Once again you guys dont seem to get the problem with IB's liquidation engine. It's not so much how margin is calculated but the manner which it liquidates your account. Once excess liq below 0 is hit(for whatever reason), it will just auto close at MARKET price at ANY time of the day as long as it can trade, instead of having a human to take a look or wait until normal trading hours etc.. And there is absolutely no customer support.
I understand the reason - it protects itself no matter how badly it fucks up the customer's account, and the pros applaud it as it keeps their account safe. It's not a big problem once you are familiar with this robot process, but for new users who are used to a normal brokerage like optionsxpress' customer service, you will be in for a total shock, whole account can be wiped if not careful because of this liquidation engine.
See my post below on my first encounter with IB's liquidation engine. It wiped out my entire es mini options position using MARKET orders in AFTERHOURS when there is 30pt bid/ask spread.
Luckily it wasnt a huge position, i lost 20k and chalked up as a lesson learned. But trust me you DONT want to be in a position where you are auto liquidated at market price on some illiquid asset as you sit there hopelessly watching your entire account goes to 0 while getting locked out (due to excess liq below 0) with noone to call or help.
If you are new to IB, be very careful about its liquidation engine.
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2832052&highlight=liquidate#post2832052
I understand the reason - it protects itself no matter how badly it fucks up the customer's account, and the pros applaud it as it keeps their account safe. It's not a big problem once you are familiar with this robot process, but for new users who are used to a normal brokerage like optionsxpress' customer service, you will be in for a total shock, whole account can be wiped if not careful because of this liquidation engine.
See my post below on my first encounter with IB's liquidation engine. It wiped out my entire es mini options position using MARKET orders in AFTERHOURS when there is 30pt bid/ask spread.
Luckily it wasnt a huge position, i lost 20k and chalked up as a lesson learned. But trust me you DONT want to be in a position where you are auto liquidated at market price on some illiquid asset as you sit there hopelessly watching your entire account goes to 0 while getting locked out (due to excess liq below 0) with noone to call or help.
If you are new to IB, be very careful about its liquidation engine.
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2832052&highlight=liquidate#post2832052
