Welcome to Interactive Brokers

Overview: 

Now that your account is funded and approved you can start trading. The information below will help you getting
started as a new customer of Interactive Brokers.

  1. Your Money
  2. Configure your account to trade
  3. How to trade
  4. Trade all over the World
  5. Five points to enrich your IB experience

 

1. Your Money
Deposits & Withdrawals General Info. All transactions are administered through your secure Account Management
Deposits
First, you create a deposit notification through your Account Management > Funding > Fund Transfers > Transaction Type: “Deposit” How to create a deposit notification. The second step is to instruct your Bank to do the wire transfer with the bank details provided in your Deposit Notification.
Withdrawals
Create a withdrawal instruction via your secure Account Management > Funding > Fund Transfers > Transaction Type: "Withdrawals" How to create a withdrawal instruction
If you instruct a withdrawal over the Withdrawal limits, it will be considered an exceptional withdrawal and we will therefore need to match bank account holder and IB account. If destination bank account has been used for a deposit, withdrawal will be processed; otherwise, you must contact customer service and provide the documents needed.
Troubleshooting
Deposits: My bank sent the money but I do not see it credited into my IB account. Possible reasons:
a) A fund transfer takes 1-4 business days
b) A Deposit Notification is missing. You have to create it via your Account Management and send a ticket to Customer Service
c) Amending details are missing. Your name or IB account number is missing in the transfer details. You have to contact your bank and ask for the full amending details.
d) ACH initiated by IB is limited to 100k USD in a 7 business period. If you opened a Portfolio Margin account where the initial requirement is 110k, a wire deposit might be the better deposit option to reduce wait time for your first trade. If selecting ACH a wait time of almost 2 weeks or a temporary downgrade to RegT can be possible solutions.
Withdrawals: I have requested a withdrawal but I do not see the money credited to my bank account. Possible reasons:
a) A fund transfer takes 1-4 business days
b) Rejected. Over the max it can be withdrawn. Please check your account cash balance. Note that for regulatory requirements, when the funds are deposited, there is a 3 day holding period before they can be withdrawn.
c) Your bank returned the funds. Probably because receiving bank account and remitting bank account names do not match.

 

2. Configure your account to trade
Difference between Cash and Margin accounts: If you have chosen the FastTrack application, by default your account type is a cash account with US stock permission. If you would like to get leverage and trade on margin, here how to upgrade to a RegT Margin account
Trading Permissions
In order to be able to trade a particular asset class in a particular country, you need to get the trading permission for it via your Account Management. Please note that trading permissions are free. You might however be asked to sign risk
disclosures required by local regulatory authorities. How to Request Trading Permissions
Market Data
If you want to have market data in real-time for a particular product/exchange, you need to subscribe to a market data package charged by the exchange. How to subscribe to Market data
The Market data assistant will help you choose the right package. Please watch this Video explaining how it works.
Customers have the option to receive delayed market data for free by clicking the Free Delayed Data button from a non-subscribed ticker row.
Advisor Accounts
Have a look at the user guide getting started as advisors. Here you see how to create additional users to your advisor account and grant them access and much more.

 

3. How to trade
The Trader's University is the place to go when you want to learn how to use our Platforms. Here you will find our webinars, live and recorded in 10 languages and tours and documentation about our various Trading Platforms.
Trader Workstation (TWS)
Traders who require more sophisticated trading tools can use our market maker-designed Trader Workstation (TWS), which optimizes your trading speed and efficiency with an easy-to-use spreadsheet interface, support for more than 60 order types, task-specific trading tools for all trading styles, and real-time account balance and activity monitoring. Try the two models
TWS Mosaic: for intuitive usability, easy trading access, order management, watchlist, charts all in one window or
TWS Classic: the Advanced Order Management for traders who need more advanced tools and algos.
General Description and Information / Quick start guide / Usersguide
Interactive Tours: TWS Basics / TWS configuration / TWS Mosaic
How to place a trade:  Video Classic TWS / Video Mosaic
Trading tools: General Description and InformationUsers guide
Requirements: How to install Java for WindowsHow to install Java for MAC / Port 4000 and 4001 needs to be open
Login TWSDownload TWS
WebTrader
Traders who prefer a clean and simple interface can use our HTML-based WebTrader, which makes it easy to view market data, submit orders, and monitor your account and executions. Use the latest WebTrader from every browser
Quick Start Guide / WebTrader User's Guide
Introduction: Video WebTrader
How to place a Trade: Video WebTrader
Login WebTrader
MobileTrader
Our mobile solutions allow you to trade your IB account on the go. The mobileTWS for iOS and the mobileTWS for BlackBerry are custom-designed for these popular models, while the generic MobileTrader supports most other Smart phones.
General Description and Information
Order Types Order Types available and Description / Videos / Tour / Users guide
Paper Trading General Description and Information / How to get a Paper Trading Account
Once your paper account is created, you can share the market data of your real account with your paper trading account: Account Management > Manage Account > Settings > Paper trading

