Interactive Brokers - SGD now available for funding

[nuvision]

Sure.

Reg-T margin follows the rules set by the American regulators for margin lending on small accounts. There are tight restrictions on leverage - generally only up to 2x - and there are restrictions on what products you can trade. But if you've got less than $100k of equity in your account, it's the only option available.

Portfolio margin is more generous with leverage - you can usually leverage up to 5x or 6x depending on the product - and no restrictions on what products you can trade, but you have to have at least $100k in your account to be able to switch portfolio margin on.

Thanks again for the speedy explanation!

 

[Shiny Things]

thanks much for the detailed reply! i'm probably just gonna stick to fixed pricing since i probably will trade around 20000 shares per month at most.

another question - is IB margin requirements much the same as etrade? i'm trying to see if i can port over all my shares, including shares bought on margin, from etrade to IB. It does appear that interest rates on IB is very much lower than etrade, which stands at around 5.54% now, which will save me a chunk.

I'd imagine they're roughly the same. If you're on regular (not portfolio) margin at ETrade, then it should be exactly the same, because I think the Reg-T margin rules are the same across brokers.

And yeah, the margin interest rates at IB are one heck of a lot lower than any other broker - on small balances it's Fed funds + 1.5%, or about 1.85% with FF where it is right now.

Thanks again for the speedy explanation!

De nada.

 

[Leon]

How safe is IB

I am more concern with fraught. This may sound silly but how do you know they really buy the share you have bought? How are they audited. Anyone have this info?

 

[limster]

This may sound silly but how do you know they really buy the share you have bought?

Exchanges like LSE will publish the completed trades with 15 min delay. After buying in IBKR, just countercheck your trade against the LSE website with the timing. To double confirm buy strange number of shares like 123 or 997 so you definitely know that is your trade.

 

[Shiny Things]

I am more concern with fraught. This may sound silly but how do you know they really buy the share you have bought?

To be blunt, yes, this is kind of silly. IB is very safe. You can see your trades printed to the exchange's time-and-sales feed. You can see the shares in your account, and transfer them out at any time. You can even execute through IB and have the shares delivered to another clearing firm.

How are they audited. Anyone have this info?

Here's IB's "Safety and Security" page that's got a whole bunch of detail on this topic. They're regulated by the SEC and the CFTC, and they publish all of their financial and regulatory reports right here.

 

[chewchun]

Can give a quick guide to options trading in IB?
Pretty hard to navigate for me....

 

[civicguy]

Can give a quick guide to options trading in IB?
Pretty hard to navigate for me....

IT is not easy for me too...

Are you trading spreads.. that's a bit more difficult... or are you trading just call/put. That's much easier..

 

[chewchun]

IT is not easy for me too...

Are you trading spreads.. that's a bit more difficult... or are you trading just call/put. That's much easier..

just call and put. IB is a bit hard to handle for beginners like me and i dont have any subscription to data.

 

[rrr2015]

To be blunt, yes, this is kind of silly. IB is very safe. You can see your trades printed to the exchange's time-and-sales feed. You can see the shares in your account, and transfer them out at any time. You can even execute through IB and have the shares delivered to another clearing firm.

for SG customers account, are they segregated?
are there SG local support available? thanks!

 

[Shiny Things]

just call and put. IB is a bit hard to handle for beginners like me and i dont have any subscription to data.

Uh - why are you trying to trade without any market data? Fix that first.

Once you're done with that, hit up the IB Knowledge Base on their website - that should get you pointed in the right direction.

for SG customers account, are they segregated?

All customer accounts are segregated. Mixing customer and house funds is incredibly illegal; have a look at page 137 of this SEC doc.

are there SG local support available? thanks!

Their helpdesk is based in the USA as far as I know; they work 24/5 (maybe 24/7, I'm not sure) and they've always been quick to respond to tickets when I've needed them.

 

[chewchun]

Uh - why are you trying to trade without any market data? Fix that first.

Once you're done with that, hit up the IB Knowledge Base on their website - that should get you pointed in the right direction.



