Welcome to McDonald's ! You should see how bad it is relative to their technical support of their API. TOS was supposed to come out with an API, but I think that project got cancelled....and for good reason: Supporting a complex API requires huge resources. As with McDonald's, IB has the SIZE, but not the QUALITY.
They understand options, but you possibly don't understand English. They told you clearly there's a bottlneck caused by insufficient computing power, and that's why they don't always get the right answer.
Insufficient computing power? Are you joking? It is clearly software issue, and software issues are caused by people programming software. It is a very poor excuse. Requiring margin 3 times bigger than the maximum possible loss is ridiculous and has no excuses. If they can't calculate correct margin requirement due to system limitations, then they might as well just tell day traders they don't want them around.
They've made it clear to you they won't always charge the minimum margin. You could move your account to one of the dozens of competitors -- if you're a grown-up -- or you could b!tch about on the chatboards...
Whatâs your point? You suggest that people should not share their experiences? Once TOS will have their commissions under $1 per contract, there is no question I will transfer my account.
You shared your experience, and you shared IB's reply -- which was, roughly, "that's how we calculate margin, and if you don't like it, go pound sand." Which is fine -- but then you continued to rant and rave about it, as if having a tantrum on a chatboard would change the clear facts. There are many competitors -- if IB's policy upsets you so much, change brokers already.
Did you ever consider: THAT MAY NEVER HAPPEN ? TOS is really tough with BOTH commissions AND margins. and... their futures margins are really outrageous.
As a TOS customer I would say my needs are being met with their current offering of analytics, commission rates, and executions. My key gripe with TOS remains how their system became a POS on May 6 a day when you needed a responsive trading platform most. Unfortunately it took roughly 15-20 seconds for any basic option chain to load (not with all the strikes mind you, just 10-15) which is just simply unacceptable if you need to get in and out of positions. Granted bid/ask spreads on all options (even spread orders) were huge and so it would have been tough to get filled unless you were buying at the offer or selling at the bid, nonetheless if you're an active trader you need that responsiveness. I'm well aware that clients of other brokers faced such issues, but I'm curious how IB customers held up during this time? Did IB's platform maintain its speed and fluidity that it possesses on a "normal" trading day? Any answers would be appreciated. Thanks in advance
I can't tell anything about ToS unresponsiveness on May 6 but IB web based client went down during this day sell-off until the market close. I am surprised nobody talks about that.