Brokerage/platforms terrible in Oz

CFD · 26 February 2008

If anyone is using Bell Direct could they comment on the experience?

They make a big deal about their trading platform being the latest and greatest, but they will not let you look at it without opening an account. I registered but that didn't make much difference to seeing how the site works.

Do they charge for stop losses or stop losses being executed?
Do you set conditional order/limits/stops in the one order screen?

Thx

yonnie · 27 February 2008

CFD, you already posted on the Bell Direct thread, so why dont you ask your questions there?

Seems like Bell Direct dont have conditional orders as yet.

MRC & Co · 28 February 2008

Quick question:

When opening an IB account, it comes to a part where it asks: For form W-8BEN about "Claim of Tax Treaty Benefits (if applicable)", WTF does this mean and how do I know if its applicable?

Cheers

Temjin · 29 February 2008

Steve-IB,

Could you please give me an update on the current problem with the ability to buy USD dominated shares listed on the London Stock Exchange.

I already a support ticket on this, but would like to know from your side.

It all started when I try to buy COTN.ln shares (ETFS Cotton from ETFSecurities), which are only tradeable on the LSE and is priced in USD.

Apparently, I was told IB has a clearning problem with those shares that are priced in USD and has removed access to it. And could not tell if it is a permanent.

This has SERIOUSLY AFFECT me because I no longer have access to ANY of the ETCs provided by ETFSecurities.com.

I really hope this is resolved as soon as possible.

I have open positions in those, but I know that I can only close them and not add to them.

Many Thanks!!!

Lounge Lizard · 2 March 2008

Hi,

I have a question about shorting stock with IB. I tried to short a stock late friday afternoon with IB and it came up with an error message along the lines of "no stock available for shorting right now, currently searching for stock to short". I checked on their short list and it said that they had sufficient of this stock to short. Is this a common occurence with shorting stock in general? I'm not too experienced going short. Cheers

PS: spewing i missed that one as the dow plunged friday night.

Temjin · 4 March 2008

Temjin said:
Steve-IB,

Could you please give me an update on the current problem with the ability to buy USD dominated shares listed on the London Stock Exchange.

I already a support ticket on this, but would like to know from your side.

It all started when I try to buy COTN.ln shares (ETFS Cotton from ETFSecurities), which are only tradeable on the LSE and is priced in USD.

Apparently, I was told IB has a clearning problem with those shares that are priced in USD and has removed access to it. And could not tell if it is a permanent.

This has SERIOUSLY AFFECT me because I no longer have access to ANY of the ETCs provided by ETFSecurities.com.

I really hope this is resolved as soon as possible.

I have open positions in those, but I know that I can only close them and not add to them.

Many Thanks!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

GRR, IB cost me a lot of profit! I KNEW there was going to be a surge in soft commodities prices, especially cotton, I never got the chance to buy more back then because of the stupid clearing error from IB. And I don't want to resort to future cos of over leveraging.

Is IB going to fix this problem sooner or later? I am not happy at all.

Steve-IB · 4 March 2008

Temjin said:
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

GRR, IB cost me a lot of profit! I KNEW there was going to be a surge in soft commodities prices, especially cotton, I never got the chance to buy more back then because of the stupid clearing error from IB. And I don't want to resort to future cos of over leveraging.

Is IB going to fix this problem sooner or later? I am not happy at all.

Temjin, It's not going to be fixed. We will not be offering US$ traded shares in London. A business decision due to the difficulty of settlement, the funding requirements and the costs involved. Cotton Futures trade on Nymex and Nybot if you need exposure to cotton.

Steve-IB · 4 March 2008

Steve-IB said:
Temjin, It's not going to be fixed. We will not be offering US$ traded shares in London. A business decision due to the difficulty of settlement, the funding requirements and the costs involved. Cotton Futures trade on Nymex and Nybot if you need exposure to cotton.

Temjin,
Good news... we're now offering it! (I know that's a quick reversal, I can't go into the details - but needless to say they're available now!)

Temjin · 7 March 2008

Steve-IB said:
Temjin,
Good news... we're now offering it! (I know that's a quick reversal, I can't go into the details - but needless to say they're available now!)

Thanks Steve. I also got the response from ticket support yesterday.

lol you kinda scared me up front.

Good thing about the ETCs on the LSE is that they are unleveraged, unlike futures.

woohoo, back in action again

bingk6 · 8 March 2008

Lounge Lizard said:
Hi,

I have a question about shorting stock with IB. I tried to short a stock late friday afternoon with IB and it came up with an error message along the lines of "no stock available for shorting right now, currently searching for stock to short". I checked on their short list and it said that they had sufficient of this stock to short. Is this a common occurence with shorting stock in general? I'm not too experienced going short. Cheers

PS: spewing i missed that one as the dow plunged friday night.

LL,

I have had the same message myself and know (from reading about the same issue) on another forum that this is apparently a fairly common issue, so common in fact that it is difficult to implement a shorting strategy. Imagine that one decides to short a stock, sends the order through and not have it execute even if the pricing levels are at the correct level - absolutely frustrating and totally unworkable. Its a hit and miss !!!!

A fairly common way around this is to use CFDs to go short and use IB for longs only, but that is a also a pain, as you need to keep two separate accounts and fund both appropriately. Then there are times when funds have to be transferred back and forth - very messy!!

The combination of Amibroker and IB is an absolute godsend for long trades with the API interface a gem. However, for short trades with a CFD provider, the trades have to be entered manually, which is a pain and prone to error.

Steve-IB, if you are able to correct this problem with the reliability of shorts on ASX stocks in IB, it will make a lot of people very happy, including myself. Perhaps you can give a brief explanation why these problems are happening ?

