Interactive Brokers margin requirements

Discussion in 'Retail Brokers' started by minioptions, Feb 2, 2008.

  1. Schaefer

    Schaefer

    I agree, also. There are better brokers out there for trading US eminis.

    Schaefer
     
    #11     Feb 3, 2008
  2. Changing the rules in the middle of the game is trader’s worst nightmare…I’m very often carrying following overnight PM based positions:

    Long the stock.
    Long twice ( or more , depending on deltas) # of puts , then :

    87’ all over again…Futures are down huge , stock tanks 50% + in pre-market…IB “revisits and cuts ” margins rules and sell my stocks ( by totally ignoring huge puts profits , because options market is not open yet). Stock bouncing back ( a bit/a lot) before 9:30. I am in the huge loss instead of ABSOLUTE HOME RUN.

    Does anyone here think that I will be able to reach IB rep over a phone on the morning like this?
     
    #12     Feb 3, 2008
  3. usman88

    usman88

    wtf?
    I thought broker would only liquidate the position if the NLV reaches 0. About a month back I also received a margin call. My broker freezed my account and put a STOP for the price where my account would reach 0 value. Fortunately the market next day rebounded and I closed my positions in a profit
     
    #13     Feb 3, 2008
  4. Nattdog

    Nattdog

    i support ib's margin policy. it protects the firm and other customers from undercapitalized yo-yo traders. I would not trade with a firm that allows other customers to hold positions on shoe string margins.
     
    #14     Feb 3, 2008
  5. Agree. The problem is not, as critics say, that IB yo-yos its margin requirements. A broker's margin requirements need to vary depending upon market conditions. The problem is with gambler-customers who use too much leverage, and need to be kept in check so that they do not bankrupt the broker and harm its other customers.
     
    #15     Feb 3, 2008
  6. Your facts are not correct. If you held protective puts hedging your stocks, they would have affected your maintenance margin requirements at IB. Your maintenance margin requirement, for each protective put, would have been the lesser of the stock's requirement, or the sum of 10% of the aggregate put exercise price plus 100% of the amount by which the puts were out of the money.

    My guess is that you don't understand IB's margin requirements well enough to be using margin at IB, and this inadequate preparation is the reason why you got burned.
     
    #16     Feb 3, 2008
  7. Where is my post I stated that it actually happened to me ??? Or that IB ( or any other broken ) will actually will do this ? I specifically called it a “nightmare scenario”. My post was about concept of “changing the rules in the middle of game / on the fly”. Everything is possible under panic conditions
     
    #17     Feb 3, 2008

  8. Ah…I see . How come EVERY one of your posts are broker related? And it’s always customer’s fault …where did I heard it before , lol

    http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/search.php?s=&action=showresults&searchid=2184714
     
    #18     Feb 3, 2008
  9. I'll take this is an admission that your post had no basis in reality. Excellent. Glad we could reach agreement.
     
    #19     Feb 3, 2008
  10. The link you provided doesn't work for me, so I don't know what you are trying to show.

    Your facts are, once again, wrong, wrong, wrong. I have had very large numbers of posts which were not broker related. I was, at one time, very active in ET discussions critical of the NYSE specialist system.

    It is true that most of my posts are broker related, and this has been more true of late than in the past. The reason is that my participation on this website reflects my desire to make the best use of my account at Interactive Brokers. I exchange information with other traders, and sometimes IB employees on this website, toward that purpose. Part of what I do is to help defend IB against unfair attacks from people like yourself, because those unfair attacks jeopardize and impair the value of what I am able to get from my IB account.

    Your claim that I always blame the customer is false. I usually blame the customer. Sometimes I blame IB, when legitimate criticisms are made by others, or when I try to originate such criticisms myself. Most of the criticism of IB, on this website, is unfair and not based on facts and comes from people like yourself, who are misinformed.
     
    #20     Feb 3, 2008