Brokerage/platforms terrible in Oz

Temjin, try calling the helpdesk number; that shouldn't be that hard to fix.

Temjin said:

Steve-IB,

It's been over a week or two since I got my account approved, and I still CANNOT login to Trader Workstation 4.0. It gives me the invalid login/username.

As I mentioned, I have opened a Family and Friend advisory account. I deposited money into Master account and later transferred the sum to the Sub Personal Trading account. Account Management show that client trading permission is "ENABLED" and that the fund is READY. Both accounts should have been approved a long time ago.

I am trying to login to the software using the same username and password I used to access my account management. (The sub personal trading account) Though I tried it with both different username and passwords.

I have already raised a ticket but support has not got back to me for days now.

What is going on?? I need to trade now so please look into this for me ASAP!

And I'm pretty sure I typed in the correct username and password, unless there is a seperate login information for webtrader or TWS. But I don't see it anywhere...nor received them...

Thank you.

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You're using an advisor account. Clients of an advisor have no trading access. You need to login using the advisor username/password.

yonnie said:

Kremmen said:

Having read much of this thread, I must say that I can't agree with the title.

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kremmen, you`re entitled to your opinion.

however I still stand by the title of this thread.

do you think that the platforms are so great in Oz with just limit and market orders and the odd one with stop loss orders?
when I place an order for a low priced stock, a representative of the Ozzie broker got to look at the order because of an inbuilt filter. my orders were sitting there for hours on February 28th, while I`m sweating behind my computer. what a sigh of relief to see IB coming in with an excellent platform (I use TWS).

and is the brokerage so great in Oz? the minimum with brokers like Comsec or Westpac Broking is $ 20-25 (for stop loss you pay another $10-15) and with IB only $6 all-in.
reckon I will pay 7.5k brokerage this year instead of my usual 15k.

apart from platform and brokerage there will always be some issues and if you look at these forums, the other brokers also have their fair share of critics.

but once you know all the channels at IB, you`ll be alright.
I have my deposits and withdrawals the next day.

ah well we all have different things that are important to us
and I`m very happy with IB.

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Hope other internet brokers take notice.

At some stage I enjoyed $10 a trade after 7 trades with HSBC, and it almost looked that $5 per trade is likely to come, when all of the sudden $19.95 was your almost absolute best.

I mentioned it to E-Trade quite often that I don't want their research, that I'll do it myself, all I really want is inexpensive trades, but so far on deaf ears.

Steve-IB said:

The account opening can be done online, it will take about 15 minutes. We then require two separate documents showing an identity proof and a proof of address. Passport and driving license is the easiest. But you can also submit utility bills or bank statements. This can be posted, faxed or e-mailed to us. Account approval should occur within 2 days of submitting documents.

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Might be useful to let people know on the website that the passport must be current...

Steve-IB said:

You're using an advisor account. Clients of an advisor have no trading access. You need to login using the advisor username/password.

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Got it all working now, thanks.

Another question again and this is definitely beyond looking at self-help info on the site.

IB: Everything is transparent, we will not do any currency exchange for you – the big advantage of this is that we will not rip you off on an internal currency exchange. If you have an account with A$ and buy US$ shares then your US$ balance will be negative. You then have a couple of choices: you can hold this position in which you will pay debit interest on this amount (which may be partially or fully offset by the interest you receive on the long A$ balance). Alternatively, we provide the facility for you to do the currency conversion yourself – and at spreads which are comparable to the interbank market – i.e. way better than you could possibly get at yourself. As I write this the current rate for A$/US$ is 0.8888/0.8889

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- My understanding is that I will only receive interest on a long A$ balance account if the cash in my account exceed Tier 1 balance, which is $11,500? An example would be if I brought USD $5000 worth of shares, and I have to pay an interest of (BMI - 1.5%) as this is under Tier 1 balance, would I get any interest on my cash account with only AUD $6000.00?

- If the above is true, that I do not get any interest from my long A$ balance due to its being lower than Tier 1 and have to pay for the short U$ balance, is the alternative would be to use IDEAL and convert the AUD to USD first before buying the shares?

