IB Suggestions & Improvements

I must say the"Inquiry/Trouble Ticket"seems very good,I received a reply almost immediately!Seems it's the way to go.

 

you can assign keys to different functions

 

Babak,

It's the same thing with hotkeys.

Press the cancel button on a symbol and it disappears from the page. I shouldn't be like that.

It seems that tws can't distinguish between cancel and delete.

 

I have been reading this thread and found it very informative. Quick question: Is there a way of closing an open IDEALPRO cross-currency position in one command? For example, I have a GBP/JPY position and want to close it. Is there a way of closing the position with one command or is it automatically split by IB that I have to close each GBP/USD and USD /JPY separately? It would be nice if we can close a cross position with one command.

PS. Is this position split by IB to GBP/USD and USD JPY BEFORE routing it out to the Interbank market such that I am really trading a synthetic pair?

 

Every currency trade generates 2 positions: 1 in the numerator currency, and another in the denominator currency. If you want to close FX positions to you base currency, you can transact each one vss base separately using the "close this position" functionality in the acct window or directly via the crosses using normal trade methods. The latter will generally be the less expensive solution.

 

Hi IBj,

Thank you for the quick response. I did try closing via normal trade methods (my account is in USD), but doing this leaves some JPY when the price has moved. For example, if I go long on the GBP/JPY pair and then sell it back, the GBP will be exact but the JPY will have moved rates leaving some JPY lying around, and too little to be accepted by IDEALPRO to be converted back to USD in a "Close Position" command. Also, do you split the GBY/JPY order before routing it out?

 

tedace:

FYR
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64645

 

Thanks wwx. Wow, I have to change my API code to do this --- just to close an IDEALPRO trade to take care of the bits and pieces left over. I wish there were a simple close position that converted everything back to the home (account) currency (especially for crosses), and just had the option to split the cross if I wanted to. Anyway, again, thanks for the reference.

 

I think they addressed this in the latest update, but I haven't downloaded it yet.

 

BTW, IBj, I hope you do know that you are not using the term 'base' currency in ForEx parlance. In fact, TWS has mixed up the use of these terms as they are used in the industry. A ForEx pair is made up of:

base currency/quote currrency

Your account currency is usually referred to as either that or home currency (since there are others that offer sub-accounts). TWS' use of the term 'Underlying' for example, is reallly the 'base' currency by ForEx convention. It just took me some time to figure out what was 'base' and what 'underlying' was since the former is a standard term that IB uses in a non-standard way, and I don't really know where 'Underlying' came from. For example, one can use 'Close all non-home currency positions' . Perhaps the user should be alerted of IB's definitions beforehand to mitigate confusion. Thanks.