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Yes. The net P/L is reported. But for the cross trades (i.e. those not involving USD such as EUR.CHF) I first get my gross gain in CHF converted to USD and then subtract off the USD commissions. For trades with USD as the base currency it's more straight forward.

In some states you need a license to be a flower arranger. All in the name of protecting the public.

If it's a marketable order, snap your fingers and the order is filled.

Not true. Since cost basis for purchases before 1/1/11 and non-covered securities aren't reported, as in the past, the IRS won't be able to determine if your reported cost basis is accurate (unless they request supporting brokerage statements or do an audit). But it starts the process of...

I use IB's year end summary as well to reconcile my +'s and -'s to USD to determine forex P/L that needs to be reported. Basically it's whatever is left after accounting for foreign dividends, gain/loss on foreign stock sales, foreign tax withholding, commissions on forex trades paid in USD...

I had no problem downloading and printing the 1099 from IB's website. Try retrieving it on another computer.

I had a subscription to the print Barron's until about a year ago. It was delivered by a carrier (i.e. not via USPS). Then one day I got a notice from them that to improve their service they were removing the address label that was on the newspaper. I'm sure it was easier for the carrier to...

Unless something else has changed this year (I don't think so), wash sales don't change the total sales proceeds that you report. You subtract the wash sale loss from your original basis to bring that trade to a zero P/L. You then add that amount to the basis of the newly purchased shares...

How is the reporting impacted by my adjusting the average price of a stock in TWS to match my own records? How does IB know which shares I sold when it's only a sale of a portion of a stock I own? FIFO, LIFO, average cost . . .?

I suppose there are better controls around ACH since there's a lag of a day or two between when the funds are first removed from an account and being available in the other account. With a wire, it's immediate and there's no hope of retrieving the money if removed at the other end.

IB charges $30 for phone orders. See the "Misc" tab under Other Fees on their web site where it states, "Telephone orders are only allowed for closing orders, and the stated fee is in addition to all regular commission fees. Fees will be waived in the case of IB technology problems."

Makes no sense that your state taxes would equal total revenue. But to answer your question . . . The amount in state taxes that you deduct on Schedule A is the estimated amount paid for the current year +/- the difference between actual and estimated taxes paid for the prior year. For...

You can use up to $3000 of capital losses to offset other income on your U.S. tax return each year. If your net losses are greater than $3k, the losses carry forward indefinately.

That cash is in the securities account rather than the futures account and hasn't been sweep in from the futures account. So it's covered by SIPC insurance. Anyone have a different understanding?

I'm only familiar with IB so can't compare to others. But I find IB cheap rather than expensive. You pay a commission of 0.2 pips but the spreads are generally tighter. Do some comparisons of real time data to test this. Also, my limit orders are frequently executed at a price better than...

You'll need to do some research on "pattern day trading rule". If you're not a pattern day trader than I believe you're good to go immediately with another stock purchase in a cash account. But if you're deemed to be a pattern day trader, there are restrictions as to how fast you can...

If the amount is very small, like a dollar, they will periodically convert it to your base currency without a commission charge. Otherwise, no. You have to do it yourself and pay a commission.

A virtual fX position is just a trade management tool. It won't have any impact on account closure. In fact, you can wipe it out by right clicking the virtual position in TWS and selecting the option that allows you to change the value. Just change it to zero.

IB has a feature that allows you to estimate your earnings based on your current holdings. When I checked, the possible earnings were a pittance of my portfolio value. And as mentioned, there's some risk that you'll loose qualified dividend treatment (although IB says they take steps to avoid...

I'm not interested in weekend trading but wonder where the action is that results in updated quotes over the weekend. For example, AUD.USD closed yesterday at around 1.0322. Tradingcharts.com shows there's been some activity overnight and now has the latest quote at around 1.0293. GBP.USD is...