IG Markets - Platform Faults & Gotchas

[johnnyg]

Id be careful about using the IT charting Package on IG aswell. I checked LNC today at lunch and the chart was showing a long spike threw my paper stop level so I took down the price of my stop and went on my merry way. I come home tonight load up the chart and the chart shows that the bar never probed down threw my stop (which I left on the chart) with a high of 2.34 and low of 2.15. Look on the ASX website and shows the high as 2.19 and low as 1.90. Its almost like the chart changed the bar from lunch threw to tonight.

I think im going to get a new charting package.........

 

[local]

Brad,
How did they force you to use guaranteed stops?
My account is below 10k and I don't use guaranteed stops.

"IG don't let you use limit orders while the market isn't open"

I don't use limit orders but I have checked it when market was closed and Limit order went through as well as Stop.It came up in the Orders to Open window.

 

[skc]

Do not want bucketshop broker
Heard too many stories of them chasing stops -- i don't care if they do or not but feeling uneasy about your broker isn't a great place to start
Prefer DMA
Can get cheaper brokerage elsewhere
IG don't let you use limit orders while the market isn't open
Can't participate in the auction
They are fine when you are setting up your account but hard to get ahold of after that
Some prices occur on IG that never occured in the real market
Sometimes it seems they add a bit of "noise" in quiet times.. This probably has something to do with chasing stops
They force me to use guaranteed stops because my account is less than 10k, which means every time i trade i incur a fee that i do not want to have to pay

One thing i will admit is their platform is quite good
And when i requested funds be transferred out they did it fast

They are my own personal reasons why i have gone elsewhere. I may be completely wrong about all of these things, so my advice if you are using IG is Do Your Own Research.

Brad

Brad, I have no association with IG but have used them for some time without any problems.

They now (in last 2 months) have a Pure Deal DMA platform which is DMA for shares. With the DMA, you can place limit order at the open. The only downside is that there is no GTC limit orders.

$8 each way commission is pretty cheap. The only cheaper option I know of is IB. But with IG, they rebate your data cost on just 4 trades a month! So that quickly pays for the slightly higher commission.

Throw in free news, free platform and plenty of research, makes it a very good provider for non-professional / small account traders imho.

 

[beamstas]

Brad,
How did they force you to use guaranteed stops?
My account is below 10k and I don't use guaranteed stops.

"IG don't let you use limit orders while the market isn't open"

I don't use limit orders but I have checked it when market was closed and Limit order went through as well as Stop.It came up in the Orders to Open window.

Rubbish. Go and check for yourself. The work fine.. As long as the price you have your limit set at is below the current price. If you try to set a limit above the closing price it doens't work.

They put you on a "limited account" if you say your trading funds are less than 10k. I guess you got lucky.

Brad, I have no association with IG but have used them for some time without any problems.

They now (in last 2 months) have a Pure Deal DMA platform which is DMA for shares. With the DMA, you can place limit order at the open. The only downside is that there is no GTC limit orders.

$8 each way commission is pretty cheap. The only cheaper option I know of is IB. But with IG, they rebate your data cost on just 4 trades a month! So that quickly pays for the slightly higher commission.

Throw in free news, free platform and plenty of research, makes it a very good provider for non-professional / small account traders imho.

I'll concede $8 EW is cheap. I know of 3 places other than IB which offer cheaper than $8 each way... 4 if you count IB.
Brokerage is not everything though, you are right there also.

Im taking my trading elsewhere for the reasons i have already stated. I am not trying to make IG lose business and i really couldn't care less if you guys keep using it. I was asked to state why i am not using them anymore and thats exactly what i did. Take it or leave it im not changing my mind.

 

[skc]

Rubbish. Go and check for yourself. The work fine.. As long as the price you have your limit set at is below the current price. If you try to set a limit above the closing price it doens't work.

Take it easy mate. There is no need to sound aggressive and rubbish other people's posts.

Im taking my trading elsewhere for the reasons i have already stated. I am not trying to make IG lose business and i really couldn't care less if you guys keep using it. I was asked to state why i am not using them anymore and thats exactly what i did. Take it or leave it im not changing my mind.

I just wanted to let you know that a few of your stated reasons are untrue with their DMA feature, and offer a view of looking at costs across all dimensions.

Good luck with your new broker.

 

[beamstas]

Take it easy mate. There is no need to sound aggressive and rubbish other people's posts.

Well it's impossible!

I just wanted to let you know that a few of your stated reasons are untrue with their DMA feature, and offer a view of looking at costs across all dimensions.

Good luck with your new broker.

Yes Mate, i realise they have a PureDMA Platform. I wasn't with the "DMA Feature, i was with the "Bucket Shop" feature.
For the same requirements of the IG PureDMA you could be using IB or MF Global........ I know which i'd prefer!