Another question,

I am looking to buy USD dollar based assets (be it shares, options, futures, whatever) but am looking to hedge my positions against currency fluctuation. But because my position is relatively small (AUD $6000), it is totally impractical for me to buy a single AUD/USD forex or future contract as it is worth $100k. (obviously, against fall in USD currency)

My question is, is it possible to use IDEAL as a way to borrow USD $5000 and buy the exchange amount in AUD (for example, $6000) and have that amount in my cash balance and earn interest? (and pay for the USD interest) Obviously, this is almost like buying a 0.05 lot forex AUD/USD contract. Is it possible?

I understand this may come down to a specific financial advises, but I just need to what kind of features that IB offer in way of margin and borrowing funds to invest, whatever.

Thank you very much.

What is the earliest time prior to 10am Monday morning that you can enter trades through the TWS please?

Hi Steve
Why IB can not offer as many codes as Etrade and Comsec.
I often find I can not trade the share I like. First TTY, then RAU, then ATV, then
MPJ. I have to call or made a ticket for these codes. When I got the code in my trader workstation, the price has already gone far away.

In addition, when the market scanner function can be available? A week has passed, it is still unavailable to scan shares in ASX.
thank you

hi folks,

is it actually possible to see the individual orders in the market queu with IB?

it would be good to see my purchase/sell order coming to the top of the queu.

thanks.

yonnie said:

do you think that the platforms are so great in Oz with just limit and market orders and the odd one with stop loss orders?

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No, they're not great, but they're not terrible either. Yes, it's a pest when brokers have stupid filters in place. However, there are some plusses with our brokers vs, say, the USA.

You say "I have my deposits and withdrawals the next day". Well, let's say I place a $25,000 order. If my money is earning 6% in a cash management account, it's earning over $4 a day. If you have to waste a day each way, that's $8, plus the effort of doing the transfer. Personally, I want to try to minimise my messing about time. If I have to decide all my buys a day in advance and transfer money, that's got an annoyance factor and a loss of opportunity cost potentially orders of magnitude higher than the brokerage cost.

Another aspect is the flexibility here. I've often modified orders to extend them on stocks which trade infrequently and I've modified them up and down as the market moves. (My longest open order lasted over a year.) With the US brokers I'm aware of, you can't modify your order at all, which includes not being able to modify the prices or the end date. Some of my share purchases would have cost ten times more using the equivalent of a "cheap" US broker, because I'd have been charged brokerage on every individual trade, not just once for the order.

Anyone signed up for the new IB security device? Looks similar to many where it generates an authentication code that must be used for various access levels etc.

I assume there's no prob in using them in Oz as it said nothing on the IB site.

It states its totally free too - just need to return if and when you close your account or lose a $US150 bond.

Seems a good option.

I also have limited access to my account to the only IP addresses I use too - plus of course changed my password from the original one sent by IB.

Does anyone else find that TWS always tries to update itself everytime your system restarts? Even if you tell it only to check every 10 days it still checks every time.....mildly annoying.

nikkothescorpio said:

Anyone signed up for the new IB security device? Looks similar to many where it generates an authentication code that must be used for various access levels etc.

I assume there's no prob in using them in Oz as it said nothing on the IB site.

It states its totally free too - just need to return if and when you close your account or lose a $US150 bond.

Seems a good option.

I also have limited access to my account to the only IP addresses I use too - plus of course changed my password from the original one sent by IB.

Does anyone else find that TWS always tries to update itself everytime your system restarts? Even if you tell it only to check every 10 days it still checks every time.....mildly annoying.

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Yep, activated the security device, works fine.
If you don't want the update reminder, you can remove it from the Windows start-up.

kremmen,

with IB you are able to modify price and volume whenever you want to and its still the same order.
there is no end date of the order: valid until filled.

the only BIG drawback when you modify is: you lose your place in the queu.

Steve, could that be changed?

yonnie said:

Steve, could that be changed?

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I think that is something universal across brokers, and may be the same over seas as well...

chops_a_must said:

I think that is something universal across brokers, and may be the same over seas as well...

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hi chops,

no, not with my Ozzie broker.

say I have an order in for 1 million @0.9 for CFR.
that order is now at the top of the queu.
I want to change that order to 2 mil @ 0.9.

with an Ozzie broker the original amount of 1 million shares at the top of the queu will stay there and 1 million will be added to the bottom of the queu.
So 1 order with 2 positions.

With IB the 1 million at the top of queu will be cancelled
and 2 million added to the bottom of the queu.
Seems like you cant have 1 order with 2 positions.

