Is it true that when your order is filled under IDEAL, that is an indication your counterparty is IB? (I was told by customer service that you can only tell which exchange your order is filled at, but the exchange will not tell you with which MM--however, you can still identify when IB is your counterparty--he said it can somehow be seen from the statements?? but meanwhile I thought someone else said on this board that "IDEAL" says it all; is that true?)
Yes. If your "executing exchange" is SMART or IDEAL... IB is the counterparty. Before January 5th... One would get a mixture of SMART and IDEAL stock executions... For me... about 12-13% of my NYSE trading... Compared with 2-3% one year ago. So IB is rapidly expanding their NYSE Listed market making... On their way to total World Domination. Submit or die. Starting January 5th... All IDEAL stock executions began appearing as SMART executions.
What are you saying then??? When you enter your stock order through IB its not really being executed on the exchange you direct it to because IB just fills your order from their inventory??? Are you just trading with them?? Do they sell your order flow?
Although IDEAL is the executing exchange, IB is not the counterparty. Executions on IDEAL are either with another IB customer or with another liquidity provider. IB or Timber Hill is never the counterparty on IDEAL. There is no way to know the actual counterparty in a trade at IDEAL or any other real exchange.
Although Market Making accounts for the majority of IB's revenue... You are basically stating that IB does not engage in Market Making.
The thread title is... "Identifying When IB Is Your Counterparty". The response you are referring to... Uses various logical devices to AVOID answering the question directly. Please show us a link to IB's website that addresses this issue in a clear manner.