Help with Interactive Brokers

[musicman]

Have just opened an account with Interactive Brokers. Their website is a bit daunting at first glance. Anyone out there in the South Perth Metro area who would be kind enough to show me the ropes with a bit of hand-on tuition and how to go about trading ASX stocks, CFD's etc.

musicman (Mt. Pleasant)

 

[Mr J]

Re: Interactive Brokers - Help

You can request a paper trading account and use it to get familiar with TWS.

 

[jersey10]

Re: Interactive Brokers - Help

http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/general/education/webinars.php?ib_entity=llc

try this link. i found the webinars very useful when i first started using IB.

 

[Temjin]

Re: Interactive Brokers - Help

http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/general/education/webinars.php?ib_entity=llc

try this link. i found the webinars very useful when i first started using IB.

Yep, use the webinars.

And request for a paper trading account too to learn how to use their workstation trader software.

Trust me, I've made a few mistakes with the software that had cost me a bit of money.

 

[skc]

Re: Interactive Brokers - Help

Have just opened an account with Interactive Brokers. Their website is a bit daunting at first glance. Anyone out there in the South Perth Metro area who would be kind enough to show me the ropes with a bit of hand-on tuition and how to go about trading ASX stocks, CFD's etc.

musicman (Mt. Pleasant)

You'd have a lot more willing helpers if your nick name is musicgirl

 

[psj02]

Stop entries in IB

Hi all,
What order type do you use when you want to be stopped into a long trade? For example, say a stock closed at $13. You want to enter the next day but only if prices hit $13.50. Obviously, if you send a limit order at $13.50 it won't work because if the stock declines on open your order will be filled because the price is below your limit order, and you didn't want that.

So, do you place a stop order, stop limit order, a conditional order or something else in IB?

 

[sammy84]

Re: Stop entries in IB

Hi all,
What order type do you use when you want to be stopped into a long trade? For example, say a stock closed at $13. You want to enter the next day but only if prices hit $13.50. Obviously, if you send a limit order at $13.50 it won't work because if the stock declines on open your order will be filled because the price is below your limit order, and you didn't want that.

So, do you place a stop order, stop limit order, a conditional order or something else in IB?

You place a sell conditional order when last price is => 13.5

 

[beamstas]

Re: Stop entries in IB

You place a sell conditional order when last price is => 13.5

Sammy i think he means he wants to buy at no less than $13.50, not sell.
If this is the case place a BUY order on STOP at $13.50.

 

[psj02]

Ok, thanks. Say I placed a buy stop order, but I want to attach a sell order at the profit target of $17 and set a stop loss order at $12.75, how would I go about doing that? As you can tell, I want it to be a "set and forget" order so that I don't have to monitor it while I'm at work.

 

[chrislp]

Ok, thanks. Say I placed a buy stop order, but I want to attach a sell order at the profit target of $17 and set a stop loss order at $12.75, how would I go about doing that? As you can tell, I want it to be a "set and forget" order so that I don't have to monitor it while I'm at work.

Right click the order & select "bracket orders". Set the sell stop at $12.75 & set a limit buy order at $17.

 

[psj02]

Right click the order & select "bracket orders". Set the sell stop at $12.75 & set a limit buy order at $17.

No, I'm using a buy stop order at $13.50 so the order at $17 is a sell order. Does bracket orders still work for this?

 

[chrislp]

No, I'm using a buy stop order at $13.50 so the order at $17 is a sell order. Does bracket orders still work for this?

Yes if I understand correctly. You place the original buy stop order at $13.50. Once you press transmit it is activated & then you right click the order & select bracket orders. You now have two other orders that you can modify, the sell stop being the price you want to protect yourself at & the limit sell order that you want to take profits at. Once your original order is triggered you automatically have those two orders in place.

It should look like this, may look differently on yours

XYZ GTC BUY 100 STP $13.50 (this is the original order)
GTC SELL 100 LMT $17.00 (profit order)
GTC SELL 100 STP $12.75 (protective stop)

 

[psj02]

Thanks, that's what I was after

 

[chrislp]

I just realised my mistake in my post yesterday hence the confusion sorry.

Don't forget to press "T" for transmit when you set those bracket orders.

 

[psj02]

I thought about this some more, and you can get caught out by gap ups on opening. Say I placed the order as above, but the next day the stock opens at $15.50, my order would be filled in the above scenario but at this price my profit potential at the original target would have shrunk considerably.

In this case would a buy stop LIMIT order at $13.50 be the best way to go? That way my order is not filled if there is a gap down or a large gap up, and only gets filled if there is a small gap up only up to a certain limit.

 

[chrislp]

IMO if you are confident on taking profits at your target then yes a stop limit order would be the best choice. If you were wanting to get on a trade & just want to trail your stops if you are confident of a large move then IMO a stop buy order is the best so that way you will be on it regardless of what happens.

The only thing to consider is that the trades that gap up can usually turn out to be the best trades. Though if it's a stock that is typical of gapping I usually avoid trading, see EQN (Equinox).

If I use a stop limit order I don't set a chase of more then 1- 1.5%, i.e if buy is at $10 I won't chase it further than $10.10-$10.15. Again it depends on your strategy.

These are my views on this hopefully someone else can add something.

 

[cutz]

Hi Guys,

Quick question here,

When transferring cash out of IB it asks for a swift code which I entered and it also asks for an account number but no BSB provisions, what I did was enter my bank BSB and account numbers as one in the account number field.

Does this sound about right?

Thanks in advance.

 

[captain black]

I transferred some cash out on Thursday because of the issues IB is having with order vetting at the moment and used both BSB and account no. in the account no. field. The cash was in my bank account on Friday arvo so yes, use the BSB no. and account no. in the same box.

 

[beamstas]

I didn't put BSB in
That's what Swift Code is
Probably doesn't make a difference either way.

 

[stock nub]

Just a few quick questions.

Ive had a look at their website but it is slighty confusing for a novice.

Do they charge a monthly fee to use their platform?

Or is the monthly fee only for live data?

Ive heard brokerage is only $6 is that true?

Are conditional orders also $6 or is their an additional fee?

Thanks stocknub