 
4. Trade all over the World
IB accounts are multi-currency accounts. Your account can hold different currencies at the same time, this allows you to trade multiple products around the world from a single account.
Base Currency
Your base currency determines the currency of translation for your statements and the currency used for determining margin requirements. Base currency is determined when you open an account. Customers may change their base currency at any time through Account Management.
We do not automatically convert currencies into your Base currency
Currency conversions must be done manually by the customer. In this video you can learn how to do a currency conversion.
In order to open a position denominated in a currency that you do not have in your account, you have two possibilities:
A) Currency conversion.
B) IB Margin Loan. (Not available for Cash Accounts)
Please see this course explaining the mechanics of a foreign transaction.

 

5. Five points to enrich your IB experience
1. Contract Search
Here you will find all our products, symbols and specifications.
2. IB Knowledge Base
The Knowledge Base is a repository of glossary terms, how-to articles, troubleshooting tips and guidelines designed to assist IB customers with the management of their IB accounts. Just enter in the search button what you are looking for and you will get the answer.
3. Account Management
As our trading platforms give you access to the markets, the Account Management grants you access to your IB account. Use Account Management to manage account-related tasks such as depositing or withdrawing funds, viewing your statements, modifying market data and news subscriptions, changing your trading permissions, and verifying or changing your personal information.
Log In Account Management / AM Quick Start Guide / AM Users Guide
4. Secure Login System
To provide you with the highest level of online security, Interactive Brokers has implemented a Secure Login System (SLS) through which access to your account is subject to two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication serves to confirm your identity at the point of login using two security factors: 1) Something you know (your username and password combination); and 2) Something you have (an IB issued security device which generates a random, single-use security code). As both knowledge of your username/password and physical possession of the security device are required to login to your account, participation in the Secure Login System virtually eliminates the possibility of anyone other than you accessing your account.
How to Activate your Security Device / How to Obtain a Security Code Card / How to return Security device
In case you forgot your password or lost your security code card, please call us for immediate assistance.
5. Statements and Reports
Easy to view and customize, our statements and reports cover all aspects of your Interactive Brokers account. How to view an Activity Statement 

 

An Introduction to Forex (FX)

Overview: 

IB offers market venues and trading platforms which are directed towards both forex-centric traders as well as traders whose occasional forex activity originates from multi-currency stock and/or derivative transactions. The following article outlines the basics of forex order entry on the TWS platform and considerations relating to quoting conventions and position (post-trade) reporting.

Background: 

A forex (FX) trade involves a simultaneous purchase of one currency and the sale of another, the combination of which is commonly referred to as a cross pair.  In the examples below the EUR.USD cross pair will be considered whereby the the first currency in the pair (EUR) is known as the transaction currency that one wishes to buy or sell and the second currency (USD) the settlement currency.

 

Jump to a specific topic in this article;

 

Forex Price Quotes

A currency pair is the quotation of the relative value of a currency unit against the unit of another currency in the foreign exchange market. The currency that is used as reference is called quote currency, while the currency that is quoted in relation is called base currency. In TWS we offer one ticker symbol per each currency pair. You could use FXTrader to reverse the quoting. Traders buy or sell the base currency and sell or buy the quote currency. For ex. the EUR/USD currency pair’s ticker symbol is:

EUR.USD

where:

  • EUR is the base currency
  • USD is the quote currency

The price of the currency pair above represents how many units of USD (quote currency) are required to trade one unit of EUR (base currency). Said in other words, the price of 1 EUR quoted in USD.

A buy order on EUR.USD will buy EUR and sell an equivalent amount of USD, based on the trade price.

 

Creating a quote line

 
The steps for adding a currency quote line on the TWS are as follows:
1.  Enter the transaction currency (example: EUR) and press enter.
2.  Choose the product type forex  

3.  Select the settlement currency (example: USD) and choose the forex trading venue.

 

 

Notes:

The IDEALFX venue provides direct access to interbank forex quotes for orders that exceed the IDEALFX minimum quantity requirement (generally 25,000 USD). Orders directed to IDEALFX that do not meet the minimum size requirement will be automatically rerouted to a small order venue principally for forex conversions. Click HERE for information regarding IDEALFX minimum and maximum quantities. 

