Jump to content
View New Content
SteadyOptions is an options trading forum where you can find solutions from top options traders. Join Us!

We’ve all been there… researching options strategies and unable to find the answers we’re looking for. SteadyOptions has your solution.

Trading and getting fills with Interactive Brokers

cwerdna

By cwerdna
in General Board

 Share

Recommended Posts

Edwin Hero Member

Edwin

Posted
Posted

Kim, when you're opening orders for calendars (e.g. PCLN, CMG, GOOG, etc.) do you have GTC orders open for multiple strikes on both the call and put side to see what you can get filled?  If not, are you looking at the mid price for all of the calendars (near at the money) to see which ones you might be able to get filled at the best price?  That's what I typically do when putting orders in, but I'm viewing the mid-prices in TOS and putting in IB orders in webtrader.  The mid prices can be misleading, and typically I'm not able to get filled at mid-price.  I usually have to go quite a bit higher than mid especially in less liquid products like PCLN and CMG.  There is no functionality to pause execution in either webtrader or MobileTWS, and I have no access to TWS from work.

  • Replies 333
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

Kim
Kim

Based on numerous requests, I would like to describe a process of placing a trade on Interactive Brokers platform.   First, it is important to understand that getting good fills is critical in short

Kim
Kim

I'm often asked how to get good fills with IB.   So first, it is important to understand that getting good fills is critical in short term trading. Trading is a business. As in any business, prices

dwilliams8649
dwilliams8649

For closing out orders in IB the best way I found was to go into Option Trader, then go to the combo tab...click on clear chains, then click on load my chains. TWS will then load only the chains that

Posted Images

Kim Hero Member

Kim

Posted
Posted

Yes, most of the time I would put GTC limit orders at multiple strikes. And I'm doing exactly the same thing - look at the mid at TOS and place orders at IB. With CMG or PCLN, it is actually not unusual to get files better than mid. Have seen it more than once. This is because prices really fluctuate on those stocks, and you might just be able to take advantage of temporary dip in price to get surprisingly good fill.

meshka Jr.Member

meshka

Posted
Posted

Kim can you please post a screen shot of having multiple orders with multiple strikes going at the same time. I'm a bit confused and don't want to have a bunch or trades all filled at the same time. I'm sure what you are talking about is easy enough to do I'm just not understanding how to implement it in a safe way.

Thanks

meshka Jr.Member

meshka

Posted
Posted

Sorry I'm still not getting it. with the current AMZN trade for example you posted that you had a

 

BTO Nov 20 575put

STO Oct 23 575 put

 

when you say multiple strikes do you setup orders for 580 puts of the same trade and see what price you get?  An example would help me understand. 

Thanks

  • 2 months later...
Thinkola Hero Member

Thinkola

Posted
Posted

Hi!

 

Newbie here: What subscriptions to market data  in IB do I need: Very thankful for your help to get up and running to the real time prices we need!

 

(I was already recommended the CBOE Futures for $2.50 pr month and Market Data Express Indices for $2.25 monthly)

 

 Quote Bundles




Level II (Deep Book)


Fixed Income


Marco Hero Member

Marco

Posted
Posted

US Value Bundle waiver gives you most of what you need for SO trades and is free if you have commissions over 30 (?) USD per months think. If you trade VIX and RUT/SPX trades you will need a couple more but they are fairly cheap.

TWS will tell you if you add a ticker and don't have real time data. You usually can then either choose to have delayed prices or it takes you to the subscription page. So stick in the tickers you want to see and you'll see if you have the necessary subscriptions  

  • Upvote 1
tradelon Jr.Member

tradelon

Posted
Posted

Kim or perhaps another member, I have read before there is a setting on IB that enables more aggressive executions that perhaps costs a little bit more for execution?  Would you be able to share once again?

Thanks

aiti Jr.Member

aiti

Posted
Posted

@ tradelon


Only for those using TWS from Interactive Brokers:



In the TWS Configuration menu you will find " Smart Routing". If you click on this the smart Routing configuration will open. At the lower end there is the "Smart Option Routing Algorythm".

Here you can configure your prefered Routes for Option-Orders.

