As a long term IB client, I wish they spent less time defending themselves on this board and more time answering the phone and treating their clients as valued customers and less like an inconvenience who are only there for them to make $ from.
This order for 50 bonds shows a price of 5k when in fact its 50k. The TWS also shows 5k after the purchase. I have sent this issue to IB for correction but cannot imagine no one else has complained.
On a continuum of things to concern yourself with, this has be below everything else that can be conceived... R
<a href=http://www.freeimagehosting.net/><img src=http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/3d8beaa00a.png border=0 alt="Free Image Hosting"></a>
I've never found bonds to work well on TWS. Quotes move around or disappear on the page between settings, P/L is wrong, prices are off by a power of 10, etc. I have been able to buy and sell but bonds are clearly not stable. But of course, I've never reported it to IB, figuring that someone else would.
It's far more efficient in terms of capital and margin to have everything at one firm. Your hedges and spread positions are offset directly against the risk on your outrights, you need less margin, and you don't have to worry about keeping each separate account at the maximum funding requirement, or getting margin calls on one account while you are "hedged" in another. Your stock positions can be used as collateral to back futures & options trades in commodities, FX etc.