The best way to milk your customers is when it goes undetected. I have taken a hard look at several brokers and while no broker is perfect , the best deal may not always be where you think it is, depending on your type of trading. Let's look at IB IB quietly introduced a series of fees recently but have you realized how much it really costs you to trade there ? no interest on first 10 K : 500 bucks per year, now wait, if you have a multi currency account no interest on first $10K no interest on first EUR 8K no interest on first GBP 6K that starts adding up , thes elow commissions aren't so low anymore unless you trade like a madman alll day long And then there are other costs that hit your account if you are not careful and dig deeply into their fee schedule. Then of course there is the much higher cost on your health that these guys can inflict on you. TWS problems , hit or miss customer service solutions etc. To be fair, IB should offer money market funds and credit at least some interest on all cash . In the meantime the search for the perfect broker still continues
"IB quietly introduced a series of fees recently" is wrong. This policy was in place for many years. It is clearly described on our Web site. If you have about $10,000 account and not ready to lose interest in exchange for our services, please look elsewhere. Meanwhile, our interest on amounts exceeding $10,000 is exceptional.
Be careful with words like exceptional. Last time I checked MB pays interest on amounts under 10k and I can trade against a T Bond at Velocity for margin.
ids I am not talking about the credit interest when referring to these new fees I am talking about the recent inactivity fees. I can't even tell you what they are without having to check again because it's so complicated and what do you have to say about the multi currency account of say 25 K total that hardly earns any interest Sorry but 3-5% a year over USD 10K + EUR 8K is a whole lot of money over 20 years + the average customer would be a fool to disregard that factor and believe his/ her superior trading can make up for that shortfall in spades
Kicking, What is so complicated? http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/accounts/fees/minimumDeposits.php?ib_entity=llc#commission I really cannot comment on other questions. Policy is policy. Nothing changed in it.
He's probably talking about the 10 buck a month fee for not doing enough commissions. This seems like another IB bashing thread.
Just to provide an example of the IB Religion gone haywire... IB no longer accepts bank drafts, money orders, or paper of any kind... ONLY electronic transfers. Now this does not affect me... But it's another example of REFUSAL to provide a basic service... One could list a dozen examples. Any RATIONAL firm not driven by ideology... Would simply say... "Because of our rock-bottom fee structure... We have to charge you $10 or $20 for every paper deposit... But we will happily provide this basic service for our valued customers." Try to imagine a Broker-Dealer or Hedge Fund clearing through such a firm... With no Stock Loan, a highly dysfunctinal Reorg Dept, and endless arbitrary denials of service.