May I ask do you use its Rollover Options trade entry? I often have to roll over option positions using that tab and it is so fucking slow, like 2-3 mins to load one single roll quotes. Does it happen to you?
IBKR - NOTICE OF AMENDMENT: Interactive Brokers LLC Client Agreement
- Thread starter tonyf
- Start date
May I ask do you use its Rollover Options trade entry? I often have to roll over option positions using that tab and it is so fucking slow, like 2-3 mins to load one single roll quotes. Does it happen to you?
I don't use Rollover Options. I usually trade a 'basket' of options as a single trade. Mostly spreads with 1 or 2 single options ... total of ~8-10 orders. All in or all out.
The trade is hedged against tails, and one of my fears is that IB will screw it up by going into panic mode and liquidating a position that puts the overall trade, and account, at risk.
Last edited:
Like that OptionTrader tab or something else?
Absolutely. I left IB in large part because "The Algorithm" decided that a 5 point SPX spread could lose more than 5 points and would randomly autoliquidate parts of the spread in response based on bid/ask rather than the actual maximum possible loss (European options so no early exercise risk and cash settled so no delivery risk). And yes, they'll cause a cascading loss by autoliquidating in random order, experienced that as well. The best part is good luck finding a rep there that can even grasp the concepts you're talking about, let alone do anything to remedy it.
Well that's just frightening. A couple of follow-on questions ...
1) Did the action that you described occur on or just before expiration of one of the options in the spread ? I had heard that on expiration day the "algorithm" can do some pretty erratic things.
2) How far apart was the price spread you described ?
3) Did you receive any notice prior to the liquidation ?
4) Where did you go, do they liquidate based on an erroneous "algorithm", how are the fills, how do the commissions compare, and can orders be submitted electronically ?
1. It happened well before. It's most likely on a spread that's way ITM or OTM where the MMs stop quoting realistic spreads, but the driving factor is really that The Algorithm bases the value on the bid/ask rather than the actual max value of the spread so any time they go out of whack it could cause liquidation. I used to actually put my own GTC orders in to protect against this.
2. I've seen it mainly on 5 point SPX spreads. The bid/ask isn't to total cause of the liquidation, it's more a case of what the bid/ask shows as the worst case liquidation value, which The Algorithm grabs and compares to your equity.
3. No, although I suppose if had been logged in at the time I might have seen my numbers go negative.
4. I am with Dash clearing with Apex. They have exactly none of the nonsense that IB has, plus I have an actual assigned rep who answers my calls 24/7, takes immediate action, and knows WTF he's talking about (almost always more than I do, which is what I hope for in a good rep). I don't doubt that if you went with Robert Morse or one of the other introducing brokers here you'd also get great service and access to an API and all the products you currently trade. Heck even using the old OptionsXpress platform through Schwab is lightyears ahead of IB when it comes to not screwing the customer.
But they are cash-settled? And always supported by cash? They won't even let you place the trade if you didn't have enough money in the account to cover the potential losses from the spread? What do they care about any losses? The loss can be $quadrillions but you will only be limited to the spread.
For what I trade they're very comparable. However I'm not making several thousand trades a day where a couple cents per round turn makes a difference, so YMMV depending on how you trade.