I'm currently involved in a situation with IB concerning a bizarre Forex execution. Thread: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=68122 This is the first time I've had a tangible problem with an execution. I've been with IB ever since I bailed out of REFCO back in October of '05. (And to think, I was on the verge of opening a REFCO FX account in September of '05.) In any event, I sympathize with TraderGuy. Regardless of the "RED" cancel out color code and the fact that he didn't set his TWS screen to not remove cancelled orders, he said that he looked at his account screen sometime after the cancellation request and didn't see any additional margin which would have indicated that he had put on another position. The explanation that DBKFX had "booking issues" is insufficient. My erroneous order execution on 4/20/06 was also from DBKFX. I think there's something going on @ DB. There may be a rouge FOREX trader there. If you look at the thread link I supplied concerning my issue, you may come to the same conclusion.
But don't you think it is ridiculous that a filled order is reported after 35 minutes or so? Something is very wrong with IB.
Of course a too-late-to-cancel order fill 35 mins later in the most liquid market in the world and most liquid currency pair is ridiculous. I'm not sure the actual problem is with IB. I think the problem is with Deutsche bank. IB should seek restitution from Deutsche Bank and reimburse TraderGuy in the meantime. But only for the short that had the 38min delay in reporting. The other short, which TraderGuy did not mention concerning the price at which he was short, is his own issue. That short combined with failed to cancel short lead to a margin call. TraderGuy, whether he stays with IB or not, needs to employ the use stops. Especially when trading Forex where prices can move 50pips in 5 mins.
============ Good point on the green light , so to speak @ thursday11;22 PM; Ib green light or red light helps/Tws also.
IdealPro is a an ecn. There can always be problems in 'fast markets'. Traders of late have become spoiled. All those that have been around (I have been trading since about 94) have seen all kinds of wild stuff. You have to roll with the punches. If you are scalping forex ---and your account is small ---go with CME. If you have a decent size account IDeal is fine. It can be ok for any size account if you are holding (although there are costs involved that most forex traders are not used to dealing with). Forex ECN's are still in their development and are getting better and better. They are kinda a no mans land. FWIW I have had orders take a while on IdealPro ---it has concerned me. About few weeks ago I had a decent size market order I hit and the market immediately started freefalling --since it was a sell order I was not too concerned. It took a few minutes to show up and I was getting concerned ----although it should have been about 10 pips better fill in my estimation. It was still a 25 pips in the money. But this is a concern with all forex trading and always has been. I could tell you many horror stories in the early days of CME Globex. If you are trading in fast markets or scalping go with futures. ESPECIALLY IF YOU FADE MOVES --IN OTHER WORDS IF YOU TRADE AGAINST THE TREND. If you have big money ---do your research and go with Lava ECN or Hotspot. IdealPro is a good ecn --but it can be slow for fast trading. One of the challenges with electronic trading (and it has always been a challenge since day one) is who takes the blame when something goes wrong. The brokers like to put it all on the customers for obvious reasons and most of the time they are right. But brokers can be blamed as well. It is a big grey area.
Jimmy, I have used every broker you could name and many others you could not. I opened an IB account for stocks and have found them to be great. There are alot of IB customers. In fact a ton of them on these boards and if they were really bad ----you would be hearing a lot more than a thread every now and again complaining about fills. For the small investor, I agree that Oanda is better for forex. Anytime you are using a new broker --go slow and go small until you know all the rules. No need to be trading huge overnight with a new broker and new software and a new trading desk with new procedures. When I first start foolign with IB, especially when I first started using their forex ecn, I went as small as I could until I was comfortable. That is just good business. Forex ECN's and I mean all forex ECN's are in no mans land --they are just now consolidating rules and making improvements. Cash forex has always been a no mans land to begin with. Lava trading is setting the stage for a big liquidity consolidation and Hotspots institutional side is doing a good job as well. Ideal Pro is good and getting better. Although the delays are scary ----I see it more as a function of the Forex ECN world than I do InteractiveBrokers. I have found IB to go out of there way ---to listen to suggestions. I had an account with Tradestation for about 8 months. My experience with them was horrible when it comes to listen to customers. They still do not offer Eurex. Lower cost, lower entry brokers are just that and you have to set up a plan and experiment accordingly. It is tuff being a smaller trader and just starting out. But that is the way it goes.
I would like to know whether I can get back the money if the brokers commit some big mistakes/faults about trading. Or can their disclaimers completely waive their responsibilities?
I had a stop loss @1.24855, 12 pips from the limit order. The request to cancel the stop was sent at the same time as the request to cancel the limit order. The audit trail shows that the the stop took 1 second to cancel but the cancel request for the limit order was never confirmed and then filled 37 minutes later. I posted the details of what the audit trail says on page 11 of this thread (Edit: all times are New York Time) http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=68101&perpage=6&pagenumber=11
fyi, the info provided to me showed your actual fill was 2 seconds after the limit order was placed but the executing bank sent out a delayed execution. if that's the case you would have seen the market trade through your limit price.
Just to keep everyone updated IBj sent me a PM late yesterday afternoon saying that he had just got back in the office and would look into the matter soon.