Alternatively IB might be able to offer DMA ASX CFDs as well, but make sure that it comes with the API interface, which I hasten to add that, to my knowledge, no other CFD provider in the ASX market provides.

Steve-IB · 10 March 2008

bingk6 said:
LL,

I have had the same message myself and know (from reading about the same issue) on another forum that this is apparently a fairly common issue, so common in fact that it is difficult to implement a shorting strategy. Imagine that one decides to short a stock, sends the order through and not have it execute even if the pricing levels are at the correct level - absolutely frustrating and totally unworkable. Its a hit and miss !!!!

A fairly common way around this is to use CFDs to go short and use IB for longs only, but that is a also a pain, as you need to keep two separate accounts and fund both appropriately. Then there are times when funds have to be transferred back and forth - very messy!!

The combination of Amibroker and IB is an absolute godsend for long trades with the API interface a gem. However, for short trades with a CFD provider, the trades have to be entered manually, which is a pain and prone to error.

Steve-IB, if you are able to correct this problem with the reliability of shorts on ASX stocks in IB, it will make a lot of people very happy, including myself. Perhaps you can give a brief explanation why these problems are happening ?

Alternatively IB might be able to offer DMA ASX CFDs as well, but make sure that it comes with the API interface, which I hasten to add that, to my knowledge, no other CFD provider in the ASX market provides.

I haven't been able to verify any problem with the shorting. You can short the stock which is on our shortable stock list. Currently, as I write this, there are 131 stocks available. This can change though. Outside of trading hours this list will likely show 0. If you try to short a stock not on this list then you will get the message as per your post.

Also your scenario will not happen - as the short sell order is only accepted (turns green on TWS) if the stock is available.

Lounge Lizard · 10 March 2008

I finally managed to enter my first short trade with IB today after about 5 attempts. The short list confirmed that the stocks were shortable in each case previously. The error message (see my post above) was accompanied by a binoculars symbol in the trade status column. If I have any more problems shorting I'll let you know. cheers.

BBand · 10 April 2008

Hi Steve,
I have tried again to complete the application form to open an account for a SMSF/T.

AND I have had to give up again, as I do not understand some of the terminology used. The format is not applicable to Aussie Trusts.

Your post of 31st Dec 2007:
"re account opening guide for SMSF - I've just hired someone in Australia who will be putting one together"

How is he progressing, and when do you expect to have it available?

I am trading a short term strategy at present and the way things are going, if I had IB commission rates, by the end of the year I could save enough to have another holiday !!

Peter

Steve-IB · 10 April 2008

BBand said:
Hi Steve,
I have tried again to complete the application form to open an account for a SMSF/T.

AND I have had to give up again, as I do not understand some of the terminology used. The format is not applicable to Aussie Trusts.

Your post of 31st Dec 2007:
"re account opening guide for SMSF - I've just hired someone in Australia who will be putting one together"

How is he progressing, and when do you expect to have it available?

I am trading a short term strategy at present and the way things are going, if I had IB commission rates, by the end of the year I could save enough to have another holiday !!

Peter

Just call the CS desk on the HK/Australian number and they can walk you through it (Aiko should be able to assist with the procedures).

(He's focused on institutional sales in Australia, so will not be getting involved with this)

oldpos · 14 April 2008

I should think that most of us in Oz have been reading about the ANZ/Opes Prime saga of late. It concerns me that IB operate differently than say, CommSec where IB doesn't issue HIN and keeps our cash account in their name.

What I'm getting at is - Is there a risk to us if IB folds? Do some financer then get a chance to take our current stock and also our cash account?

We seems to be relying heavily on IB with little protection.

I truly hope I'm wrong.

Can anyone enlighten me?

Thanks in advance.

Steve-IB · 15 April 2008

oldpos said:
I should think that most of us in Oz have been reading about the ANZ/Opes Prime saga of late. It concerns me that IB operate differently than say, CommSec where IB doesn't issue HIN and keeps our cash account in their name.

What I'm getting at is - Is there a risk to us if IB folds? Do some financer then get a chance to take our current stock and also our cash account?

We seems to be relying heavily on IB with little protection.

I truly hope I'm wrong.

Can anyone enlighten me?

Thanks in advance.

Your accounts at IB do have insurance coverage. However it's a good question and you may wish to read the following FAQ. It discusses in some detail insurance coverage and other protective measures on your account:

http://individuals.interactivebrokers.com/en/general/education/faqs/safetyFAQ.php?ib_entity=llc

juw177 · 15 April 2008

It is comforting to read that FAQ but we should be wary of any financial companies right now. I know there are regulations to protect but it is sad that now we see, especially in the US, how the regulators have failed. And in some cases like the Bear merger the regulators acted against the public good.

Steve-IB · 15 April 2008

juw177 said:
It is comforting to read that FAQ but we should be wary of any financial companies right now. I know there are regulations to protect but it is sad that now we see, especially in the US, how the regulators have failed. And in some cases like the Bear merger the regulators acted against the public good.

I should also mention that IBKR is the US listed company which owns 10% of the IBG LLC group, so you can also follow the groups quarterly earnings.

CFD · 15 April 2008

Please do not take these questions the wrong way Steve, it's just that some of us who grew up with say comsec, are not accustomed to our cash or shares being held in a name other than are own. Insurance companies in oz are notorious for not paying up if they can find any reason not to and if they can not then they delay the payment for as long as they can get away with.

oldpos · 15 April 2008

Thanks for the replies. I don't use margin lending so I along with many investers in sinilar situations would prefer to see not only our shares in our name alone but our cash accounts being operated from a bank account in our name well outside of the IB structure. Nothing against IB here, it's just us looking for real protection.

Brokerage/platforms terrible in Oz

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