Page 1 of 1

FOREX trading on Interactive Brokers

Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 10:43 am
by Oli
Interactive Brokers don't seem to take spread action - they charge commisions:

<=USD 100,000,000 (0.2 basis point(1) * Trade Value) min: USD 2.50

EG:
USD 50,000 daily volume for EUR = USD 2.50
USD 1,000,000 daily volume for EUR = USD 20.00

where 1 basis point = 0.0001

but are their spreads competitive?

Anybody in this universe trading FOREX with IB?

Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 9:07 pm
by xstek
Oli, IB spreads are comparable to CurreneX but I would not reccommend trading sub sized lots IE mini lots, IB claims to be designed with the professional in mind, so sometimes the small lots don't get filled or are partially filled etc. This is very bad for a rookies confidence, it is hard enough to get started trading, and then have to worry about getting covered on a small trade. While we were setting up our FOREX side we talked to IB and found out that they offer very small size per trade, 5 Mio and if you want to go larger you have to explain to them your stratagies, this is not good. Also, I have personally tried thier data on Neoticker and the data is very poor to the point of being unacceptable. Try oanda or EFX if you are trading Minis.

XSTEK

Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:40 pm
by Annu
One thing to consider when using IB is their complicated margin calculation. You have to put up margin for both parts of your trade, i.e. if you go long 1 lot of EUR/USD, 100k EUR *and* 133k USD will be margined.
As far as i am aware, IB offers the cheapest commissions for a retail trader, as long as one surpasses their minimum commission.