Currency dealers quote the FX pairs in a specific direction.  As a result, traders may have to adjust the currency symbol being entered in order to find the desired currency pair.  For example,  if the currency symbol CAD is used, traders will see that the settlement currency USD cannot be found in the contract selection window.  This is because this pair is quoted as USD.CAD and can only be accessed by entering the underlying symbol as USD and then choosing Forex.


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Creating an order

 

Depending on the headers that are shown, the currency pair will be displayed as follows;
The Contract and Description columns will display the pair in the format Transaction Currency.Settlement Currency (example: EUR.USD).  The Underlying column will display only the Transaction Currency.

Click HERE for information regarding how to change the shown column headers.


 

1.  To enter an order, left click on the bid (to sell) or the ask (to buy).

2.  Specify the quantity of the trading currency you wish to buy or sell. The quantity of the order is expressed in base currency, that is the first currency of the pair in TWS.

Interactive Brokers does not know the concept of contracts that represent a fixed amount of base currency in Foreign exchange, rather your trade size is the required amount in base currency.

For example, an order to buy 100,000 EUR.USD will serve to buy 100,000 EUR and sell the equivalent number of USD based on the displayed exchange rate.

3.  Specify the desired order type, exchange rate (price) and transmit the order.

Note:  Orders may be placed in terms of any whole currency unit and there are no minimum contract or lot sizes to consider aside from the market venue minimums as specified above.

Common Question: How is an order entered using the FX Trader?

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Pip Value

A pip is measure of change in a currency pair, which for most pairs represents the smallest change, although for others changes in fractional pips are allowed.

For ex. in EUR.USD 1 pip is 0.0001, while in USD.JPY 1 pip is 0.01.

To calculate 1 pip value in units of quote currency the following formula can be applied:

(notional amount) x (1 pip)

Examples:

  • Ticker symbol = EUR.USD
  • Amount = 100,000 EUR
  • 1 pip = 0.0001

1 pip value = 100’000 x 0.0001= 10 USD

  • Ticker symbol = USD.JPY
  • Amount = 100’000 USD
  • 1 pip = 0.01

1 pip value = 100’000 x (0.01)= JPY 1000

To calculate 1 pip value in units of base currency the following formula can be applied:

(notional amount) x (1 pip/exchange rate)

Examples:

  • Ticker symbol = EUR.USD
  • Amount = 100’000 EUR
  • 1 pip = 0.0001
  • Exchange rate = 1.3884

1 pip value = 100’000 x (0.0001/1.3884)= 7.20 EUR

  • Ticker symbol = USD.JPY
  • Amount = 100’000 USD
  • 1 pip = 0.01
  • Exchange rate = 101.63

1 pip value = 100’000 x (0.01/101.63)= 9.84 USD

 

Position (Post-Trade) Reporting

 

FX position information is an important aspect of trading with IB that should be understood prior to executing transactions in a live account.  IB's trading software reflects FX positions in two different places both of which can be seen in the account window.

 

1. Market Value

The Market Value section of the Account Window reflects currency positions in real time stated in terms of each individual currency (not as a currency pair). 

The Market Value section of the Account view is the only place that traders can see FX position information reflected in real time.  Traders holding multiple currency positions are not required to close them using the same pair used to open the position.  For example, a trader that bought EUR.USD (buying EUR and selling USD) and also bought USD.JPY (buying USD and selling JPY) may close the resulting position by trading EUR.JPY (selling EUR and buying JPY).

Notes:

The Market Value section is expandable/collapsible.  Traders should check the symbol that appears just above the Net Liquidation Value Column to ensure that a green minus sign is shown.  If there is a green plus symbol, some active positions may be concealed.

 

Traders can initiate closing transactions from the Market Value section by right clicking on the currency that they wish to close and choosing "close currency balance" or "close all non-base currency balances".

 

 2. FX Portfolio

 The FX Portfolio section of the account window provides an indication of Virtual Positions and displays position information in terms of currency pairs instead of individual currencies as the Market Value section does.  This particular display format is intended to accommodate a convention which is common to institutional forex traders and can generally be disregarded by the retail or occasional forex trader. FX Portfolio position quantities do not reflect all FX activity, however, traders have the ability to modify the position quantities and average costs that appear in this section.  The ability to manipulate position and average cost information without executing a transaction may be useful for traders involved in currency trading in addition to trading non-base currency products.  This will allow traders to manually segregate automated conversions (which occur automatically when trading non base currency products) from outright FX trading activity. 

