Brokers and commissions

[RobertB]

Cwerdna, I've been with IB for years, and I am very happy with their commissions and their ability to execute a trade. And these are the main features you should be looking for. Their fee schedule may appear daunting if you try to understand every sentence on their disclosure page, but it's really not. For options most of the time you'll pay $0.70 per leg. There may be "pennies" added here and there for various exchange fees, but they really are in the noise: you need not be overly concerned about them.

Cancel/modify fees seem reasonable too. As far as I know, spreads never get these fees at all. Furthermore, as far as I know (someone correct me if I'm wrong), the only time IB may charge cancel/modify fees is when your (non-spread) limit order is between the bid and ask; otherwise, no fees. For example, if you have a limit order to buy below the current bid (you're waiting for the market to drop to your limit price), IB using its Smart routing system doesn't even place your order to an exchange. It just sits in IB's computers waiting for the market to move to your limit price before it sends it out so there are no modify fees then. And even when your limit order is between the bid and ask, you won't always get a cancel/modify fee: it depends on how the Smart algorithim is handling your order whether an exchange is involved or not. I rarely get any of these cancel/modify fees, and I cancel/modify often. Perhaps others have a different experience, but that's mine.

[cwerdna]

^^^

I see, I tend to mostly sell way OTM puts (not much premium collected) or do covered calls (not very close to ATM). I often pick prices between the bid and ask and often have to make adjustments (cancel, then replace w/a new order).

TOS and TD AM also have this, which I like and use all the time:

Nickel Buy-back

You can now buy back short option positions – for both calls and puts – without any commissions or contract fees if the price is a nickel or less.

Nickel Buy-back will also allow you to close out the short leg of a complex options trade commission-free when the price is at or below a nickel, so you don't have to wait for expiration to move on to your next trade.

I'm also a little concerned about the bust/adjustment fees (http://individuals.interactivebrokers.com/en/p.php?f=otherFees). On TD AM, I've had some erroneous trades go through long ago, which were canceled. I received notification of "ORDER FILLED IN ERROR". It's very rare and wasn't my fault. They were (stock) limit orders I'd placed. It almost looks like with IB I could be on the hook for $250-500, if that happens.

[Kim]

What Robert says is very true. The IB Customer service is not the best, and I considered leaving them few times because of this, but after checking the alternatives, I stayed. Those extra fees are annoying indeed, but the overall average commission is only few cents higher than the official 0.70 rate.

[cwerdna]

How about MB Trading? Thanks to the Barron's article, I discovered their very low commissions of $0.95/contract (http://www.mbtrading...px?page=Options)?

...

I'm currently grandfathered into Thinkorswim's old commissions (http://web.archive.o...isplayRates.tos) which is $2.95/contract. For the small trades I do (usually 1-5 contracts), it's a lot better than TD AM's normal ripoff rates.

So, anyone have any feedback on MB Trading?

On the latter note, I was able to negotiate w/TOS to get my commissions down to $1.25/contract, thanks to some advice I got online, from a friend and a former coworker.

One feature I really do like on TOS (and TD AM) is the short position nickel (or less) buy-back for no commission policy.

[ammarmalhas]

Let me understand this correctly "it's a lot better than TD AM's normal ripoff rates."!

I trade with TD AM since over 4 years now and I pay $9.95 per trade and $0.75 per contract (not $75 but $0.75) on all option trades. If one is dealing in 1, 2 or 3 contracts, yes the $9.95 may be around %5 of the value of the trade but with larger number of contracts per trade and costs running in the $1000's range (and above) $9.95 is less than %1 (%2 both ways)!

So what is the big deal and why would u call these fees "rip-off"?

My bank/broker was charging me $0.1 per contract meaning $10 per contract, imagine that! I remember I had to let some call options I owned expire because their price was $0.09 ($9 per contract) and that was less than the commission I would have paid!

[cwerdna]

As for light speed, I was reading that there basic web trading interface is horrible, buggy and slow. Their professional platform I hear is pretty decent, from what I have read. that being said, probably good for people who trade a lot so they can get access to the professional platform, but for people just starting out like myself, probably not good enough...

But I am hoping someone has tried light speed and can give some insight.

I too am wondering about Lightspeed. As for "people who trade a lot so they can get access to the professional platform", what do you mean by that? From http://www.lightspeed.com/?page_id=5061&from=5091, it looks like one just has to initially fund with $25K to get access. But, it looks like there's $18/month in required data fees.

Let me understand this correctly "it's a lot better than TD AM's normal ripoff rates."!

I trade with TD AM since over 4 years now and I pay $9.95 per trade and $0.75 per contract (not $75 but $0.75) on all option trades. If one is dealing in 1, 2 or 3 contracts, yes the $9.95 may be around %5 of the value of the trade but with larger number of contracts per trade and costs running in the $1000's range (and above) $9.95 is less than %1 (%2 both ways)!

