Nightmare !! I had two near death experience thanks to the IBKR liquidation algo... I'm not happy at all
Last thursday and this monday I had two of the most stressful experiences of my trading life with my CapTrader account ( IBKR ), which usually sits around €70,000. At a point my position hit the margin threshold, and IBKR’s automatic liquidation algorithm kicked in. It started selling my options with market orders, which is dumb, especially with the wide spreads on options. This just made my position even more unstable, and my account balance quickly plunged to €20,000. I thought I was dead. To make matters worse, the algorithm even attempted to send a massive bulk order, but it went bust and didn’t execute properly. The whole situation was nerve-wracking. Under immense pressure, I had to scramble to put on new positions that would lower my margin requirements according to IBKR’s model. I was really lucky that the market turned in my favor on Friday, allowing my account to recover to €80,000. I can’t help but wonder what happens if, during one of these forced liquidations form CapTrader, my account goes negative? . From what I understand, if my account ever did go negative, CapTrader ( IBKR ) could charge interest on the borrowed amount, require me to immediately deposit funds, or even take further actions to recover the deficit. It’s clear that their aggressive liquidation policies make this a real possibility. I’m seriously considering moving my positions to a different broker that handles margin and liquidation in a way that doesn’t put me at such extreme risk. If anyone has been through something similar or knows of brokers with more protective measures, I’d love to hear your thoughts and recommendations.
Thanks but now I'm negative equity... I'm stressed out. Biggest fear is their algo that will deepen the hole. I need a F**king miracle
Looks ok to me now on ibkr mobile, stocks and options, single and combo. Some options quotes were missing soon after the open. Edit: I just saw the previous post explaining the issue.