IB's New Java Platform

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I just started to use the IB platform and I'm not sure if this question has been asked before but the problem still exists (may just by on my platform or really isn't a problem to begin with?).

I've noticed that when I am inputting an order for a stock that is decimalized and then trying to modify the entry price (by left clicking on the Last Price column) I get a very long list of almost useless predefined prices. For example, say IBM's market price is 100.5 and I want to put a limit order below that so I left click the Price column and look at prices from 100.45, 100.46, 100.47, etc all the way to 100.60. What good are these predefined prices if they are not commonly used? It certainly adds more time to complete the execution if you even bother with it. Looking at a few of the stocks that are still trading in fractions, the predefined prices are at commonly used prices, say 1/4 then 9/32, 5/16, 11/32 etc. So, why aren't the commonly used decimals like this as well (i.e. .125, .25, .375 etc)?

Thank you def for your last response.
 
Just wanted to add a couple of comments/questions...

1. Thank you to IB for making the new Java interface. It seems that a bunch of nitpicking stickinthemudders want to complain, but the availability of the Java TWS, with its universal accessability, will make it finally possible to move my account to IB.

Based on running the demo, I want to know:

2. How recordkeeping works. The Java TWS allows downloading trade records, which looks very handy, except they do not contain the actual dollar amounts with commissions included that are needed for taxes. Is it possible to get the Java TWS to produce the exact dollar amounts, or are these type of records available for download from the customer's menu web pages**?

3. Whether anyone can recommend an e-mail provider that has some sort of reliability guarantees, to act as a receptacle for the deemed-very-important-by-the-customer-agreement IB e-mails.

4. Whether adding my voice to the other requests would result in the TWS getting easier order routing. (a drop-down on the order line would be great)

[** Being able to view a mockup of the customer menu web pages would be a useful addition to the demo]
 
greydeath,
Try the big scale - you can tick it off on one of the menu keys. Under big scale your prices will increment in larger ticks. Regarding the amount to equating to fractions, I personally think that would be mistake as locking yourself into sending orders with a specific fraction will handicap your trading. If my experience with markets that trade in decimials is a proxy for what will happen in the States then when markets in liquid stocks get wider than a nickel someone comes in and tightens it up. Thus the decimals/fractions that you are used to will gradually fade away.

trinfo,
Besides the e-mail you will be able to retrieve your statements from the IB website which should show the detail you desire. More important than your e-mail reader (outlook, netscape, yahoo, etc) is the reliability of your internet provider. Other IB users may be more helpful than me as they may be able to tell you how they handled their taxes.

The suggestion about a drop down menu with a routing preference has been made before. I suggest you provide a detailed explanation of what you want in an e-mail to the IB Mgmt link on the web site: http://www.interactivebrokers.com/html/email/emailExec.html

 
I am not sure about the policy of this site as regards mentioning other products, but for the benefit of all I would recommend Tradelog.

This product allows you to import IB's daily or monthly activity reports. It then sorts by date, ticker or trade#.

I used it this year and it was a snap.

Several other brokers are also supported.

http://www.armencomp.com
 
trinfo,
I agree with you as regards a dropdown menu.

IB already offers routing choices depending on the exchange listing the stock you entered.

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to simply enter the stock symbol in a dropdown box and have the quote screen appear with all the routing choices, would save time and create more trading opportunities.
 
"Wouldn't it be nice to be able to simply enter the stock symbol in a dropdown box and have the quote screen appear with all the routing choices, would save time and create more trading opportunities. "

This is what IB should do with Java TWS, as every time I have to choose a different route, I need to type in the ticker again and all prices and sizes again, this is really cumbersome ! ! ! ! RT3 and CyberX users will beat me to the punch



hsanson
 
For those who still don't know it yet :

you can get all routings for a stock or option at once when you type in the stocksymbol in a row , highlight all routing choices in the selection window and then hit "enter" key.

To highlight all routes , click on the first one, keep your "shift" key pressed down and scroll down the list with your mouse.

If you want to select only a few ECN's , keep the "Strg" pressed down and click on the ECN's of your choice.

Once you've finished your selection, hit the "enter" key.


BTW :
This feature works also for options ;
in both versions : TWS 3.0 and JTWS 4.0
 
def, I have another suggestion:

when clicking on an existing symbol to modify it (i.e., right-click on a symbol, choose 'Modify' in the pop-up menu), we're always given a new Ticker window. Why can't the software automatically enter the existing symbol in there, instead of we having to retype everything?

For example, I have an option symbol JDSU Apr 40 Call on a row. I would like to change it to Apr 45 Call quickly, so when modifying the symbol, all the existing information should be already in the Ticker window, so I only have to change the strike price from 40 to 45. Currently, you have to retype everything, enter the symbol name, choose 'Option', click on 'Call' radio button, then fill in the strike price.
 
bigfoot,
i'll pass on your comments. i can see pros and cons to it. The pros - ease of switching strikes. The cons - errors. I.e. if you can change a put to a call but fail to change a price, ditto for strike.

Do you think this is a feature that you and others would use alot?
 
I have no problems whatsoever running TWS 3.0 or JTWS 4.0 on a NAT setup including a firewall setup that blocks all incoming TCP connection requests. Specifically, I'm running a Zyxel Prestige 642R ADSL router. According to the rather vague information IB posts in the FAQ section of their web site they seem to try to take special measures to detect connection sharing setups and deny access in such cases for security reasons. Since NAT is transparent at the network level (OSI layer 3, IP layer in the case of TCP/IP) the only way to detect it is to include IP address and/or IP port information in the payload of IP datagrams. IB definitely does not check IP addresses in this manner, however, it's possible and vaguely hinted at in their FAQ that they're checking ports. If that's the case then there will be problems if the NAT router does not use the same source port number as the client workstation when translating TCP and UDP headers. Unfortunately, I currently do not have the time required to run an experiment to verify this. Maybe def could extract some more detailed information out of IB's programming department wrt the specific connection characteristics they require.

When using a firewall you also have to keep in mind that TWS does not just run a TCP connection to gw1.ibllc.com:4000 but also relies on UDP traffic for quote updates which many firewalls will block by default. If UDP traffic from gw1.ibllc.com:4000 is blocked quote updates will stop and TWS will go offline (pink screen) after a short timeout period.

Dave
 
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