So what is the big deal and why would u call these fees "rip-off"?

My bank/broker was charging me $0.1 per contract meaning $10 per contract, imagine that! I remember I had to let some call options I owned expire because their price was $0.09 ($9 per contract) and that was less than the commission I would have paid!

I've been with Datek since 1997. Through a bunch of buyouts, mergers, etc. that Datek account has now become TD Ameritrade. I just started w/options last year.

As for "If one is dealing in 1, 2 or 3 contracts", yep, almost all my trades are very small numbers of contracts, usually 1-3. It's unusual for me to do >5 per order.

If I'm selling a single pretty far OTM put that might yield say $0.10/share, there's no way I can make $ if I get charged $10.74 just to enter, vs. $2.95 or $1.25. My breakeven point on other larger dollar amount orders is much worse when charged $10.74 vs. $1.25. What if I need to pay 2x (once to enter, once to exit)?

I sometimes do covered calls on some stocks I own. At $10.74 to enter, I can't go very far OTM or can't make ANY profit at all.

The same idea applies to strangles or straddles when dealing w/a small # of contracts.

I'm not surprised that at http://online.barron...eTabs_article=1, TD Ameritrade got a 1.0 for costs in the table on the left side.

TOS is down right now (looks like they're in the midst of a server software upgrade) otherwise I could give you some numerical examples.

I think you should explore other brokerages or possibly negotiate to lower commissions as you're otherwise throwing your money away. I have no experience with them and am not sure how they currently handle multi-legged trades (or not), but take a look at http://eoption.com/c...ions_fees.html. Also look at IB that Kim and others advocate.

Kim's also made a comment about commissions at http://seekingalpha....#39;s��probably made some other comments about gains being eaten up by commissions. Also, in his example in the 1st post in this thread, he pays $2.80 to roundtrip. With TD AM (assuming they only charge 1 ticket fee for all legs), it'd be $21.48 to roundtrip. With the commissions I was able to switch to, it'd be $5. Read the rest of his post...

[BillP]

Hi, I have Optionshouse and was getting disconnected Friday afternoon several times, or Internet not working right. Did anyone have this problem if you use OH? Thanks. and btw they charge 5 dollars for 5 contracts

[Kim]

Let me understand this correctly "it's a lot better than TD AM's normal ripoff rates."!

I trade with TD AM since over 4 years now and I pay $9.95 per trade and $0.75 per contract (not $75 but $0.75) on all option trades. If one is dealing in 1, 2 or 3 contracts, yes the $9.95 may be around %5 of the value of the trade but with larger number of contracts per trade and costs running in the $1000's range (and above) $9.95 is less than %1 (%2 both ways)!

So what is the big deal and why would u call these fees "rip-off"?

My bank/broker was charging me $0.1 per contract meaning $10 per contract, imagine that! I remember I had to let some call options I owned expire because their price was $0.09 ($9 per contract) and that was less than the commission I would have paid!

You are absolutely right that for large number of contracts, $9.95 ticket fee is not significant. However, it is still higher than IB. And most small traders trade only 5-10 contracts. I simply don't see a reason why someone would pay double or triple when the can switch to IB. You like TOS tools? leave couple thousands at TOS just to keep the account open and use their tools (or open a paper account). If more people left them, maybe they would get the message and lower the fees.

[Xfanman]

Hi, I have Optionshouse and was getting disconnected Friday afternoon several times, or Internet not working right. Did anyone have this problem if you use OH? Thanks. and btw they charge 5 dollars for 5 contracts

OH was having connectivity issues Friday for me also. I've had very few issues with them in this regard over the years however.

[Kelly Park]

Based largely on this forum, I have opened an account with IB, specifically for these earnings trades. Now I am faced with the daunting task of learning a VERY different platform than I am used to. I have used Fidelity's for awhile, so I am used to it, but it is also much more intuitive than IB, I think. IB seems more flexible and customizable, but I'm really having trouble getting up to speed.

Any suggestions for best setup of the IB for doing these earnings trades. What windows should I use, what columns, to see everything I need and not what I don't? A few issues I have already: don't know where to find all information about filled orders, including commissions; orders show my limit order price as the Bid, so I can't tell what the market Bid price is after I have submitted an order; should I be using Mosaic or something else?

[Kim]

Kelly,

The platform definitely has some learning curve. Right now I'm enjoying it, but it took me also some time to get used to it.

First, I suggest that you create some pages in addition to the portfolio page. Then start creating orders, customize columns etc. Filled orders appears in Trade Log window. The natural bid/ask can be calculated as combination of bid/ask for the individual legs.

[cwerdna]

Out of curiosity, how does IB's platform compare to TOS?