For example: If you choose "maximize Fills" you must count with higher commissions but perhaps faster fills.



For exact explanation you must read the TWS Manual or search the IB-Homepage.

aiti :)

  • Thanks 1
  • Upvote 1
anand331 Hero Member

anand331

Posted
Posted

Kim or any other fellow members, this is IB related peculiarity/nuisance that I have encountered while adjusting NFLX RIC. After I adjust the RIC, IB does not combine the new legs as a spread. I created a new spread under option trader->strategy builder representing the modified RIC and added it to the quote panel, but it does not pick up my position on that spread. Has anyone encountered this and solved somehow? Without this I will have to close individual legs and that is a royal pain. Appreciate any help.

jack Jr.Member

jack

Posted
Posted

@ tradelon

Only for those using TWS from Interactive Brokers:

In the TWS Configuration menu you will find " Smart Routing". If you click on this the smart Routing configuration will open. At the lower end there is the "Smart Option Routing Algorythm".

Here you can configure your prefered Routes for Option-Orders.

For example: If you choose "maximize Fills" you must count with higher commissions but perhaps faster fills.

For exact explanation you must read the TWS Manual or search the IB-Homepage.

aiti :)

 

And here is the link to TWS manual https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/software/tws/usersguidebook/configuretws/configure_smartrouting.htm

And the explanation:

 

 

 

SMART Option Routing Algorithms

Choose how to route a smart-routed, non-marketable options order.

  • SMART Multipurpose (SMART) - this is the basic smart-routing algorithm. Routes your non-marketable order to the default exchange for the contract.
  • SMART Maximize Rebate (SMART MaxRebate) - Routes the order to the exchange offering the highest rebate.
  • SMART Prefer Rebate (SMART PreferRebate) - Routes the order with the bias toward getting a rebate vs. getting the order filled.
  • SMART Prefer Fill (SMART PreferFill) - Routes the order with the bias toward getting a fill vs. getting a rebate.
  • SMART Maximize Fill (SMART MaxFill) - Routes the order with the sole objective of getting a fill.
  • Upvote 1
Yowster Hero Member

Yowster

Posted
Posted

IB question for anyone who let a bull call spread expire with both legs ITM, do margin requirements come into play??   I had a couple of RIC's on for ISRG earnings, both legs were comfortably in the money all day today but I couldn't close for 4.90 or above on the 5 strike call spread, so I decided to just let it expire to get the entire 5.00 value upon exercise.   After market close, I got to thinking that since ISRG is a $560 stock will I hit any margin issues in between the exercise of the long and short legs of the call spread.

  • 5 months later...
Guest David

Guest David

Posted
Posted

After reading the praises of "Live Vol" , I checked out their site and it appears that they charge $500 or $300 per month to use their different products.

Everyone had been talking about the commission expenses but nobody mentioned this significant monthly fee.

Is there some way around this if you are an IB customer?

  • 4 months later...
Bronko Jr.Member

Bronko

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 7.10.2013 at 5:54 PM, Kim said:

I would like to describe the process of making an adjustment, using our current YUM trade as an example.

 

We started with the 70 straddle. As the stock moved higher, I made the following adjustment:

 

Sell to close YUM October 18 2013 70.0 call
Buy to open YUM October 18 2013 72.5 call
Price: $1.31 credit. 

 

Basically what we are doing here is selling the 70/72.5 vertical spread. So this is what we need to do:

 

1. Open a combo trader for YUM (right click on the row, then select Combination/Options Combos.

 

2. From the combo trader, select vertical strategy, then expiration and strikes.

 

chart.PNG

 

3. Click OK or Add. You will see the appropriate combo with the individual legs.

 

4. Click on the ask to buy or the bid to sell. In this case, we want to sell the vertical since we are selling the 70 strike and buying the 72.5 strike. Since we are selling it, we will get a credit, and we want to click on the bid and increase the value to get as much credit as possible.

 

Rest of the steps are similar to the opening order.

 

After you are filled, the adjusted position will be a 70/72.5 strangle. You will need to re-create the position in order to close it as one single trade.

 

> How can I re-create the new position in the TWS to a strangle (which it is now) in order to close it as a strangle afterwards? This would help me to organize my open positions instead of seeing a lot different legs for different underlyings which confuses me. 

