SSFs in IB - Help?

[lindq]

I swing trade stocks, and I'm transferring IRA funds to IB as they are now permitting SSFs in an IRA.

However, I haven't traded SSFs in the past and am looking for a little help.

Specifically:

1. Where do I obtain the symbols?
2. What's the deal with expiration? How can I determine expiration dates, and what do I need to do to roll over an SSF to a new cycle if I want to hold? Do I need to close current position and open a new one? I assume this will incur another commish?
3. Do SSFs accurately track the underlying? If, for example, I receive a sell signal at a certain percentage gain on an underlying, will the SSF directly reflect that?

Thanks for the information.

 

[saschabr]

you can get them on IB website. for intc contracts,
enter intc into tws -> select all -> select all contracts
-> you will now see the cont with the highest volume,
delete all others. this is the best way to decide between
one and nqlx.

they track the stock 99.99%

 

[saschabr]

why do you want SSF's
i cannot see any reason except shorting issues.

 

[lindq]

Quote from saschabr:

why do you want SSF's
i cannot see any reason except shorting issues.

Thanks for info. My regular trading account is no problem as I have the cash I need. But my IRA has been a little tight for all the trades I want to take, and SSFs of course will give me some leverage for times when those particular stocks that have an SSF pop up on my trading alerts.

 

[nasdaqmadness]

go to one chicago and nqlx web site to get tickers. SSFs work pretty good for swing trades but the spread is a bit wide for fast day trades or scalping. You can buy or sell out a month or 2 to avoid having to roll over to next month right away. And yes they follow the the stock or index quite well however you will notice a slight difference in price because of cost of carry etc for the future. Example qqq at 34.22 qqq future at 34.27 but will track with that same .05 difference give or take. The only thing bad about SSFs is that you are mostly dealing with MMs. If there are no sellers between the spread and you want long right now you will pay the ask period. And that can jump up alot if the stock starts moving up. for the short term more than the stock. spreads will usually be streached twards the the direction of the movement. Just watch them for a while you will get used to them. They have very low overnight margin so you will like that.

happy trading