Interactive Brokers

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newguy
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Re: Interactive Brokers

Post by newguy »

j3j3 wrote:can you daytrade from a canadian rrsp without putting there 25k?
Yes.
does that mean u need to daytrade from a bank that offers rrsp (TD for example) or can you open a rrsp also within a (canadian?) online broker?
AFAIK, IB is the only Canadian broker not to offer RRSP's
Cause if the only way to freeride in canada is through an rrsp and there's no canadian broker offering them then it means going to a bank and TD asks for 9.99 per trade.
Well, There are $5 trades at some brokers. If you trade a lot at TDWH it will be $7. I think the free-riding thing is a US only rule and any account in Canada doesn't have to worry about it. I'm not even sure IB Canada enforces it.

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Re: Interactive Brokers

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Yes i remember TD asks 7.99 for 120+ trades per quarter. I have to check with them if i have to wait the 3 days for the trade to settle or if, when i sell, i get the money available for a new trade immediately. 7.99 is still a lot. Questrade asks for 4.95 min and 9.95 max (that i will never reach) and is canadian. I called them but they were closed already.
Optionxpress is canadian too but asks for 9.95, i asked them if we can negotiate a lower rate and they said yes but depends on an existing trade history of mine with them, i doubt they will go lower than 8 bucks per trade. But if what you say about rrsp means that:
- i can day trade
- without 25k deposit
- without waiting 3 days for a trade to settle
then you are genius, just tell me where i have to go to get that together with a low commission
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newguy
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Re: Interactive Brokers

Post by newguy »

j3j3 wrote:then you are genius, just tell me where i have to go to get that together with a low commission
Just make sure you look for ECN fees also. TDWH and IB (bundled) don't charge them.

A couple other brokers talked about here.

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adrian2
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Re: Interactive Brokers

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j3j3 wrote:Yes i remember TD asks 7.99 for 120+ trades per quarter. I have to check with them if i have to wait the 3 days for the trade to settle or if, when i sell, i get the money available for a new trade immediately
TDWH's threshold is 150+ trades per quarter and $7.00 per trade. You can also get a free advanced trading platform (Active Trader) after you've made 150+ trades.

Once you sell something, you can buy with the money from the sell the next second.
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Re: Interactive Brokers

Post by j3j3 »

adrian2 wrote:
Once you sell something, you can buy with the money from the sell the next second.
Let me ask you, if that's true for TDW why it does not apply also to other canadian brokers like, for example IB canada, or questrade? Maybe it does but when i called IB yesterday they said that it requires a 25k min deposit to do that, i think i did not tell them i am in canada.
Moreover, does it apply to all the canadian brokers or only in the case in which you trade from a RRSP?
that's what i do not understand.
Cause 7.99 is an option but for the budget i have in mind TD could be terribly expensive.
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Re: Interactive Brokers

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j3j3 wrote:Let me ask you, if that's true for TDW why it does not apply also to other canadian brokers like, for example IB canada, or questrade? Maybe it does but when i called IB yesterday they said that it requires a 25k min deposit to do that, i think i did not tell them i am in canada.
Moreover, does it apply to all the canadian brokers or only in the case in which you trade from a RRSP?
that's what i do not understand.
Cause 7.99 is an option but for the budget i have in mind TD could be terribly expensive.
First, it's $7 not $7.99.

AFAIK it's only IB that has a policy that you need $25k to day trade, but ask whichever broker you're interested in. I have more than that and it was never a problem. It did not matter, in my case, that it's a non-registered account, corporate account or RRSP.
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Re: Interactive Brokers

Post by j3j3 »

adrian2 wrote:
j3j3 wrote:Let me ask you, if that's true for TDW why it does not apply also to other canadian brokers like, for example IB canada, or questrade? Maybe it does but when i called IB yesterday they said that it requires a 25k min deposit to do that, i think i did not tell them i am in canada.
Moreover, does it apply to all the canadian brokers or only in the case in which you trade from a RRSP?
that's what i do not understand.
Cause 7.99 is an option but for the budget i have in mind TD could be terribly expensive.
First, it's $7 not $7.99.

