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If true I don't think that is a significant factor. If it was significant you could arbitrage these synthetic calls against real calls and get a "free lunch".

Usually it's better to buy an OTM Put and buy the stock instead of buying an ITM Call. At the same strike the position is equivalent and OTM Puts usually are more liquid and have better B/A spreads. Of course, the drawback is that the cash outlay is greater and one more commission.

They shouldn't be busting any of them. I can see busting trades if the mistake was made by the exchanges, but if a trading company makes a mistake that should not be justification for busting. Hey, I have mistakenly entered trades as have most of us...can we call a "do over".

The real crime here is that the SEC is busting trades. Why? Busting trades is the real reason the market loses confidence in the system.

Last time I tried to use Quicken it seemed to have flaws for stock trading. Or at least very inconvenient to use. As I recall it did not handle short stock sales very well. I think it kept adding shares or some other inconvenient stuff, I don't recall the details. Anyway that was a couple of...

Yes, I agree things get murky when you reuse the same legs in other combos. What I do in those murky cases is to compare the original combo price to the current combo price to track my combo P/L. I don't look at the raw IB P/L figures in that case except maybe to reconcile things. I also set...

Hmmm, looks like we are on two different planets. Because Spind0 in the next post also did not see my point I suspect that I might be the guy on Mars. Anyway, I assume you are using IB's TWS software and not some third party add-in (assuming there is such a thing). Typically with TWS you...

I don't get the problem...just go back to the original page where you placed the order. What am I missing? Don

Yup, and I think tax straddles can also result.

Yes that's a problem, but I think that's what most brokers would do. Here's a related horror story: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=51251&perpage=6&highlight=google%20ira%20exercised&pagenumber=1

True, but that is the same for any type of investing within an IRA. Also profits have some tax advantages especially in a Roth IRA. Don

That's true, but most brokers don't try and figure out your hedge and unwind accordingly. What if he had other option positions that look like hedges, which one should the broker assume is the hedge? Unless the broker has the capability to identify hedge positions and agrees to treat them...

You need to look at the April 56 put to approximate what the April 53 put would be worth if the QQQQ's dropped $3. I think the April 56 put closed at about 1.36 around closing time. One other point, always use the bid/ask price not the last transaction price (that could be very old). As...

re: "Is there a way to know how much that option would be worth if price dropped to 45? Or 40? Or 38? Etc.?" Quick and dirty way, just look at the other strikes with the appropriate strike difference. e.g., if you have a $40 put and you want to estimate the effect of a $5 stock price drop...

IMHO your IRA is one of the best places to day trade. No worries about tax reporting, wash sales, etc. If you lose money I don't see the difference if it happens in your IRA or in a non-IRA account. The critical factor is don't gamble if you can't afford to lose.

I don't think broker did anything wrong. How would they know that you wanted the long call closed? Should they just assume you wanted it closed? I think not. If they closed your long call and the stock went up on Monday you might complain that they cost you money. IMHO, it's not...

I called IB and found that there is a configuration parameter to allow/disable guaranteed combos. Combos working now and fills so-far are good. Don

Thanks, I think I'm getting some feel for margin. One point, in my discussion with IB on the above hypothetical account they said the proceeds from the short sales will finance the long positions negating the need for IB to loan any money. This sounds right since there would be $10k from the...

One side note that I would like to add is that IB is a fantastic broker. Over the years I have used many brokers and none can compare to IB in virtually every area. Kudos to them. Don

I am adding cash to my account, but I'm still confused. I spoke to IB and presented them with the following hypothetical position. Account value 10,000 Long stock = 20,000 short stock=10,000 I asked "do I have to borrow any money from IB for the above positions", IB answered "no"...