Actually, they can. There are "exchange minimum margins"... anything less (intraday) is at the broker's discretion. And, the broker may require higher margins than "exchange minimum".
Exactly....and I approve too by the way. Anyone who is trading on the edge with intraday margins needs to have their head examined. OldTrader
Range in the ES today is almost 30 points, that's $1500. I wonder how many accounts at the brokers that have $500 margins for index futures got blown out today?
This is a prudent decision made by IB. And we will see how volatility play out in the next weeks. IB is no small dealer. They are big, growing, prudent and a money making machine via market making mainly in options and futures.
They did post a change formula a few months back. I can't find it now, I think it is based on DJ daily change %.
So we will need $4500 for each ES contract traded? That's ridiculous, market is no more volatile than it has been for the last 12 months.. Thanks a fucking lot IB.