All customer accounts are segregated. Mixing customer and house funds is incredibly illegal; have a look at page 137 of this SEC doc.


Their helpdesk is based in the USA as far as I know; they work 24/5 (maybe 24/7, I'm not sure) and they've always been quick to respond to tickets when I've needed them.

Ye, i was planning to get all the necessary data subscriptions but i had to upgrade my permissions to trade options.
I sent in a request and they asked for my occupation and net worth.
Problem is, im just a uni kid....If i give this they will never approve.
So should i do the right thing, or the "left" thing???

 

[Shiny Things]

Ye, i was planning to get all the necessary data subscriptions but i had to upgrade my permissions to trade options.
I sent in a request and they asked for my occupation and net worth.
Problem is, im just a uni kid....If i give this they will never approve.
So should i do the right thing, or the "left" thing???

Do the right thing. This is not like Stanchart, where they throw up the dumb CAR requirements just to trade equities. Options are a hell of a lot more complicated than equities; if they reject you then maybe you shouldn't be trading options yet.

 

[civicguy]

just call and put. IB is a bit hard to handle for beginners like me and i dont have any subscription to data.

You must have a subscription to trade properly.

And for call and put, it is easy, right. Just enter the ticket (e.g. SPX) and then a menu will appear for you to choose OPTIONS.

Of course, if you want to see the full option chain, then go to NEW WINDOW>Quotes>Option Chain

 

[snorex]

Hi all,

Understand if you hit the required minimum of $100k USD then you don't need to pay the monthly fee. If my base currency is in SGD, how do I see the USD equivalent?

Thanks.

 

[chewchun]

Hi all,

Understand if you hit the required minimum of $100k USD then you don't need to pay the monthly fee. If my base currency is in SGD, how do I see the USD equivalent?

Thanks.

dayuuum, thats a lot of money....
I guess you can go check out the USD.SGD rates in the FX Trader and do your own calculations.

 

[Shiny Things]

Understand if you hit the required minimum of $100k USD then you don't need to pay the monthly fee. If my base currency is in SGD, how do I see the USD equivalent?

Yeah, you're going to have to spitball it - just multiply by 1.4-ish. Basically if your total account equity is over $150k you're totally fine.

 

[32103940]

What a huge thread..full of information. I just got approved for my application and I'm ready to fund. I read that some of you were able to start trading even though the first deposit was <USD 10k, due to the grace period or something. is that true?

also, does TWS settings have a quick way to turn all backgrounds from black to white? seems I can only do this for the chart.

 

[chewchun]

What a huge thread..full of information. I just got approved for my application and I'm ready to fund. I read that some of you were able to start trading even though the first deposit was <USD 10k, due to the grace period or something. is that true?

also, does TWS settings have a quick way to turn all backgrounds from black to white? seems I can only do this for the chart.

I was able to trade when i had only 6k in the account, but subsequently i added to over 10k USD. No idea why, but thats it.
I think you can change to classic and the background turns white.

 

[32103940]

thanks for the reply, I'll fund today and report back.

apparently, choosing the color scheme (during login) only affects classic view, not the mosaic view which seems more up my alley. but the white font on black bg is really hurting my eyes.

I have another question on market data subscription.I'm looking at US Value Bundle Plus for $5. description says it includes depth. I'm wondering how this compares to the Level II subscriptions, such as NasdaqTotalViewEquities for $15? I'm guessing Value Bundle plus is like Level II but only for commodities, correct me if I'm wrong. I'm only interested in equities

 

[Shiny Things]

I have another question on market data subscription.I'm looking at US Value Bundle Plus for $5. description says it includes depth.

It's buried down in the footnotes on this page, but the Value Bundle Plus is basically depth data for the CME Group futures exchanges - not for equities.

If you want depth for equities, then (I think, correct me if I'm wrong) the Value Bundle gives you depth data for the BATS exchanges; you have to pay separately for Level 2 data from the other exchanges (NYSE Open Book Real Time, NASDAQ Totalview, and Arcabook for Equities).