I just opened my IB acct and am getting used to the platform at this point. I'm only a stocks guy so my acct is a stk margin one. The account has been funded, but I cant seem to find where it says something like "funds available for trading", which I assume should be 2x, considering I havent done anything. And "fund available for daytrade", which should be 4x. Hope you IB pros can help. I noticed that on tws-> account page, that net liquidity is the amt i wired in, while equity w/ loan is the same amount. Shouldnt this be 2x? while in mgt requirement, both current init and current maint are zero. I just wanted to know where to fund the 'stats' so I dont have to keep calculating on how much I can move on once I'm trading. Thanks.
Welcome to the twilight zone of IB's account page. Your numbers will become more clear when you take a position in something, then your equity amounts will reflect remaining cash and available margin. It doesn't reflect that now because depending on the price of the stocks you buy, your margin may not be fully 2:1 so the system has no way of assuming you really have the full 2:1 available when you're in all cash. I hope I haven't confused you more, but it does make sense if you consider that lower-priced stocks carry higher margin reqt's.
so is there a way to easily check your 'balance' so as not to get a call, without having to stop and calculate for 10-15 seconds when you're about to place an order? or it isnt as easy as that.
Yes you can select Check Margin from the menu across the top or from the order line. I can't remember what exactly are the keystrokes but it'll tell you the effect of the intended order on your account.
Check Margin is also on the context menu. Just right-click on the order. You won't get a call. You must have missed that in the "qualification exam" IB doesn't issue margin calls - they automatically keep you from exceeding the requirements by rejecting orders that don't meet the initial requirement, and auto-liquidating positions that fall below maintenance requirements. As someone else pointed out, IB is actually showing all they can, since the margin requirements for futures, long stocks, short stocks, cheap stocks, various option strategies, etc. are all different. I've got a BP calculator that I wrote a long time ago, which I'll try to dig up and modernize.