I had been a long-time account holder with IB. I sell futures options hedged with short futures. My trading style requires that I keep an eye on SPAN margin, which varies day-to-day. With IB, I was able to see the SPAN margin requirements BEFORE placing my trades. Because of this feature, trades were never rejected because of inaccurate margin calculations. I have found most platforms calculate margins as a fixed amount based on trading the futures. Has anyone found a decent alternative to IB's functionality in this respect? I currently have to call the Broker to find out the intial margin requirements for every short option trade. Then, because of the inaccuracy of the margin calculator, I have to phone in my futures hedge trade. Obviously, this defeats the purpose of online trading. If IB ever improves their customer service and policies, then I may return. Please post or message your thoughts.
I'm in a similar boat. Currently do spread trading on several futures contracts via the phone. It's all position trading for the most part, so the in and out daily or hourly action isn't a big factor. Saying all this, I would like to use an electronic platform also that could take into effect the credit applied to SPAN margin.