Umm... let's see... check on the word: "most" and see what it means. At least have the courtesy to read over a post twice before typing and/or taking offense. I lost money with IB a few years ago from a phantom forex trade. I was made whole after 6 weeks (1 week to acknowledge the issue, 5 to recompense). I, like you, have earned the right to be critical of IB. Someone who doesn't bother to study TWS's text or doesn't know how to trade the instrument of their choice or the mechanics of order routing, doesn't. Nor those who fail to understand US banking laws and anti-money laundering protocols. Those types of complaints are the majority of anti-IB gripes.
As an IB customer, I'm actually glad they liquidate you immediately if compliance is breached. If you don't like the idea that you'll be liquidated immediately if you breach compliance rules, I have a suggestion for you.
you read my post wrong, I am saying that the liquidate last and their statement that they will automatically liquidate one if one is out of compliance is a joke. Because it does not happen it is at their discretion. the liquidate last option is that, an option telling IB which you perfer to keep but they will and do over ride and take what they need. Years ago I had traders with trades in the money knowing they pushed the envelope for the day, their trades were in the money and they let it run as the stock was dropping and their short was making money so if IB liquidated no big deal they were in the money and IB would be their stop loss. IB let the short run after hours did not take the trade but took a do not liquidate that this one trader had that was a position trade to bring that account into compliance. The trader opt'd to use IB as he had had a conversation with the staff prior to letting it run as he believed he was safe. I was preve to the conversation. The Dell trade was over 5k positive as it was a 5k share position when he got liquidated for several thousand of a liquidate last when the Dell trade would have brought him well inside compliance and he would have been up for the day....Lesson learned, the staff overall with IB are not responsible in what they say and usually can not agree with the same issue. He obviously learnt the hard way. I am also saying they/ IB state that they have in place protocol that if a client is out of compliance they will automatically liquidate the account and that is a lie.....they do not automatically liquidate, it is a joke. I have had several issues where their server or platform has gone down, I have been in the money, I can't exit, I call IB either US or UK by the time I get them and they see the trade and acknowledge the issue the account is now in a loss and in several cases the IB staff has been able to see the trade go from a positive to neg. the account as it is after hours breaches compliance and runs not hundreds but thousands of dollars into the red while on the phone with me asking why is IB not liquidating the position to end up losing thousands of dollars and many times the loss is double digit. (When I say I the trade is not necessarily mine but one of my traders and as I am the owner I am the one accountable.) IB has told me contrary to their bulletin and statement by CEO they have the right but will not always execute the liquidation. I use to think that if the market went for a shit I at least if I could not exit had a stop loss implemented with IB's auto liquidation. YOU DO NOT. They will and can and do let the account totally bleed to just about zero before anything is done. For the record when I am speaking about the above I am speaking in reference to one of my sub accounts the traders in house or remote use. A few accounts are individual and have been bleed to zero from 20 plus thousand dollars. IB's response is read the paperwork you have signed, we are exempt from all...period. that is why I personally refer to them as the best of the worst. They resemble several other brokers in the present and past I have used. w
you need to read the balance of the sentence, where I stated they over ride your account manually. this is in reference to the account being automatically being done. w
IB is not perfect but it's the best out there. I don't understand people's frustration with IB. Nobody is forcing you to do business with them. If it's not working for you, why not just find another broker? I am a happy IB customer and here is why: - I can trade everything from one single account - Don't need to install anything (Java rocks!) - Low commissions - Fast executions - Customizable order types (bracket and trail orders rock!) - High margins (it deters unstable gambler types from doing business with the institution)
I've been auto-liquidated by IB during normal trading hours before. It looked pretty automatic to me. Maybe they use a different protocol when they have to liquidate accounts forcefully in the afterhours market.
That whole post sounds like a description of what happens when an IB account holder pushes the limits of his margin. If you get into trouble pushing the limits of your margin, it's your fault. The simple solution is this - don't push the limits of your margin. Anyhow, nassau, I'm not trying to pick a fight with you. I know IB is merciless when it comes to making money off of its customers. I know that if their software causes you a loss and you ask for compensation, they will tell you to go to hell. I'm sorry you had those experiences with IB. It's been a couple of years with them and so far nothing has gone wrong, but maybe when it does I will be on here complaining as well. My only point is that I like their extreme conservatism in risk management. If the platform goes down and I lose money, I know I'm going to be shit out of luck.
Here's the bottomline: The liquidation policy is not for your protection. The policy is for IB's protection. The idea is to restore a certain amount of equity to your account, regardless of whether it is convenient for you, happens to be the wrong stock to liquidate, the wrong option, could have been done differently, etc etc. It's not done to screw you out of some money, as TraderNik would suggest. It's simply done to get your account back to a certain equity. You don't like the policy, then it's up to you to carry out your own risk control strategies, rather than to leverage yourself up to the hilt, then hold it until you got a problem. And by the way, should IB not liquidate quickly enough for you preference, that's your problem too. Again, you don't want to be in the position, then simply use your own risk control. Let's just call this what it is. These kind of situations aren't IB's "fault". They're YOUR fault. OldTrader