Found that dude trading CL with an IB account

[Overnight]

What a lively thread. Let's do it again for the June expiration shall we?

That's only 7 trading sessions away. I am getting the sense we will not go negative again, because of the re-openings going on in the USA now.

 

[Alexpung]

I think TWS and the back end could handle negative prices. It would seem the boolean flag had not been enabled for the oil contracts.

No software update was required in TWS to handle negative prices the next day.

They have a gazillion of contract symbols but they don't verify the accuracy of the contract settings.

I once have to email IB to fix the min tick size rolling the Nikkei400 future contract as a spread, and I have to give them the link of the JPX spec before they acknowledged that their config is wrong.

 

[nillionaire]

Accordingly, our Mr. Shah, who just couldn't resist buying 212 contracts, was charged margin at $30 a pop . I am sure Mr. Shah didn't think for a moment how the fuck his $77k account is carrying 212 CL contracts rofl

How the F does IB reduce initial margin for crude to $30 per contract while it's in a free fall down to zero?! I have never seen the margin for crude less than $2000.

 

[BAT31]

The more I read this thread, the more I think that all futures traders should run as fast as they can from IB. WTF?

 

[maxinger]

The more I read this thread, the more I think that all futures traders should run as fast as they can from IB. WTF?

similarly IB should run as fast as they can from such trader.
that trader that caused huge loss was too inexperienced.

IB needs a better system to prevent such thing from happening.
They also need a better system to screen out inexperienced traders from taking such enormous risk.

 

[BAT31]

similarly IB should run as fast as they can from such trader.
that trader that caused huge loss was too inexperienced.

Good point. I never considered that. However, when I think about it, discount brokers need fresh blood like Shah; hence, it's not in their nature to run away from traders like that, when they should.

 

[maxinger]

Good point. I never considered that. However, when I think about it, discount brokers need fresh blood like Shah; hence, it's not in their nature to run away from traders like that, when they should.

I was like Shah years ago. and I had to top up my account numerous times.
Newbie traders do all sorts of funny dangerous things.
Shah seems to be rather inexperienced.

professional trader would have waited for confirmation before taking a long position.
professional trader wouldn't trade contract that is expiring soon.

anyway IB and Shah have learned a big lesson.

 

[southall]

IB made clean their clients' losses. If the clients were dealing with a typical spread betting firm, they will be bankrupt for sure.

Retail traders are protected from negative balances in spread betting accounts.
Account wipeout, so worse than IB, but not bankruptcy.

 

[southall]

If IB will all their teams of compliance and billions did not know about this change. What chance did the average Joe have?

I also put a lot of the blame on CME for not having any serious circuit breakers.
ES falls 20% and trading has to stop for the rest of the day.

CL falls over 100% and trading just continues as if its a completely normal and expected thing

 

[NotKenGriffin]

I also put a lot of the blame on CME for not having any serious circuit breakers.
ES falls 20% and trading has to stop for the rest of the day.

CL falls over 100% and trading just continues as if its acompletely normal and expected thing.

You keep saying this, but CL trading was halted multiple times due to CME circuit breakers on the day it went negative. You can’t entirely stop trading on a physically settled product (especially one day before expiration). The sophisticated clients will just move to OTC while the speculators will have to panic sell on the last day to avoid delivery or face a massive lawsuit. Things would have been worse if trading was halted and suddenly ever FCM had orders to close positions at any price on the last day of trading.