to kickboxer, i'm just tired hearing moaning all the time IB raise margin. it's all the time. "ohh, what we will do. margin is now 3k. i have to go only with one contract."
Perhaps (just perhaps) this is what prompted the risk crew at IB to act as they did yesterday: http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/200...-in-chart-form/. Another small point has to do with volatility (using H-L as the volatilty parameter)/bar vs daily (RTH or Globex H-L) volatility. While indeed there have been a number of days where the 'daily' range for ES is 30-35, the inexperienced traders are going to get whacked when there is a 7-8 pt/5 min (or 3-4 pt in 1 minute) move in ES or 40-50 pt/5 min move in YM. Like what happened this AM for example. I believe OldTrader is correct when he says that a skilled trader can make $2.5K/day trading one contract at times like this. lj
dudes, dudes, dudes...simply go to www.globalfutures.com and trade the emini indexes (ES, NQ, YM) at the $300 daytrade margin($500 daytrade margin for ER2)...I would leave IB like "yesterday"...
I'll second increasenow. If you don't like IB helping you manage your risk then please, please go to another broker. Run, don't walk.
IB trades it's own account. it's protecting itself. IB needs the cash deposits from traderse, citibank is cutting them off funds. All banks are reducing lending risk.
IB is the only broker that admits of openly be on the other side of the trade of it's clients. and trades it's own account. some brokers don't do any prop trading. you were stopped on intentionally if market maker sees your stop.
So you are insinuating that IB knows where your stops are and will use that knowledge to its advantage? I believe that this notion has been rebuked more than once on this forum. I for one like the extra liquidity that IB provides. If I want out, they are there to take the other side of the trade. Who doesn't want that? The more you type, the more you sound like you don't know what you are talking about and that you have a grudge against IB.
<i>"I for one like the extra liquidity that IB provides. If I want out, they are there to take the other side of the trade. Who doesn't want that?"</i> If you stop and think about it, that is actually a benefit to retail traders. Same as the big FX dealers and their trade desks. Shocking as this revelation may come, broker-dealers aren't gunning for our 5-lot / 10-lot positions. A big FX broker will not draw the GBPUSD down -30 pips out of its intended path just to take out somone's 10-lot on the other side of that trade for the spread. Such pervasive notions are totally ridiculous if not preposterous. A good trader on the correct side of any market will be trading in harmony with the broker-dealer. The fact that some broker-dealers "play house" does not mean they watch every hand of cards flopped. It means they trade around the overall cumulative flow, nothing more. The individual trader's job is to be on the correct side of market flow, nothing else need be concerned with.