AFAIK it's only IB that has a policy that you need $25k to day trade, but ask whichever broker you're interested in. I have more than that and it was never a problem. It did not matter, in my case, that it's a non-registered account, corporate account or RRSP.
All the US brokers i asked, confirmed the 25k policy and i also found the SEC/FINRA documents that explain that. So i guess you refer to canadian brokers only with the exception of IB canada? If that's the case i am going to make a round of calls today and see what the other canadian brokers say.
(ps: u r right, 7 per trade with td)
Last edited by j3j3 on 15 Jul 2011 12:59, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Interactive Brokers

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j3j3 wrote:All the US brokers i asked, confirmed the 25k policy and i also found the SEC/FINRA documents that explain that. So i guess you refer to canadian brokers only with the exception of IB canada? If that's the case i am going to make a round of calls today and see what the other canadian brokers say
From my POV, IB is a US broker with a thin veneer of Canadian presence. They routinely mess up Canadian tax reporting / documents and were not on my shopping list therefore.

Yes, I was talking about Canadian brokers.
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Re: Interactive Brokers

Post by j3j3 »

adrian2 wrote: From my POV, IB is a US broker with a thin veneer of Canadian presence. They routinely mess up Canadian tax reporting / documents and were not on my shopping list therefore.

Yes, I was talking about Canadian brokers.
Do you think that the 25k is skipped by canadian brokers also if someone from canada trades on NYSE, NASDAQ etc? or does it apply only to trades on the TSX?
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Re: Interactive Brokers

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j3j3 wrote:Do you think that the 25k is skipped by canadian brokers also if someone from canada trades on NYSE, NASDAQ etc? or does it apply only to trades on the TSX?
Ask them. I did not bother to inquire as it did not apply in my case.
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Re: Interactive Brokers

Post by j3j3 »

adrian2 wrote:
j3j3 wrote:Do you think that the 25k is skipped by canadian brokers also if someone from canada trades on NYSE, NASDAQ etc? or does it apply only to trades on the TSX?
Ask them. I did not bother to inquire as it did not apply in my case.
why? do you trade mainly on tsx?
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Re: Interactive Brokers

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j3j3 wrote:why? do you trade mainly on tsx?
I did not open a trading account until I had more than the threshold.
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Re: Interactive Brokers

Post by j3j3 »

ok, i just talked to questrade, that is just a little bit cheaper than TD and is canadian as well. They do not enforce any 25k or T+3 unless you trade naked option. They allow daytrade on US stocks as far as you deposit at least 1,000. You were so right

But now the choices are TDW, Questrade. I exclude VB and others because of the price and IB Canada (if it's canadian somehow) because it seems they do not allow daytrade without 25k. VB is just 5 cents cheaper than TD but TD is my bank so is not worth of goign to VB. Questrade is on a 4.95 per trade but i do know nothing about them. Do you?

UPDATE: wow, questrade got a F grade from BBB, that's scaring

beside IB, any other US broker that accepts canadian applications? and with no pdt rule?
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Re: Interactive Brokers

Post by newguy »

I got a PM about ECN fees. If you look at the IB cost plus page they are all enumerated. They are only charged if you use cost plus pricing. TD doesn't charge them, but charges $10 or $7 all in.

The liquidity fees are charged or paid back to you depending on the venue(exchange) and the type of order. If you place a market order then you are removing liquidity, note that stops are in this category. If you place a limit order you are adding liquidity. If your limit order is 'at the market' ie. the market is $10.00 offered (the ask price) and you place a limit order to but at $10.00 then you are still removing liquidity.

If you think about it that is why stop-limit orders are also removing liquidity.

To use IB's cost plus pricing you have to figure out how many shares and the types of orders you plan to do. There is also the psychological effect of always trying to use limit orders to earn the rebate when you should use a market order. That is why I don't use cost plus.