Thanks

Robert

 

Edited by Bronko
Kim Hero Member

Kim

Posted
Posted

Depending on TWS version and your settings, you should see the new position (strangle) on the portfolio page, so you can just copy and paste it into your working page.

  • 3 weeks later...
Thinkola Hero Member

Thinkola

Posted
Posted

Hello fellow traders! Today I suddenly experience that Interactive Brokers tell me that I no longer have real time quotes of options, and give me the choice of going to "subscription page" or "delayed quotes. When scrolling through my subscriptions, I had to go through some pages regarding my trading experience (for stocks, bonds, options, futures and forex). When trying to keep the same levels of experience, I got noticed that I would no longer be able to trade options, futures, so I tried increasing both the experience (in years) and the number of trades per year to have this solved. But even I went through my subscriptions, I still get the same problem in TWS.

Anyone that know about the problem and could help me out on what this could be? Thank you VERY MUCH in advance. This is almost a crisis situation for me :-O

 

 

 

 

kdunaway Advanced Member

kdunaway

Posted
Posted

What I was told when applying for options approval at IB was that number of options trades had to be over 100. I was stuck in middle between 75 and 100 with the experience and range of trade I had selected. Hope this helps.

 

Thinkola Hero Member

Thinkola

Posted
Posted
35 minutes ago, Thinkola said:

Hello fellow traders! Today I suddenly experience that Interactive Brokers tell me that I no longer have real time quotes of options, and give me the choice of going to "subscription page" or "delayed quotes. When scrolling through my subscriptions, I had to go through some pages regarding my trading experience (for stocks, bonds, options, futures and forex). When trying to keep the same levels of experience, I got noticed that I would no longer be able to trade options, futures, so I tried increasing both the experience (in years) and the number of trades per year to have this solved. But even I went through my subscriptions, I still get the same problem in TWS.

Anyone that know about the problem and could help me out on what this could be? Thank you VERY MUCH in advance. This is almost a crisis situation for me :-O

 

 

 

 

@kdunaway Thanks for the input! In addition to the experience setting that I had to increase, it seemed that my subscription "unfortunately had been terminated", so I had to get in and check the " 

  • 5 months later...
cuegis Hero Member

cuegis

Posted
Posted
On 7/24/2012 at 4:13 PM, cwerdna said:

I figured I'd start a general topic on IB since this isn't about commissions.

I found a quirk w/IB that I'd not seen w/TOS. I bought a FDX call (not a trade discussed here) and had an open sell order on it. With the sell order open, I tried to buy another FDX call and IB won't let me. It says "Order Reject: This account cannot have open orders on both sides of the same US Options contract in any related accounts."

If I try to override and transmit, it rejects it for the same reason. Known issue? Any workaround or just something I have to live with?

I can do the same thing on TOS (and am doing it now). it doesn't care. It lets me do that.

I'd rather not cancel the open sell order on FDX as I'd get hit w/a cancel/modify fee on IB, which is something unheard of on TOS (and most brokerages that I'm aware of).

Yes. This is definitely something that happens to everyone at IB.

It dosn't matter what type of account you have, or any other thing that I can think of where you csan resolve it from your side.

It really annoys me, but, as you say....I have just learned to live with it.

Because it is not a big enough issue to give up everything else that is superior about IB over.

  • 3 months later...
cuegis Hero Member

cuegis

Posted
Posted

I just came across this response I gave a few months ago when I had less knowledge about the issue.

Now I know the workaround...

Whenever you have an order in place, and you try to submit another order, where some of the options overlap each other,and cause IB to not allow you to submit it....all you have to do is right click on the original order, and choose "pause execution". This way you are not officially "cancelling" the order, just "pausing" it, and this will allow you to successfully submit the 2nd order.

But, if both orders are "away from the market" and, your intention is to leave both of them open throughout the day until one of them is filled, then you cannot do that.

I hope this helps, in the event that you want to place an order that you would want to quickly fill, then "re-activate" the original order.