A BIG difference if you`re trading the small stuff and you dont want to lose your place in the queu.

Ah yes. Sorry, I missed the intracacies of your point.

My understanding is that I will only receive interest on a long A$ balance account if the cash in my account exceed Tier 1 balance, which is $11,500? An example would be if I brought USD $5000 worth of shares, and I have to pay an interest of (BMI - 1.5%) as this is under Tier 1 balance, would I get any interest on my cash account with only AUD $6000.00?
IB: In this case you’re A$ balance would be $11,500 and your US$ balance -$5,000. So you would pay interest on the US$ and receive interest on the A$.

Is the alternative would be to use IDEAL and convert the AUD to USD first before buying the shares?
IB: Yes, you can convert if you wish – either before or after the purchase

My question is, is it possible to use IDEAL as a way to borrow USD $5000 and buy the exchange amount in AUD (for example, $6000) and have that amount in my cash balance and earn interest? (and pay for the USD interest) Obviously, this is almost like buying a 0.05 lot forex AUD/USD contract. Is it possible?
IB: Yes – as above

Why IB can not offer as many codes as Etrade and Comsec. I often find I can not trade the share I like. First TTY, then RAU, then ATV, then MPJ. I have to call or made a ticket for these codes. When I got the code in my trader workstation, the price has already gone far away.
IB: We should have all codes available. We just read the database from the exchange. I’ll check to see if this database is complete.

Australian stock market scanner?
IB: This is being programmed. Should be ready in the next TWS release.

Is it actually possible to see the individual orders in the market queu with IB? it would be good to see my purchase/sell order coming to the top of the queue
IB: You can view the market dept and book trader, but we aggregate the depth by price.

With the US brokers I'm aware of, you can't modify your order at all, which includes not being able to modify the prices or the end date. Some of my share purchases would have cost ten times more using the equivalent of a "cheap" US broker, because I'd have been charged brokerage on every individual trade, not just once for the order.
IB: You can change/amend the order as much as you want.

With IB you are able to modify price and volume whenever you want to and its still the same order. There is no end date of the order: valid until filled.
IB: You can set the order how you wish – DAY, Good-till-Cancelled, or Good-till-Date/Time.

The only BIG drawback when you modify is: you lose your place in the queue. say I have an order in for 1 million @0.9 for CFR.
that order is now at the top of the queue. I want to change that order to 2 mil @ 0.9. with an Ozzie broker the original amount of 1 million shares at the top of the queu will stay there and 1 million will be added to the bottom of the queu. So 1 order with 2 positions. With IB the 1 million at the top of queu will be cancelled and 2 million added to the bottom of the queu. Seems like you cant have 1 order with 2 positions
IB: A modification is usually treated as a “Cancel Plus New Order” – so you lose your place in the queue. However, in your example, instead of modifying the order, just send a new order in for 1 mil. This way it will work the same way you are used to – with 1 order at the top of the queue and the second order added to the bottom of the queue.

Steve-IB said:

My understanding is that I will only receive interest on a long A$ balance account if the cash in my account exceed Tier 1 balance, which is $11,500? An example would be if I brought USD $5000 worth of shares, and I have to pay an interest of (BMI - 1.5%) as this is under Tier 1 balance, would I get any interest on my cash account with only AUD $6000.00?
IB: In this case you’re A$ balance would be $11,500 and your US$ balance -$5,000. So you would pay interest on the US$ and receive interest on the A$.

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Thank you Steve, but it seem my question was not clearly understood.

What I meant was, If my account balance is only AUD $6000.00, and I borrow USD $5000.00 to buy shares, I am assuming I WILL NOT receive any long interest on my cash account because it is LOWER than the Tier 1 balance requirement. (i.e. AUD $6000 is less than $11500 requirement)

And then I have to pay interest on the borrowed USD $5000.00

Another question would be if the interest on the balance is calculated daily and paid monthly?

Steve-IB said:

Is the alternative would be to use IDEAL and convert the AUD to USD first before buying the shares?
IB: Yes, you can convert if you wish – either before or after the purchase

My question is, is it possible to use IDEAL as a way to borrow USD $5000 and buy the exchange amount in AUD (for example, $6000) and have that amount in my cash balance and earn interest? (and pay for the USD interest) Obviously, this is almost like buying a 0.05 lot forex AUD/USD contract. Is it possible?
IB: Yes – as above

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I am still confused as how this will work exactly. Here is a brief summary.

