the problem is learning to understand the differences between shorting a stock and selling a futures contract as an initial transaction. the IB documentation is clear.
IB documentation is clear? Really? So show me where is says you can sell short in an IRA? And go look on the web for thousands of articles that talk about not being able to sell short in IRA's. I ask the question for a reason. It is not clear. IRA are tricky animals. and IB peopel are not helpful at all. If you say they are then you are an IB person yourself. Just last night I had an IB person tell me that you need $5000 to open up an IRA account. Is that right or wrong? lol - I had to educate him myself. Later that night another IB person told me you can't have an IB Margin account. Is that right or wrong? lol - Yes, I had to educate him myself, again. Different person mind you. Next, yet another IB person told me you should just open and IRA and see if you can sell short. If it doesn't work then go ahead and take your money out. I surely hope YOU know how bad that advice is as the US IRS will tax you %10 off the top for that. Anyone think that was good advice? This was THREE individuals, all different from IB in the same night. Anybody want to explain this anomoly? I think we know the problem. IB service is terrible. As seen by the response above and the "Hiding" IB person that posted after that. Come out of the dark.
I am clearly marked as IB representative. Do you see "Interactive Brokers" on the left? There is nothing to hide. I also gave an informative answer. It is possible to go short or long on US USD denominated futures. I can add that $5,000 is indeed our account minimum.
smilingsynic, You are right. Futures options just like futures are excluded from short restrictions completely. As soon as you fulfill the margin requirements, you can buy/sell anything you want. The source of the confuse is terminology. What is called margin for futures and futures options is actually performance bond requirements. These requirements do not involve loan of any money. It strips down any IRA restrictions.
restino, Indeed sometimes it is some IB CSR that needs hand holding to locate the correct to-the-point up-to-date IB information. But sometimes, you also need to help them help you. Having said that, I recognize that most of the inputs in ET from a brokerage firm's representative are quite informative. Since IB is not a full service brokerage firm, I think it is possible that an IB CSR may not know some particular IRA consequences. Perhaps, that particular IB CSR has meant that you can transfer your IRA money to a similar IRA account with another firm when he/she allegedly has said that you can "take your money out". Or, possibly the CSR thought you were just referring to the IRA contribution portions.
ROFLMAO! That is what I'm talking about. I even explained it in detail for him and he still states the wrong thing. Amazing at the lack of care taken to answer questions by people at IB. And, there were 3 or more reps that I was talking about. Not one. How terrible is that? I can't even trust what he says here because he, first never answered the question, second stated he wrong information after being told outright that it was $4000 for an IRA. Need I explain why its $4000? And for the people that stick up for the IB reps you shoudl be ashamed of yourself. They need to be held to account, because if they mislead you then you better beleive you will NOT be compensated for one dime adn we all know that. Look for yourself per the IB website: http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/accounts/fees/minimumDeposits.php "Because of contribution limits, IRA accounts will only be required to deposit $4,000 in order to open a new account." Why do I get the impression he won't even apologize (except for the fact that he will have to now) for misleading people. I truely wondfer how much of his information is wrong. We should title this: MANY IB CUSTOMER REPS GIVE WRONG INFORMATION Also, thanks to the people that gave direct info. You are all great!
And the question was, CAN YOU SELL FUTURES SHORT. Obviously many don't understand or even know that IRA account are tricky. So why give an answer? "Seams obvious to me" lol - oh ok. Sure it does. DO you even know what an IRA is or specific restrictions are on an IRA account. Why add to the confusion? Why add to the moras of information? Don't answer just becuase you think it's cool to seem your text in a blog lol. Help make this site and others better. Only answer if you really do understand the question and ONLY if you really do know the actual answer - not one that come to the top of your mind about some subject you would like to talk about becuase it feels good. Thanks.