IB is expecting to offer micro-futures at the first day of trading.
It makes sense to keep your IRA in a large FCM that cares about safety of funds rather than go to a small shop that is using minimal margin requirements for IRA accounts.
We do offer these futures. The IB underlying is different from the trading class. Use IB Underlying in TWS to find what you need.
Trading Class, IB Underlying
XAB,IXB
XAE,IXE
XAF,IXM
XAI,IXI
XAK,IXT
XAP,IXR
XAU,IXU
XAV,IXV
XAY,IXY
JKG77,
Here is a bit more on the topic. At one time we did auto-liquidate on this but we do not any longer. While it is used as a pre-order check and we will not accept an order that violates the initial GPV ratio, we simply monitor if the higher, maintenance GPV is hit and contact the client...
It is definitely our intention to not auto-liquidate outside of normal market hours or even outside of most liquid hours. I cannot issue a stronger statement by formal reasons.