Recent content by minioptions

I like OptionAids Trade Track. It gives me results of plans and strategies. It doesn't do notes on each trade.

You might want to look at the Chicago Stock Exchange.

Thanks IB. Now I understand your margin policy. To sum it up it means move the account to ThinkOrSwim.

The point is that the day margins will be the same as the overnight margins.

IB: "In light of the market volatility and the continuing turmoil in financial services stocks, IB will eliminate intraday margin reductions. Commencing at 12:00 EST today (18:00 CET), contracts which utilize value-at-risk margin models such as SPAN, Eurex, or TIMS in the commodity sub-account...

I have no idea what JBO stands for.

I liked MultiCharts and I liked the idea of having a variety of data feeds. But ultimately the program is only as good as the data feed. IB's feed has no history. I didn't find any satisfactory free feeds. TradeStation is a more advanced product. A new release of MultiCharts is due very soon.

My source for the SPAN risk parameter file is the CME. Files are updated four times a day 10:30, 12:00, 3:15 & 5:00 CT. I can't provide example or the difference between SPAN and IB margin requirements. I closed my IB account after getting margin calls when IB didn't go to standard day...

I traded futures and options on futures with IB and could never figure out how they get their margin required numbers. Their margins never agreed with the SPAN numbers from the exchanges. I've seen IB's margins change by $5,000 from one minute to the next and the underlying had barely moved...

An LLC provide the same liability protection and anonymity as a corporation but are easier to maintain and not subject to Corp taxes. EIN is a federal tax number that's required for any company.

Be aware that accounts in an LLC or Corp name pay professional fees for data.

reply to traderNik ES Condors (put and call credit spreads on the S&P 500 mini contract). With the S&P down 50, some of the short side of the puts were at the money.

I had adequate margin at the close Friday. Foreign markets tanked Monday but U.S. markets were closed. Margin changes don't take effect until the market opens.

On Jan 22nd the markets opened with the Dow down 400 and the S&P down 50 points. The margin requirements on futures for normal trading hours are half the over night requirements. I figured that the market would move up like it usually does on a very low open but if it didn't I would close or...