If the power or internet goes out at my house, how good is IB at closing positions over the phone? Ive already gathered that their customer service is considered poor, but what about this specific type of request?
They're good. If they had a major us outage I'd be a little concerned about phone answering time though --- i always put a stop in as soon as my order fills. They'll even let you snug a stop up if you want ... but you pay phone service rates.
I have never tried to close a position out over the phone at IB but you should make sure that you know which number you have to call and then do a test call where you phone them up and just ask if that's the right number if you want to place a trade by phone. IB isn't exactly famous for picking up the phone within a few rings. I don't think a 'major US outage' would be necessary to create a situation in which you need someone on the phone and are placed on hold for a good long while. I have IB numbers for here in Canada and internationally printed out and in my trade log, and I don't see anything about 'trading desk'. I just see 'Customer Service'. When I call IB I don't get an option to be transferred immediately to a trading desk. I may be wrong about this and kiwi will leap down my throat soon enough if I am. There is something called the 'Secure Transaction Program Hotline'.
I was looking at that too... its for the "secure device" thing, I think its like a special made USB memory card type of thing that you must have plugged in to access your account. also... I found this on another site, its from some guy bitching about a fill on a market order... from the looks of it, there might be an execution desk option... i tried calling just to test it out, but they're closed right now... Kiwi... are IB's stop orders always sent to the exchange? I cant find any option or setting to 'simulate' the stop in the software, not that i want to do that... it just leaves me a bit unsure. ...whats it called? native orders or something like that?
LMAO ... all the advice is good. Have the european, us and hk numbers ... I trade during HK hours and they're great (I have cancelled positions and orders when we had a flood and I lost the internet). I think US is hardest to get thru to. Re the stop vs stoplimit question ... it depends what orders are native to the exchange. All the info is on IBs site. Look up the exchanges you trade.
expect to wait 10 min or more in the US before they pick up the phone. I think you might pay more for the privelege but not sure.