Interactive Brokers customer support totally broken

[ajacobson]

December 2017 Average Commission per Average
Cleared Client Order Order Size
Stocks $2.46 2,340 shares
Equity Options $6.05 8.8 contracts
Futures $6.35 3.6 contracts

Lot's of Darts, but tiny order size. It's who they want to be - that most likely contributes to the poor customer service. Sort of like being in an abusive marriage - the partners don't care for each other, but nobody else would have them.

 

[helpme_please]

You are lucky to be missing just a data feed. I can't log into ANY of the IB apps - TWS, mobile or web for the last 2 hours.

I have never encountered login access denied during trading hours with IB. Data problems, yes. But never login or orders problems. Did this happen on 5Jan18 Friday?

 

[ET180]

First of all, surely u aren't putting all your assets with a single broker? I mean, you should only keep the minimum that you need for margin plus a cushion so you don't face auto liq if it came to it. I sure as hell don't stick my entire net worth into IB!

Assuming that's the case, then with the emergency broker, you should be able to upload funds from your bank acct if required.

I try to keep as much money in the accounts / investments which generate the best return for a given amount of risk. For example, my money market account pays interest. My checking account does not. Therefore, I try to keep as little in my checking account as possible. If we have a 2008 situation where the financial system looks a bit shaky, then yes, I may move money out of the brokerage accounts in favor of somewhere safer. I'm taking the risk that situation won't happen overnight otherwise we will all likely have much bigger problems anyway.

If you are keeping enough cash in a bank account (likely just losing purchasing power to inflation since most liquid bank accounts don't pay interest or an incredibly small amount of interest) to hedge your brokerage account in the event that you cannot log in, then that represents a pretty hefty opportunity cost. And by the time you wire the money over and then wait for your other broker to clear the funds, the position with your other broker is likely not looking good.

 

[Visaria]

The amounts that can be lost on a trade far outweigh the loss in purchasing power of cash. I personally maintain 50% plus cash liquidity in interest paying bank accounts but that's my preference.

 

[ET180]

The amounts that can be lost on a trade far outweigh the loss in purchasing power of cash. I personally maintain 50% plus cash liquidity in interest paying bank accounts but that's my preference.

True, but holding cash comes with an opportunity cost. Unless you believe that the reward : risk offered by the market does not make sense for investment anyway. Otherwise, if you're willing to go that far, then I assume that you also have a backup satellite internet connection and generator power backup to protect against power failure.

 

[beefcaketrade]

The amounts that can be lost on a trade far outweigh the loss in purchasing power of cash. I personally maintain 50% plus cash liquidity in interest paying bank accounts but that's my preference.

I suppose you'd also suggest low cost ETFs and buy and hold?

That works for high networth individuals or retirees looking for financial stability and limiting exposure to risk assets like stocks.

But what is the home gamer with $20K liquid assets to do? Split $10K in savings account earning 1% and the $10K in stocks earning or losing whatever? Or pool that $20K and roll the dice? But everyone has different risk appetites. So there's no real answer to that question.

 

[Visaria]

Yeah, i guess you have to have a certain amount of wealth in order to spread it amongst different financial firms/banks. Probably at least $100k.

 

[Visaria]

I assume that you also have a backup satellite internet connection and generator power backup to protect against power failure.

Depending on where you live and the amount of assets that you control, this is something that should be looked into. I have 2 ISPs myself plus mobile phone internet but haven't considered power back up.

 

[userque]

but haven't considered power back up.

A large UPS could fit the bill if a generator is impractical.

 

[Visaria]

What's a UPS?