re Elvis' experience - As soon as I see the fill on an option sale at Fidelity, the sale amounts appear in my cash balance, available for my next trade. This is useful, and crucial, for moves like flipping between adjacent straddles, which I do with regularity. Waiting 3 days for settlement closeout would completely thwart such methods, or create such a need for bystander cash that the effectiveness would be diluted. Check out Fidelity. It's a bit of a drag setting up the paperwork, moving accounts etc; and you really want to have a Spartan account (for active/hyperactive traders) so you can call in when you're not on your home-base computer and get FAST-response service, instead of going through the regular retail phone-in service. But this also gives you time to do paper-trade practice with a running clock, which is critical rehearsal for trading options with real money, especially since you can't just toss more money into an IRA account to replace any trading losses. Anyway, once you have all the paperwork in place, their service is really fine. Always keep in mind, though, that in trading options the normal market fluctuations are magnified in their percentage impact. Even hedged positions can move between profit and loss several times daily. The best broker can't help you if you hesitate to snatch a gain before some suicide bomber takes out a cafe in Israel and flips a slow day upside down. Also, the bid/ask spreads are significant enough that any position you buy is immediately under water; therefore you should bring the mentality of a submarine commander to profit recognition and immediate response. Happy hunting!
Well, I trade my IRA account sparingly, and IB works OK for my margin account, but they are a very quirky outfit. So the delayed credit rule doesn't bother me much and didn't warrant keeping my IRA somewhere else. I agree with you that depending on the way you trade a cash account, delayed account credit could be a killer. IB seems to stick to the letter of the NYSE rules in that regard. Elvis
Bummer, dude. Call MBT on the phone and see who outranks who, Brian or Courtney. Ask what series licenses they hold, and are they licensed for options trading (series 7 or 9 I think). It also may be that you have to establish an options account at level 1 or 2, which involves reading a booklet from CBOE, and filling out a multi-page application documenting your experience level and trading intentions. (This is the drill anywhere you go, IRA or not, and since option trading can be one of the fastest known ways to flush excess cash, it makes sense). You might try Bernie Schaeffer's SIR site's broker center, http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/option/brokers.asp and follow up his advertisers, since they ARE likely to be ready to deal. Call around to other brokers too. And in the meantime, do some on-the-clock paper trading rehearsal so you can see how well your planned approach will work when there's real money on the table. These next two days are really fun, since the July options expire as of COB Friday (they actually settle Saturday AM, and your cash is based on the Monday opening prices, gaps and all), and the time decay effects are really visible now. Later, guy.
where do you get that info, it is wrong. options (level 1) are available at IB in an IRA account. For inactive accounts, you can choose not to apply for the data feed. http://www.interactivebrokers.com/html/retailAccount/faq/ira_faqs.html#types the question What Can I Invest In? Stocks plus covered call writing (covered shares are restricted), buying calls (funds equal to the aggregate exercise value of the long calls are restricted), and buying puts (shares subject to exercise are restricted). The IB IRA may be structured as a Stock Cash Account (if you choose to trade only stocks) or as a Stock Options Level I Account (if you choose to trade options in your IRA). To upgrade your Stock Cash Account to a Stock Options Level I Account, click here.
CyberTrader allows covered writes, buy calls, and buy puts in an IRA account. They also have LVLII options quotes. Real nice, you can put in orders direct with the ISE. I use it all the time.
Is your account approved for options trading? I understand it is an IRA-SEP, but even so, there are two levels of cash accounts.