Brad

 

[>Apocalypto<]

On 26/3, I ordered long Linc at stop 1.96 and got filled at 2.048. Today, my sell stop at 2.04 was filled at 1.945.

Total slippage .1830 or around 9%

Is this common?

Did you place these orders before or after the market opened?

If you place before then it's normal and your fault not IG. If you trade OCT and the order is put before the market open you can only be filled on an actual price. Hence filled on open after a gap.

cheers

 

[James Austin]

the main issue i've had with IG is their charts do not always represent their price, ie stops hit and chart doesnt show price reaching stop position.

today IG emailed this to customers.

Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, which came into effect on 1 November 2007 in Europe. It sets out high-level provisions governing the organisational and conduct of business requirements that should apply to regulated firms. IG Markets has a general duty to conduct our business honestly, fairly and professionally and to act in your best interests when executing orders. More specifically, when we are executing orders on your behalf we will provide you with “best execution”.

Best execution is determined with regard to price, costs, speed, likelihood of execution and settlement, size, nature or any other consideration relevant to the execution of an order.

IG Markets Limited is incorporated and regulated in the UK and is required to comply with MiFID in that jurisdiction. This also means that Australian clients get the benefits of being covered by this directive, so you can always be assured that you will be given the best execution.

You would think the above would require IG charts and prices to be in synch. But after speaking to Martin a supervisor at IGs helpdesk (1800 601 734), apparently IG have only to do their best.

oh well, the cost of the tuition.

 

[onedognight]

apocalypto
The long order was placed before the 1.96 stop was reached and the sell order was in place from the day before it was filled.

In discussion with IG, the 'best effort' to fill an order was explained. From the chart, there did not appear to be any sudden gap so I can only assume that the number of orders to be filled at that precise time was such as to cause quite a delay before my order was processed.

I can cop this if it is not too frequent but if it happens often then I want to be with a broker who can process orders more quickly. So I guess I'm asking if other IG users who place stop orders are happy with their slippage levels.

 

[sinner]

I have had as little as $100 in my account and still traded without guaranteed stops?

 

[beamstas]

I have had as little as $100 in my account and still traded without guaranteed stops?

When you apply you have to choose "limited account" or "normal account"
If you put your net liquid assets as less than 10k you are forced to choose "limited account".

Once you have your account it makes no difference how much money you have in your account

 

[Aussiest]

I just got hit with 5 points spread on IGmarkets

I know this threa has been inactive for some time, but i noticed a 12 point spread on the aussie cash mini contract tonight, at about 10:30pm.

I wonder, also, if their demo account is slightly different to their 'real money' account, in terms of spreads?

 

[ShareGuy]

8 point spread at 11:50 then bid came down to make it a 5 point spread again. Not sure about the demo a/c

 

[Aussiest]

Just lately, internet explorer has been crashing on my computer, ever since i installed IG Markets.

I'm going to look at MF Global and First Prudential next week.

Still have IB in mind, just don't know enough about it yet...

 

[kapow]

Does anyone know exactly how IG's stop losses are triggered?

I had a short position on the FTSE with a non-guaranteed stop at 4119. Looking at the chart, the price only hit 4118 before reversing, yet my trade was closed at 4119.

Am I missing something or is this a bit dodgy?

 

[James Austin]

Does anyone know exactly how IG's stop losses are triggered?

I had a short position on the FTSE with a non-guaranteed stop at 4119. Looking at the chart, the price only hit 4118 before reversing, yet my trade was closed at 4119.

Am I missing something or is this a bit dodgy?

IGs spread will add+1/-1 to the chart price

so high = 4118 on chart = buy or close shorts sitting at 4119

JA

 

[Trembling Hand]

Does anyone know exactly how IG's stop losses are triggered?

I had a short position on the FTSE with a non-guaranteed stop at 4119. Looking at the chart, the price only hit 4118 before reversing, yet my trade was closed at 4119.

Am I missing something or is this a bit dodgy?

Thats a bid chart. short stops are triggered on Ask price.

 

[kapow]

Thanks guys, that is good to know.

 

[MichaelD]

Thats a bid chart. short stops are triggered on Ask price.

Precisely why I don't use intraday stops with IG Markets - they don't quite work the way you expect them to including triggering when they would never have been touched in a real market.

Doesn't matter that we don't like it - it's their ball park, their rules and we've invited ourselves into their game.

 

[Aussiest]

Does anyone know exactly how IG's stop losses are triggered?

I had a short position on the FTSE with a non-guaranteed stop at 4119. Looking at the chart, the price only hit 4118 before reversing, yet my trade was closed at 4119.

Am I missing something or is this a bit dodgy?

IG was spiking all over the place last night (the aussie cash 200).