IB customers lose $88m trading WTI crude

[creator]

Im wondering if they couldnt handle the negative pricing, TWS couldnt show negative prices yesterday, but today it shows them. I wonder if their risk managment systems / auto liquidator were enabled for negative pricing either.

This

I’m one of the lucky ones, bought one contract at 0.01 and tried to exit at -0.4 when realized there was no opportunity no put negative price and market price also didn’t work. The price of the contract stayed at zero until today’s morning when they just closed it so it was nice to suddenly get -37k.
I can’t reach them by phone, they don’t answer my tickets and I’ve managed to reach then in chat only one time when the settlement price was being reviewed so that all they answered.

No the price is final and they liquidated all my positions.

Can anybody advise me what to do? Doesn’t look they are eager to reimburse me.
Also, am I supposed to cover my negative balance now? It’s more than I had there

 

[southall]

WTI contract listed on ICE Europe

Anyone know if WTI on ICE went negative like CL did?

 

[RosyScenario]

The knuckleheads on ET think the margin requirements are too high......

With all due respect, both you and IB don’t understand futures, that’s the problem.

My thoughts exactly. I'm afraid of what will happen once Peterffy is out of the picture

What are you “afraid” of?

Whoa, hold on to your pants for a moment. It wasn't like you woke up to find that CL gapped down into the negative territory in the AH. No, CL actually dropped below zero during the RTH session. It occurred exactly at 14:05 EST. Hence, IB should have been able to auto-liquidate accounts that were trading below their margin requirement.

Exactly. As stated above, IB does not now, nor has it ever known futures.

 

[RedDuke]

This

I’m one of the lucky ones, bought one contract at 0.01 and tried to exit at -0.4 when realized there was no opportunity no put negative price and market price also didn’t work. The price of the contract stayed at zero until today’s morning when they just closed it so it was nice to suddenly get -37k.
I can’t reach them by phone, they don’t answer my tickets and I’ve managed to reach then in chat only one time when the settlement price was being reviewed so that all they answered.

No the price is final and they liquidated all my positions.

Can anybody advise me what to do? Doesn’t look they are eager to reimburse me.
Also, am I supposed to cover my negative balance now? It’s more than I had there

IB prevented any orders on Monday for May contract. If you traded live you would know it. Go and hide under the rock where you crawled from.

 

[southall]

IB prevented any orders on Monday for May contract. If you traded live you would know it. Go and hide under the rock where you crawled from.

Yeah its clear his story doesnt add up, plus that was his first post.

 

[schizo]

Im wondering if they couldnt handle the negative pricing, TWS couldnt show negative prices yesterday, but today it shows them. I wonder if their risk managment systems / auto liquidator were enabled for negative pricing either.

CME has been sending out their "Advisory Notices" since April 3 regarding negative prices. I highly doubt a reputable firm like IB would have overlooked them.

https://www.cmegroup.com/notices/electronic-trading/2020/04/20200403.html#pageNumber=1

 

[southall]

CME has been sending out their "Advisory Notices" since April 3 regarding negative prices. I highly doubt a reputable firm like IB would have overlooked them.

Big firms are slow to do stuff most times.

Besides IB losses were on WTI and not CL. So im not sure if negative prices was the issue.

 

[maxinger]

IB customers lose $88m trading WTI crude

--->

Some traders earned $88m trading WTI crude



Always look at things from correct angle.

-----------------------

 

[creator]

IB prevented any orders on Monday for May contract. If you traded live you would know it. Go and hide under the rock where you crawled from.

Wow, didn’t expect that advice.
For those who have doubts, ready to share the screenshots, don’t see how it change anything though

 

[schizo]

Exactly. As stated above, IB does not now, nor has it ever known futures.

I beg to differ. IB has always been very strict on margins and their handling of the futures is impeccable in my view. If there's a brokerage out there that I feel most confident in investing, it would be IB.

How I see this is two-fold:
1) There was a technical glitch in their system.
2) They're taking the losses from the oil producer and transferring it over to the Fed (ie. on the "fed's book"). I mean, who knows whether the Fed is not behind it?