 The FX portfolio section drives the FX position & profit and loss information displayed on all other trading windows.  This has a tendency to cause some confusion with respect to determining actual, real time position information.  In order to reduce or eliminate this confusion, traders may do one of the following;

 

a. Collapse the FX Portfolio section

By clicking the arrow to the left of the word FX Portfolio, traders can collapse the FX Portfolio section.  Collapsing this section will eliminate the Virtual Position information from being displayed on all of the trading pages. (Note: this will not cause the Market Value information to be displayed it will only prevent FX Portfolio information from being shown.)

 

 

b. Adjust Position or Average Price

By right clicking in the FX portfolio section of the account window, traders have the option to Adjust Position or Average Price.  Once traders have closed all non base currency positions and confirmed that the market value section reflects all non base currency positions as closed, traders can reset the Position and Average Price fields to 0.  This will reset the position quantity reflected in the FX portfolio section and should allow traders to see a more accurate position and profit and loss information on the trading screens. (Note: this is a manual process and would have to be done each time currency positions are closed out.  Traders should always confirm position information in the Market Value section to ensure that transmitted orders are achieving the desired result of opening or closing a position.

 

We encourage traders to become familiar with FX trading in a paper trade or DEMO account prior to executing transactions in their live account.  Please feel free to Contact IB for additional clarification on the above information.

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Other common questions:

 

 

 

 

Currency Conversion for Trading Products in a Non-Base Currency

How to convert a currency if you wish to trade products in a currency other than the currency your account was initially funded in

For additional information on currency conversions please refer to the Knowledge base articles:

Why Are There Two Currencies Shown When Trading Forex and How Do They Work?

What Happens if I Trade a Product Denominated in a Currency Which I Do Not Hold in My Account?

 

 

Can the base currency in a cash account be changed?

Yes, cash accounts may change the base currency on their account. However, please note that IBIS, EmployeeTrack, Flat Fee Referrer, Betting and IN/JPN domeestic accounts cannot change their base currency. 

Will cash balances be converted once the designated Base Currency for the account has been changed?

It is important to note that changing your Base Currency does not serve to convert existing cash balances or change the denomination of a security into any other currency.  Cash balances will remain in their currency of denomination unless converted via IB's IdealPro (for balances of at least USD 25,000 or equivalent) or odd lot (for balances below USD 25,000 or equivalent) Forex venues.  Similarly, the denomination of securities and commodities positions cannot be changed as this is determined by the listing exchange.

Glossary terms: 

Can I convert a long cash balance to a non-base currency or trade a position denominated in a non-base currency in my cash account?

Overview: 

Yes, albeit, with certain limitations.  IBKR provides cash accounts the ability to trade products denominated in a currency other than the designated base currency of the account as long as the account is classified as a multi-currency cash account (i.e., maintains Forex trading permissions).  To trade a security denominated in a non-base currency, the account holder must either first deposit the appropriate currency into their account or perform a currency conversion via the IdealPro venue.  Regardless of the method selected, one needs to ensure that a sufficient balance of the appropriate currency exists in order to cover the purchase price of the applicable security including commissions prior to submitting the order or it will be rejected. This implies that IdealPro currency conversions must settle prior to the converted funds being available for a subsequent transaction (e.g., if you are converting USD into EUR for the purpose of purchasing a EUR denominated stock, you would not be able to enter the stock order until the conversion trade had settled two business days later).

Individuals trading futures in a cash account should note that futures variation is settled in cash and any variation which serves to generate a cash deficit in any given currency type (i.e. variation exceeds available cash margin) will result in a forced position liquidation in an amount sufficient to eliminate the cash deficit.

Finally, note that cash accounts are restricted from holding a short balance in any non-base currency as this would constitute a margin loan.  In addition, clients of IB India are not allowed to maintain a multi-currency cash account and may only maintain assets which are denominated in INR.

Why does the Cash Report section of my statement reflect a reduction in cash despite no trade activity or withdrawals?

Overview: 

 

The Cash Report section details how each period's cash balance changes from beginning to end. If your account holds a long or short balance in a non-base currency, such balances will be translated (but not converted) into your base currency for statement reporting and account equity aggregation purposes. The rates at which these non-base balances have been converted are detailed in the Exchange Rates section located towards the bottom of your Daily Activity Statement. All other things being equal, any change in an exchange rate from one statement period to another will result in either an increase or decrease in your ending cash balance with the net change across all non-Base currencies being reflected in the Cash FX Translation Gain/Loss line. This does not reflect a realized gain or loss on these open currency positions but rather a mark-to-market calculation across statement periods.

Glossary terms: 
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