No Futures Trading Margin on IB today

I got the message via trader workstation with the flashing red notification on the top right.

Intraday is lower margin during trading hours. But for people who do swing trades and hold overnight, it makes no difference.
 
southall said:
I never said it was.
If IB take away intra day margin when the VIX jumps above 30, they don't always reintroduce when the VIX drops to 29. They have in the past waited extra weeks or months. eg We might have to wait until the VIX drops to 20. Hopefully this wont happen, but IB being extra conservative with Risk, you cant rule it out.
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The problem is it's reactive, not proactive.

Just recently VIX went from nothing to super high in a matter of 2 days. S&P went from near ATH to 200-DMA. And now they increase margin requirements after a huge move that was not predicted in advance. Well, people who would have positioned too large would have gotten hosed already before they raised margins. And then they keep margins raised I'm presuming even as markets head back up and stabilize?

They should probably make it rule based. Say, if VIX is >X then automatic full margin required in real time. But seeing as how VIX spikes the way it does, probably a binary and unpredictable event anyway.

Actually IB had the VIX products like UVXY/SVXY/XIV at 100% margin a long time ago already, right? I think way back when it was 50% margin.

Conservative is good and why some clients love them. Also, with so much leverage inherent in these products, should leave a lot of margin room anyway.
 
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cdcaveman said:
if your trading overnight its best not to trade with IB as they will almost without notice raise your margin and liqudate you.. this might seem reasonable but it does not give you a chance to reduce your position in a orderly fashion , they will liqudate you at the very very worse price indiscrimately and you will have no choice which positions they sell off..
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Interesting, I've traded with them for almost 20 years and never had this happen. However I can see it being an issue if you're trading with account(s) that aren't well funded relative to your position sizing.
 
SoesWasBetter said:
I never complain about IB's conservative policies.

If you're a gunslinger, go elsewhere.

Bye!
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IBFX was forced out of business in the USA and transferred their clients to Oanda. That was from the Swiss devaluation Black Swan. Any other examples of margin calls not being met that caused a business to go under?

I would not ascribe client margin calls for the MF Global Peregrine Financial bankruptcies. Bear Sterns and Lehman Bros. were as from their prop trading.

P.S. IB lost $23 million last summer exiting their options market making business.
P.P.S. I am trading with IB today.
 
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RRY16 said:
I smell a rat..this board is notorious for anti IB rants..trade em up!
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Couldn't possibly be because IB is notorious for having horrible customer service, irrational autoliquidation, idiotic explanations...no, must be a "rat".
 
What does removing intraday margin mean exactly?

Suppose the notional value of a futures contract is $100k. Does it mean when I initiate a new position in this contract, I must have $100k cash on hand?

Chubbly said:
If you were planning on trading at IB today take note

Interactive Brokers Bulletin Board

To all traders:

Tue Feb 6 04:11:44 2018 EST

Due to the current market situation we have removed intraday margin for all futures for today.
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cdcaveman said:
Means your gonna pay exchange minimum no less...is my guess
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I think IBKR's margin requirements are usually higher than the exchange's margin requirements. If we pay exchange minimum, wouldn't that be lower than IBKR's?
 
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