Well, if you are a little guy with under 2k, you can't trade futures with IB anymore . This may be a good thing, but for those that just wanted to get their feet wet and learn about trading futures, you'll have to pony up more dough. Here is their e-mail. I'm one of those little guys that would like to trade with under 2K in the account (I trade mini silver and gold contracts from time to time). Oh well, guess I better learn more about options on stocks. ------- Dear IB Trader: We are looking forward to our launch of Single Stock Futures on Friday. In anticipation of this launch we will be implementing a modification to the minimum margin requirement that will require USD $2,000 or USD equivalent value in the account in order to open a new position in a commodity account (Single Stock Futures, all other Futures, and Options on Futures). Of course, there is no such limitation on orders which close existing positions. If you have not already signed up for Single Stock Futures account capabilities, you may do so through Account Login. Interactive Brokers
They introduce SSF - but change the margin requirements for other futures. This after a f'ing 34 page user agreement and tests WTF- first we have big brother - SEC - PDT rules Now IB - fucks us up the ass. I'm 7 - NQ points from a margin call anyway. Time to roll the dice - tommorrow I'm pissed- doher die
This isn't a margin call. You just need 2K in the account to initiate a trade. Let's face it. 2K isn't much to ask for someone to have in an account to trade futures. AND, should you really be trading futures if you can only afford to place 2K in an account.
Options on stocks, forget it. They have shift their a*ses pattern day trader rules onto that territory on absolutely no base. NASD and SEC protect special interests. Although IB hurts on commissions, they push small guys to seek more risky venture such as SSF with larger amount to lose in hope to create more business. This will not be wise for all of them in long term.
I started with $3800 in my IB account 2 months ago. You had no problem taking $ 768 on 160 trades. Screw the small guy -who plays by the rules as he tries to learn. Shameless How do I close this account - and what fees are involved
just answer me this. What is the minimum amount in account needed to day trade say, 2 es contracts? Is it now 4k? or does the new law mean you just need 2 k to get started? I knew stock traders were going to mess everything up. And they haven't even started trading yet. I can just see it coming. I think I have a very accurate prediction that somehow, some way, some day, ssf is going to get a bad rap and they are gonna talk about it on TV. "Poor unsuspecting stock traders didn't know they were investing in highly leveraged derivative products formerly traded only by sophisticated professional futures traders" or something like that
Forgot to mention that I received approval yesterday to trade SSF's "You are receiving this e-mail beither because your account was recently approved to trade security futures or because you recentrly changed the background information on file for your account. Please examine the infomation below that we have on file for your account" Maybe instead of screwing the little guy - u should hire a typist who can type or invest in a spell-checker
This is ridiculous! Oh, now it's IB job to tell traders what they should be trading with the amount of money they have! Why do the traders at IB put up with crap like this? If you have a $1,000 account or a $100,000, as long as you have the initial margin you should be able trade. What is the margin on a QQQ futures contract going to be, 500, 600 bucks? So with a $2,000 account you would need the Q's to move $14.00 or $15.00 against you just to get a margin call. Ya, that's risky. I guess IB assumes that most small traders have no problem letting positions move $14.00 or $15.00 dollars against them before getting out. Give me a break! SSF's should be a great way for a very undercapitalized trader to get into the business. Having a initial account deposit of $2,000.00 is fine, actually it's good. But not being able to trade if your account falls below $2,000.00, come on. If the SEC came out with this rule traders everywhere, both large and small would be outraged. This rule is BS! What if we have a volatile bull market for the next year, is the balance minimum going to go up to $5,000.00? $2,000.00 may not be enough, what with the higher margin amounts and all. Def tell us, how does this rule benefit anyone? It's only beneficial to IB, by forcing people to keep more money in their accounts. IB must figure that more money in a traders account will equal more TRADES. I see the benefits for IB...COMMISSIONS! IB is becoming a total joke. I had an IB account for 2 weeks and that was to long. Now this, oh brother. If some newbie trader wants to throw $2,000.00 or $2,500.00 in a trading account and trade NQ futures until they hit the 1125 initial margin amount then why not? Sometime that's the only way to learn, margin calls. Well now IB saves themselves from having to send margin calls out to E-mini traders. You can't trade down to initial margin levels! I guess that this is good for IB all the way around. To bad it sucks for a lot of small traders. When I started trading 2 and a half years ago I started with $1000.00 bucks trying to trade stocks. And I blew out that account in a couple months. So I started again with $2000.00. Blew that out a few months later. Started again with another $2000.00, lost some of that until I very slowly became profitable. This hurts new traders (just like I was 2 and a half years ago) that want to try out the business with out pulling $5000.00 or $10,000.00 out of the bank and putting it at risk in a trading account. This is a bad deal for traders, all traders. Now they want to tell you what you can and can't trade with your money.
Katrina First of all I'm Large Secondly I don't need You, the SEC, or IB to look after my interests. I funded my account according to IB's rules. I passed their one-sided user agreement test ("It's never our fault -- and if it really is your only remedy is arbitration") I've lost over $2500 in the process. I'm learning from my mistakes My back is against the wall - and I was calmly and decisively going to go out trading my plan. But - NO IB arbitrarily changes the rules And as Anchor forcibly states " This is ridiculous! Oh, now it's IB job to tell traders what they should be trading with the amount of money they have! Why do the traders at IB put up with crap like this? If you have a $1,000 account or a $100,000, as long as you have the initial margin you should be able trade. What is the margin on a QQQ futures contract going to be, 500, 600 bucks? So with a $2,000 account you would need the Q's to move $14.00 or $15.00 against you just to get a margin call. Ya, that's risky. I guess IB assumes that most small traders have no problem letting positions move $14.00 or $15.00 dollars against them before getting out. Give me a break" Katrina - give your head a shake