i've searched and found some similar situations, but if we trade currencies other than the ones that are not in our base account, ex. GBP/JPY , I do not have to worry about converting it back into USD ? is there an automatic function that does this form in the IB platform ?.....its taking a while to get used to this platform....oy thanks!
The easiest way to convert back to base is to close a trade so that the positive balance is in your base currency. I believe that the currency trading tool has functionality so that you can do this with each trade (ie if you buy 1000000 of eur.usd then you close with more or less than 1000000 to get a USD result instead of a EUR result).
btw, what does CASH mean under market value ? is that sort of like the cash that i am holding ? btw, is "closing" in TWS different from sending out an opposite order ? ex. LONG GBP/JPY 100000 i send a SELL order GBP JPY -100000 then all these other currencies pop up...like chf, eur....but i never traded such pairs....is it because IB automatically converts GBP/JPY ---> USD through other pairs ?
and now i can't close a -4173 USD.JPY.... is it b/c its too small? i try sending a buy 4173 USD.JPY....market order....its been 3 hours and still not filled.
You are seeing this "-4173" in the cash column, JPY row of the "Market Value" section in the Account window? If you are wanting to get this into USD, buy 4173 JPY on IDEAL (not IDEALPRO).