Paper Trading Account questions after 6 months of use

[HobbyTrading]

How can I calculate the costs of borrowing "directly" for IB against convert the amounts of Non-Base currency stocks I will be buying? E.G; If I will be buying 50K in EUR stocks, then I can convert this amount so I dont have to pay any rates or commisions or deposit directly from my bank account in EUR, GBP or the others, lloking for the best rates poosible. How do pros do this? What are the things that I have to have in mind or consider while doing this?

IB has a calculation tool which shows you credit and debit interest amount for each currency here: https://interactivebrokers.com/en/index.php?f=1595 You can use this to calculate whether it makes sense to close negative cash positions in non-BASE currencies.

The "spare" amounts are the results of the profits made with this non-base currencies traded?

Yes.

 

[HobbyTrading]

Excuse me , I think Im mistaken. I will try to explain myself. All the orders I place (buy and stop loss) are configured to get triggered at MKT price. I have seen that when I buy straight away, I buy at a higher price, like because Im paying for the "straight away" buying. Am I mistaken?

Sorry, but I still don't understand it. A stock has 3 listed prices: bid price, ask price and last traded price. In a liquid stock with lots of trading is bid < last < ask. However, if you have a very thinly traded stock there is the possibility that the last trade was a long time ago and that the bid and ask price have drifted away from this last price. In that case will bid < ask, but is it (in theory) undefined where last traded price is.
Which situation applies to your case? It is easiest to understand if you provide some actual prices.

 

[xicaob]

Sorry, but I still don't understand it. A stock has 3 listed prices: bid price, ask price and last traded price. In a liquid stock with lots of trading is bid < last < ask. However, if you have a very thinly traded stock there is the possibility that the last trade was a long time ago and that the bid and ask price have drifted away from this last price. In that case will bid < ask, but is it (in theory) undefined where last traded price is.
Which situation applies to your case? It is easiest to understand if you provide some actual prices.

When I placed buy orders and stop loss orders for TSLA, it happened that, having in mind the time when orders get completely fulfilled I bought at a much higher than MKT price at the moment and sold much lower than market price. Maybe it was that way because of the book cueing that our fellow friend several posts above mentioned. I dont know, I have been confused since then.

When I place orders, I do them on when the market its still closed and when they are executed, they are fulfilled at a higher price than the price that appears in my cellphone app for that particular stock in that exact moment. Next time it happens, I will tell you.

 

[kmiklas]

When I placed buy orders and stop loss orders for TSLA, it happened that, having in mind the time when orders get completely fulfilled I bought at a much higher than MKT price at the moment and sold much lower than market price. Maybe it was that way because of the book cueing that our fellow friend several posts above mentioned. I dont know, I have been confused since then.

When I place orders, I do them on when the market its still closed and when they are executed, they are fulfilled at a higher price than the price that appears in my cellphone app for that particular stock in that exact moment. Next time it happens, I will tell you.

You have to use Limit orders.

Market orders don't guarantee the price on your screen at the moment you click "Submit." My experience is that you pay a premium for market orders--which also seems to be your experience.

Here's a warning I got from IB. Check your email for a similar notice.

IBKR FYI: Important information about Market Orders
Dear Client,

We noticed that you have submitted Market Orders in the last month in your account(s) U*******. Please see important information below regarding this order type.

• Please note that a Market Order is an instruction to trade your order at any price available in the market, subject to any additional instructions for handling/simulating the particular order type you specified and other order conditions you specify when submitting your order. A Market Order is not guaranteed a specific trade price and may trade at an undesirable price. If you would like greater control over the trade prices you receive, please submit your order using a Limit Order, which is an instruction to place your order at or better than the specified limit price, or submit an algorithmic Market Order (IBALGO).
• In accordance with our obligations as a broker, large Market Orders may be split into smaller orders, which will be traded over time. This is designed to reduce the impact of these large orders on the market, including the impact your order has on the market price.
• Please note that we will send you similar FYIs each month in which you place a Market Order, to remind you of this information, which IBKR is providing in accordance with its regulatory obligations.

Interactive Brokers

 

[HobbyTrading]

When I place orders, I do them on when the market its still closed

So you use the previous day's closing price to determine the limits on your orders. That can indeed explain unexpected fills shortly after the market opens.

 

[xicaob]

So you use the previous day's closing price to determine the limits on your orders. That can indeed explain unexpected fills shortly after the market opens.

I review my portfolio on weekends, mostly on saturdays and placed the orders for next trading sessions. I will start to begin placing Limit orders (maybe I will try IB Algos) By the way, any experiencie with adaptative or Mid price?

 

[HobbyTrading]

I review my portfolio on weekends, mostly on saturdays and placed the orders for next trading sessions. I will start to begin placing Limit orders (maybe I will try IB Algos)

I see. In that case are you facing the risk that the opening price on Monday morning is far away from the closing price on the previous Friday (which the most recent price at your disposal for your analysis during the weekend).

By the way, any experiencie with adaptative or Mid price?

No, I don't have experience with those. I don't trade manually, only have software running via the API. When it wants to place a trade it first looks at the bid and ask price. And determines the limit price for the order line based on these prices. In some cases, if there is a large spread between bid and ask price, will it submit a price halfway between bid and ask. Oftentimes do these orders get filled right away. If they don't get filled the software adapts the limit price.

 

[xicaob]

Super helpful your inputs, guys! Thanks so much