Interactive Brokers: Fixed or Tiered?

Dean1406 said:
Thanks! Yes, exactly. i'm not getting any SMART quotes through the API. I've also tried unsuccessfully ARCA and ISLAND just to see if anything works other than BATS. That's why i'm guessing it might have something to do with the market data subscriptions. I've also queried IB about this. It's important because the SMART routing may reduce trading commissions. I'll be happy to hear any other thoughts about this issue... Thanks again
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As HobbyTrading suggested, it is most likely a data issue. Log in to Account Management, select Manage Account-->Trade Configuration-->Market Data. Click on the North America tab.

I believe you need to check:

US Equity and Options Add-On Streaming Bundle
US Securities Snapshot and Futures Value Bundle

If you also want NYSE ARCA quotes, you'll need to check:

NYSE ArcaBook

I believe US Equity and Options Add-On Streaming Bundle is the same as selecting:

AMEX (Network B/CTA)
NASDAQ (Network C/UTP)
NYSE (Network A/CTA)
 
You might be confusing two API fields, 'exchange' and 'primaryExchange'. The first is your request direction which is normally 'SMART', the second is the exchange where the product is listed, ex. 'NASDAQ' but can be left empty if there are no ambiguity issues.
 
I guess it means that if you select Fixed Cost all items are included, thus not listed separately. By the way, in that example is the fixed cost $150k for 30 million shares of $5 each. Thus for a total trade value of $150M. At the bottom of the page they show an example of a $1M trade. These examples are not relevant for me, as I don't trade that large quantities in a single trade.
 
omasoud said:
So is this example then incorrect:
https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/index.php?f=713&nhf=T
?

The fixed cost is always $150K for 30Mil share sale. It does not add the (0.0000218 * Value of Aggregate Sales) transaction fee or the (0.000119 * #shares) FINRA fee. The Tiered column adds them.
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I am almost positive that in the Fixed commission structure that IB now charges the SEC fee on sales. I am pretty sure that changed a year or two (or more) ago. Maybe they didn't bother to update their example.
 
Hi Everybody,

I would appreciate some help with this doubt: is there a best option (Fixed or Tiered) for someone who just put Market On Open orders, independently of any other caracheteristics of the order?

Thanks´a lot.
 
FernandoL said:
Hi Everybody,

I would appreciate some help with this doubt: is there a best option (Fixed or Tiered) for someone who just put Market On Open orders, independently of any other caracheteristics of the order?

Thanks´a lot.
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Look at the exchange fees on the Tiered section of the IB website. You will see that for market-on-open or limit-on-open orders, the main exchanges usually have discounts. I am seeing between 0.0005 to 0.0015 per share for the exchanges most opening orders would route to. The base IB rate is 0.0035 for <= 300,000 shares a month so it seems like if you are strictly doing opening orders, then you would paying the same or less than the Fixed cost (0.005 per share). If you are doing more than 300,000 shares a month, then the Tiered pricing becomes even better. If you are entering a lot of odd lot opening orders, then the minimum ticket price might come into play (Fixed is 1.00 and Tiered is 0.35). There are a lot of factors that you need to consider before changing and only you know exactly where most of your orders route to. I.e., if you do a lot of NYSE market-on-open orders, then the Tiered rate is 0.0035 + 0.0010 = 0.0045 per share which is better than Fixed. If you are predominantly routing to ISLAND or ARCA, then you won't see any benefit (0.0035 + 0.0015 = 0.005).
 
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