Money is missing from the IB account

Got a surprise this morning, by looking at my Ib account : some money is missing overnight.
Of course I checked the last statement of the previous day and on it everything seems ok and no withdrawals were made nor noted. (my account is real, not a paper trading one)
It is said that the withdrawals are processed during the day, so this option can be excluded.

I talked to an IB representative and didn't get any explanation at all. So maybe IB changed the fees without warning and without displaying the real amount they are charging you, despite what is written in the trade window.

Any guess what might have happened ?


There is certainly no point to trade/work when your money "disappears"

 

Did any FX trades?

Check Account>FX Portfolio:
Drop down the whole thing and see if you have any positions there.

Frequently people do not realize that they still have FX positions open that can move against them (well-known design problem in TWS).

 

No, no, I didn't do any FX trades recently. The IB person wanted to let me believe I made an error, since I do have some little positions in other currencies, but the fluctuations of these are only accounting for a few cents (and I wouldn't be pissed of by that fact)

 

Update : a miracle happened and the missing money reappeared.

I saw already every possible (and I really mean every) technical errors bankers or brokers could come up with, so I am easily fed up and ready to scream my lungs out

 

informative post.

Would you like a tissue?

 

Are you selling short anything? If you are looking at available funds and the likes it changes from day to day.

 

Your money never disappeared. It just temporarily wasn't reflected in TWS. (Bet your daily statement was always exactly accurate.) I've had it happen when I held some index options into expiration ... seemed like IB's system put a hold on some money during the clearing process. If memory serves, the $$ that temporarily disappeared was in fact proceeds from an option sale or some such. Money was only absent from TWS for a very short time - minutes, or maybe an hour. Never an issue with the daily statements.

 

You certainly will not ever encounter any technical problem with your paper trading account, Trvlwanderer.


and for the missing money : I once wired money to IB and after a week I had to call and ask why the amount wasn't credited : they forgot or were busy with something else or whatever.