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Re: Interactive Brokers

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10 charts and 1 BookTrader and 2 market depth and 1 Quote window gives like 10-15% cpu usage on 88 threads and 364,216k of memory. The line above it is my simple tick charts with 18 threads and that uses almost no cpu for 12 charts. I think you can pretty much open as many as you need, you'll probably run out of monitors first.

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Re: Interactive Brokers

Post by Mikouli »

you'll probably run out of monitors first.
Thanks for testing, I will be fine on the hardware side... :thumbsup:
If you look at the IB cost plus page they are all enumerated... TD doesn't charge them, but charges $10 or $7...
I take a look at IB pricing here it is How I understand it:

Image

I want to make sure my understanding of IB rates is correct ?

So for me ( my style of trading... and portfolio ) TD should have more advantages ?
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Re: Interactive Brokers

Post by newguy »

Footnote 1 is for algorithmic orders. That is an order that you will probably never use.

2,3 are for calculating a maximum so the commission on a 10¢ stock won't be crazy.

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Re: Interactive Brokers

Post by Mikouli »

Footnote 1 is for algorithmic orders. That is an order that you will probably never use.
It's when you use API to made automatic trading ?
10¢ stock won't be crazy.
My understanding is fine , for low value stock it don't really matter but for $300.00 range stock it make a difference on "day trading" ?
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Re: Interactive Brokers

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Mikouli wrote:
Footnote 1 is for algorithmic orders. That is an order that you will probably never use.
It's when you use API to made automatic trading ?
No, it's for when you want to buy or sell about 100,000 shares without moving the market too much. There are algorithms you can use.
My understanding is fine , for low value stock it don't really matter but for $300.00 range stock it make a difference on "day trading" ?
Je ne comprend pas. Le commissions maximum pour les devices moins de $1 ($2 en Canada) est 0.5% plus les frais ECN.

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Re: Interactive Brokers

Post by Mikouli »

My understanding is fine , for low value stock it don't really matter but for $300.00 range stock it make a difference on "day trading" ?

Je ne comprend pas. Le commissions maximum pour les devices moins de $1 ($2 en Canada) est 0.5% plus les frais ECN.

I was trying to say...
On US market:
if I trade over 4000 shares per trade with a total value of $5000.00 basically it will cost me $20.00 with IB.
But if I trade 100 shares valued at $5000.00, basically it should be 0.50cent but minimum is $1.00 .

*Over that some ECN/liquidity fees CAN be added.

Since most of my trade will be equity over 2000 shares at a value over $2.00/share TD seem a better fit for me.

I will look at their "margin rate" if they have good rate I will try them.

Thanks Again and I will let you know how it goes...
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Re: Interactive Brokers

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Mikouli wrote:Since most of my trade will be equity over 2000 shares at a value over $2.00/share TD seem a better fit for me.
That's right. For the US stocks just keep the money in the US side of your account. Search here for norbert's gambit and use that to fund the US side.

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Re: Interactive Brokers

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Re: Interactive Brokers

Post by Mikouli »

Thanks for the info about the gambit method. Will use it for sure on both sides.
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Re: Interactive Brokers

Post by fundamental »

Has anyone been given any reason from IB, why they are not pursuing registered accounts from Canadians?

I tried voting today in IBs "suggestion section" of their website, but they closed the voting on this topic indicating they will not be considering registered accounts in the near future.

Any idea why they wouldn't pursue this ?
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Re: Interactive Brokers

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fundamental wrote:Has anyone been given any reason from IB, why they are not pursuing registered accounts from Canadians?

I tried voting today in IBs "suggestion section" of their website, but they closed the voting on this topic indicating they will not be considering registered accounts in the near future.

Any idea why they wouldn't pursue this ?
The asking has been going on for years. I think it's just not a priority given the main types of customers they have (traders) and the types of accounts RRSP's are usually (buy and holders).

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