

FX has never been exchange traded. Cept futures. Carry on.

 

[Splint]

OK, newbie question here...Can someone please explain why the live data for CT is offset by a factor of 100 compared to the data on theice.com? I can see on the intra day chart on theice for cotton #2 July 12 as being at 89.7 (approx.) and the quote on TWS is at 0.8980.

 

[Maverick2608]

From time to time when I participate in the opening auction through Interactive Brokers before the 9:28 cut off, my order is not filled.

Does the likelihood of getting my order filled depend on how early I enter my order? (I do of course enter my order before the 9:28 cut off).

Thank you.