I used the margin calculator at https://cpm.theocc.com/ to compare what the pm should be. It was about ten times that in my account so the order was rejected. I think IB want to have my picture on a driving license or passport before the account is approved. I will try again tomorrow.
What was your position you were trying to put on? Do you understand how PM works? You don't really need a PM calculator to figure it out. How could you be off by that much?
Why would you say you don't need a "portfolio margin calculator"? You are referring just to stock I assume? For options the min. PM is based on the OCC's TIMS system which makes it, in my opinion, very difficult for the average trader to estimate. Add in IB's 5 standard deviation and volatility move and you end up with margins being changed on a daily basis and, depending on the situation, they may change very significantly from week to week.
I guess you are right. With risk based haircuts in a JBO, I can calculate my margin in seconds, very simple. This 18th century archaic method is a pain in the ass. I think traders are going to grow tired of it. I'll give IB credit for at least providing a calculator to calculate it. So where are all these PM traders. For months the buildup to this was insane. I thought everyone on ET was going to have a PM account. Is Just21 the only guy out of 50k aliases on ET that has a PM account.
I'm going to wait until the stock market crashes before I go crazy on margin. In the interim, I may have enough time to learn exactly what these convoluted rules actually mean!