There IS a monthly activity fee. Where did you get such info from? Monthly Activity Fee Minimums IB caters to professional traders and investors and requires its customers to spend a monthly activity fee minimum which may include commissions, market data fees, and other fees. Those customers spending less than the activity fee minimums (as stated below) in any given month will be charged the difference between the minimum and the amount spent in a month. In addition to monthly fee minimums we pass through market data fees from the exchanges for any real-time market data service in which a customer subscribes. Customers choosing to subscribe to US non-professional real-time market data will have the USD 10 (or USD equivalent) monthly fee waived if they spend USD 30 (or USD equivalent) or more in activity fees for the month. Activity Fee Minimum: USD 10 per month Ref: http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/accounts/fees/minimumDeposits.php?ib_entity=llc#balance
That is not true. For the first USD 10,000 ============== No interest at all For the second USD 10,000 - 100,000 ===== 4.8% (BM - 0.5%) Over USD 100,000 =================== 5.05% (BM - 0.25%) Different amount of money charge different interest rates which is very tricky. What you lose (the costs): - activity fees: $10/month [$120/year] - no interest on the first $10k in IB account [~$530/year] Bank will have a higher interest rate. Close the account. Reopen when you need.
thanks guys for the information. Which bank has the best interest rate, where I will be able to wire the money out next day
herry you are fixated in the first 10K. For accounts - say over 50K, the higher rates paid - currently 4.8% and 5.05% will more than cover the difference over what many other brokerages are paying. For the poster - we are not a bank. If you are looking to earn high interest by parking cash, look into banks, CDs, bonds, treasuries. etc. If you are looking to earn decent interest with the ability of immediately placing trades when you find opportunity, then you should consider a broker such as IB.
Yes, if you turn off data subscription, you will face ZERO "activity" fees. It's that simple. The only catch is; let's say you decide to turn it off on the 1st of the month. You will be billed the $10 for that month. It's not prorated. But folks.... It's only $10. But the subsequent month you will not be billed since quotes were off by the 1st of the following month. And for those concerned about the "no interest on 1st $10k:" @$100k your APY is reduced by ~10%. So instead of earning 4.8% on your entire balance, you'll effectively be earning 4.32%. @50K your APY is reduced by ~20%. So instead of earning 4.8% on your entire balance, you'll effective be earning 3.85% Use that as a comparision with other brokerages while taking into account what they offer. Just take a peak at what Ameritrade pays. I believe E Trade, you have to transfer funds back and forth to high yield acct. List goes on.
If you turn off data subscription, you still face the mandatory "monthly activity fee" of -$120/year. If you keep your funds in several different currencies with IB, say Australian, US and Canadian dollars and british pounds, IB will NOT pay you interest on the ~$40,000 USD [IB will not pay interest on the first $10,000 in US$ , and IB will not pay you interest on the first 13,000 Australian dollars, no interest on 11,500 Canadian dollars and no interest on 5,500 British poinds] , that's an interest loss for the trader of over -$2000 USD /per year. This bad IB choice is hurting especially hard forex traders, because they usually carry balances in several different currencies. To stay competittive in the forex market IB should pay interest on all currency balances, like oanda does.
Strange. I know of three IB clients who are not assessed any charges with quotes off. Perhaps it only applies to new accounts that were opened in the last 3 months or so when they changed their minimum balance requirement from $2k to $5k and instituted the policy to which you refer. While you've presented an interesting scenario, I don't think IB has an interest in competing with Oanda. Oanda's niche is "small" accounts. Not to mention that Forex is all Oanda does. And I believe that if one is holding a currency in other than the account's base currency, it's treated as a position and isn't subject to earning interest no matter how much it is. Unless it's a carry trade or position (long or short) in which you earn the differential. In other words, it's sort of like when you hold say, a position in currency futures. You're not entitled to interest during the overnight hold period. You only earn interest on settled cash at the end of the day.