Sirion Hero Member

Sirion

Posted
Posted

Anybody having issues with IB execution? I can execute single leg trades, but I'm trying to roll a position and the order is just sitting at "being held and monitored". It's been like 20 minutes. Currently waiting on support to get on live chat, so maybe this is widespread if they're taking this long...

craigsmith Hero Member

craigsmith

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Sirion said:

Anybody having issues with IB execution? I can execute single leg trades, but I'm trying to roll a position and the order is just sitting at "being held and monitored". It's been like 20 minutes. Currently waiting on support to get on live chat, so maybe this is widespread if they're taking this long...

Had the same thing happen to me this morning. Not sure why. I just broke up my trade and legged out. 

greenspan76 Hero Member

greenspan76

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Sirion said:

Anybody having issues with IB execution? I can execute single leg trades, but I'm trying to roll a position and the order is just sitting at "being held and monitored". It's been like 20 minutes. Currently waiting on support to get on live chat, so maybe this is widespread if they're taking this long...

I'm having trouble closing a straddle in my IRA - I've run into this a few times. It happened yesterday, too. Its more common for me in the IRA than in my normal brokerage account. Last time I live-chatted to fix it, it took about an hour

Paul Hero Member

Paul

Posted
Posted

Having the same issue with two symbols, with the rest being OK.  Waiting to see if one of my offers moves to the bid without being filled.  Calendars.

cuegis Hero Member

cuegis

Posted
Posted

Same here. You cannot trade any form of combo, so far, today.

I also was on the phone with them for awhile and they let me know it was a "known issue" that is affecting everyone.

I have been with them since they opened 20+ years ago, and nothing like this ever happened.

I 've been having to leg out of positions all day and it REALLY sucks.

But, given the circumstances, I didn't get hurt too much.

  • Thanks 1
  • 3 weeks later...
Sirion Hero Member

Sirion

Posted
Posted

Anyone else have IB's P&L completely broken for combo trades? Individual securities and total for account are showing (and total for account appears to include combo trades, though I haven't dug into accuracy as I don't have yesterdays mark for all of the combo trades), but all combo trades show n/a.

Moderately annoying though somewhat unnecessary for trading.

anand331 Hero Member

anand331

Posted
Posted

Same issue for last few days. What bums me is that the portfolio or any quote monitor page are not showing the daily computed P&L for combos. TWS is just leaving those blanks. Also if I close one of the legs, the realized profit shows up as a very huge number (would be very happy if it really deposited that sum into my account, but.. :)). Sometimes TWS gives a look and feel of software built as an undergrad project by the students..

cuegis Hero Member

cuegis

Posted
Posted

Just don't believe anything you see. The P/L for the day may be correct,and it may be totally wrong.

If I buy 50 calls for 1.00 yesterday, and today the market is $2.00 / $2.30, how am I showing a $1000 loss on this trade for the day?

Then, sometimes it appears to be right!

If something is not correct 100% of the time, then it is not correct ever! (at least, in this category)

anand331 Hero Member

anand331

Posted
Posted

@cuegis, issue is not that it is inaccurate, they were not showing daily pnl at all for combos. I just now restarted and they have released a patch that seems to fix the problem. So all affected please download the latest and restart. 

cuegis Hero Member

cuegis

Posted
Posted
39 minutes ago, anand331 said:

@cuegis, issue is not that it is inaccurate, they were not showing daily pnl at all for combos. I just now restarted and they have released a patch that seems to fix the problem. So all affected please download the latest and restart. 

I have always updated the latest version of TWS every week or 2, for years, and on the quote page, where I have all of the spreads that I am holding listed, it has always showed an empty box where "daily pPnL" should be.

It only shows any form of PnL in the box for each individual option.

Are you saying that there is yet another new build of TWS that has finally solved this issue?

anand331 Hero Member

anand331

Posted
Posted
Just now, cuegis said:

I have always updated the latest version of TWS every week or 2, for years, and on the quote page, where I have all of the spreads that I am holding listed, it has always showed an empty box where "daily pPnL" should be.

It only shows any form of PnL in the box for each individual option.

Are you saying that there is yet another new build of TWS that has finally solved this issue?

It always showed daily P&L for combos (classic TWS/portfolio page), which disappeared a few days back, but now it is back.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...