- Have AUD $6000.00 in account, earning nil interest as below tier 1 balanace.
- Want to buy USD $5000.00 worth of shares, but want to hedge against drop in US dollars.
- So what I do is buy USD $5000 of shares first and have my US balance be -$5000.00, paying interest.
- Then I borrow an ADDITION USD $5000 and use it to exchange it for another AUD $6000.00 dollars. Now my AUD balance would be $12000.00 and my US balance be -$10000.00, with USD $5000.00 of investment in share. (note: now AUD balance would be earning tier 1 interest rate)
- When I decide to sell my investment, which has risen to for example, $6000, my new US balance would be -$4000.00.
- Then I repay the Us balance with Aussie dollars on the new exchange rate.

This is possible right? The only transaction fee would be the commission for buying and selling share, PLUS the spread when borrowing USD dollars to buy AUD dollars?

Thanks again, just would like another confirmation and if possible, very brief instruction on how to do it with IDEAL.

P.S: This is just like a carrying trade, but on a lesser scale because one forex contract is too big.

Cheers!!!

Anyone know why i can't get a chart up for the current SPI contract? I get nothing on the screen. The index chart is no problem.

Cheers,

Temjin said:

Thank you Steve, but it seem my question was not clearly understood.

What I meant was, If my account balance is only AUD $6000.00, and I borrow USD $5000.00 to buy shares, I am assuming I WILL NOT receive any long interest on my cash account because it is LOWER than the Tier 1 balance requirement. (i.e. AUD $6000 is less than $11500 requirement)

And then I have to pay interest on the borrowed USD $5000.00

Another question would be if the interest on the balance is calculated daily and paid monthly?



I am still confused as how this will work exactly. Here is a brief summary.

- Have AUD $6000.00 in account, earning nil interest as below tier 1 balanace.
- Want to buy USD $5000.00 worth of shares, but want to hedge against drop in US dollars.
- So what I do is buy USD $5000 of shares first and have my US balance be -$5000.00, paying interest.
- Then I borrow an ADDITION USD $5000 and use it to exchange it for another AUD $6000.00 dollars. Now my AUD balance would be $12000.00 and my US balance be -$10000.00, with USD $5000.00 of investment in share. (note: now AUD balance would be earning tier 1 interest rate)
- When I decide to sell my investment, which has risen to for example, $6000, my new US balance would be -$4000.00.
- Then I repay the Us balance with Aussie dollars on the new exchange rate.

This is possible right? The only transaction fee would be the commission for buying and selling share, PLUS the spread when borrowing USD dollars to buy AUD dollars?

Thanks again, just would like another confirmation and if possible, very brief instruction on how to do it with IDEAL.

P.S: This is just like a carrying trade, but on a lesser scale because one forex contract is too big.

Cheers!!!

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Interest is accrued daily and paid monthly.


- Have AUD $6000.00 in account, earning nil interest as below tier 1 balance.
- Want to buy USD $5000.00 worth of shares, but want to hedge against drop in US dollars.
- So what I do is buy USD $5000 of shares first and have my US balance be -$5000.00, paying interest.
Ok. This leaves you with A$6,000 and –US$5,000

- Then I borrow an ADDITION USD $5000 and use it to exchange it for another AUD $6000.00 dollars.
OK. So you buy A$6,000 vs US$
So now your balance is A$12,000 and –US$10,000. You receive A$ interest and pay US$ interest

- When I decide to sell my investment, which has risen to for example, $6000, my new US balance would be -$4000.00.
Correct

- Then I repay the Us balance with Aussie dollars on the new exchange rate.
Yes, you would buy US$4,000 vs A$

This is possible right? The only transaction fee would be the commission for buying and selling share, PLUS the spread when borrowing USD dollars to buy AUD dollars?
Yes – plus the transaction fee on the FX ($2.50)

-Thanks again, just would like another confirmation and if possible, very brief instruction on how to do it with IDEAL.
Just the same as doing any other trade. If you use FX Trader then it maybe easier.

This is just like a carrying trade, but on a lesser scale because one forex contract is too big.
- Yes, but you would “pay interest” on the interest spread in this case.