IB Initial Margin on ES is 22,000

NewTraderAdventure said:
i know what it is

maybe the fact that you can sell the long is the problem

poss they cant prohibit that , so they cover their ass in case you do something stupid
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Yes that is possible but then they should just not allow that trade to take place unless you have sufficient margin to cover it.
 
Overnight said:
IB (and any FCM) has the right to charge whatever they wish, so long as they meet exchange minimums. They could zoom that overnight margin to 1,000,000 bux if they wish, it is perfectly legal. Outrageous? Sure. Can't blame them though for playing it safe. Free monies for them.
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Yea of course they could but that'd be retarded and they'd lose all their customers since the notional value of one ES contract is only ~130k, 1m is like 7 times of that.

There's a difference between playing it safe and pure stupidity, raising the margin to 3 times that of the exchange requirement falls into the latter category. Current maintenance margin of 28900 implies a 22% move on the ES, apparently IB thinks they'd have trouble liquidating positions thru a 22% move on the ES.
 
As traders, ultimately what we are is risk managers, within the confines of our trading capitals. Many in this board continues to support IB's right to set margin as whatever they want. Yes, they do have that right. My issue is the arbitrariness of IB's actions. And because of that arbitrariness, IB becomes a risk to it's customers. If we are simply day trading, it doesn't matter much. It's unpleasant. Many will rightfully view it as constrained ability to take advantage of the current market situation and so on. But there are traders that may be shaken out of positions because of the arbitrariness of the margin. If CME sets margin at 12k, and every broker in the world has it at 12k or less, how can IB set it at 34k?

IB becomes another risk factor to it's customers. A risk that must me managed. Another risk like it's liquidation algos gone wild
 
NewTraderAdventure said:
nuts?

maybe its you thats nuts
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IB offers 1:4 margin for a large number of single stocks and many of them have been making 20+% intraday moves recently, the implied volatility is clearly far higher than the SPX yet IB thinks its safer to offer more margin for these things.

You either do not trade at all or you are just another rando piker on ET who doesn't know jack.
 
DarthSidious said:
As traders, ultimately what we are is risk managers, within the confines of our trading capitals. Many in this board continues to support IB's right to set margin as whatever they want. Yes, they do have that right. My issue is the arbitrariness of IB's actions. And because of that arbitrariness, IB becomes a risk to it's customers. If we are simply day trading, it doesn't matter much. It's unpleasant. Many will rightfully view it as constrained ability to take advantage of the current market situation and so on. But there are traders that may be shaken out of positions because of the arbitrariness of the margin. If CME sets margin at 12k, and every broker in the world has it at 12k or less, how can IB set it at 34k?

IB becomes another risk factor to it's customers. A risk that must me managed. Another risk like it's liquidation algos gone wild
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Exactly, its like IB wants to force liquidate your positions with these ridiculous margin hikes.
 
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