Other than web-based trading (mainly familiar w/TD AM and Fidelity), the only platform I'm familiar with is TOS. For me, I can do the basics w/TOS but the app overall is pretty daunting (well, it was scarier when I started). I probably only know how to use 5% of TOS and am only familiar w/a tiny % of studies. Part of the problem for me is that I'm an options and technical analysis amateur.

Using software is no problem. I put together my own PCs, can do some light programming, started w/PCs with DOS 2.0 in 1983, and used to test software (on Windows, Mac and mobile devices) for a living.

I like TOS a lot for the things I do and could never go back to using TD AM's web UI for trading options, viewing charts, drawing lines on charts, zooming in on charts, etc.

[Kelly Park]

Wow. I have just gotten off the phone with the Interactive Brokers customer service and I cannot believe how rude and officious they were. My chat session was cutoff and all they did was send me links to their website anyway. On the phone they cut me off and spoke to me like an idiot child. (Idiot I may be, but they shouldn't assume before they know.)

The issue I was asking about was commissions. I understand from SO discussions that there are exchange fees which add to or subtract from the 0.70 per contract. I know KIm said his trades still average about 0.75, so I didn't worry too much about them until I started trading at IB and all of my trades have been 1.18 per contract. Their explanation was that some exchanges charge fees, some don't and with SMART routing you can't tell, so you just have to live with it. They suggesting legging in and out of every trade! At 1.18, I am paying almost as much as I was at Fidelity and if I scale up my position size, it will be MUCH more expensive at IB. I know Kim and others use IB especially for commissions sensitive trades like those on SO, so will someone please help me figure out how to reduce these commissions at IB. At these rates, these SO trades don't make much sense.

[Kim]

This can be very frustrating. However, you need to look at sample big enough. 2-3 trades might not be enough. Not sure how legging in/out would help. There is no way to control those extra fees, but I would just do 10-15 trades and see how it works out. I checked my statements several times, the average was never more than 80 cents, usually closer to 75 cents.

[Marco]

Wow. I have just gotten off the phone with the Interactive Brokers customer service and I cannot believe how rude and officious they were. My chat session was cutoff and all they did was send me links to their website anyway. On the phone they cut me off and spoke to me like an idiot child. (Idiot I may be, but they shouldn't assume before they know.)

The issue I was asking about was commissions. I understand from SO discussions that there are exchange fees which add to or subtract from the 0.70 per contract. I know KIm said his trades still average about 0.75, so I didn't worry too much about them until I started trading at IB and all of my trades have been 1.18 per contract. Their explanation was that some exchanges charge fees, some don't and with SMART routing you can't tell, so you just have to live with it. They suggesting legging in and out of every trade! At 1.18, I am paying almost as much as I was at Fidelity and if I scale up my position size, it will be MUCH more expensive at IB. I know Kim and others use IB especially for commissions sensitive trades like those on SO, so will someone please help me figure out how to reduce these commissions at IB. At these rates, these SO trades don't make much sense.

you should get to ~0.75 avg. in the long run. I did 6 trades today with comm of 0.607,0.71,0.727,0.737,0.732 and 0.726 try avoid lifting offers and hitting bids. Rather stick in a limit mid market or slightly above/below and get lifted/hit this way you 'add liquidity' rather than 'removing it'. When you add liquidity you can even get a rebate from some exchanges (hence the 0.607 comm example from above).

If the smart order routing moves your order to a different exchange and you still end up lifting an offer there and therefore removing liquidity you might still pay the higher fees. But that just happens and as I said long run should still be only ~0.75 per lot

[Kelly Park]

Her explanation was that "those Combo orders you are doing" (said with a sneer in her voice) are "very difficult to fill", so they always reduce liquidity and incur exchange fees. By legging in, one leg would be increasing liquidity and might get a rebate. That's what she said. She also recommended market orders!, since they increase liquidity. Again, her words, not mine.

So, when you say your average is 75-80 cents, do you mean in a month? And what is the range? My lowest in 0.89 and highest 1.18., averaging abot 1.15.

[Kim]

So, when you say your average is 75-80 cents, do you mean in a month? And what is the range? My lowest in 0.89 and highest 1.18., averaging abot 1.15.

I mean over any reasonable number of trades.

[Kelly Park]

you should get to ~0.75 avg. in the long run. I did 6 trades today with comm of 0.607,0.71,0.727,0.737,0.732 and 0.726 try avoid lifting offers and hitting bids. Rather stick in a limit mid market or slightly above/below and get lifted/hit this way you 'add liquidity' rather than 'removing it'. When you add liquidity you can even get a rebate from some exchanges (hence the 0.607 comm example from above).

If the smart order routing moves your order to a different exchange and you still end up lifting an offer there and therefore removing liquidity you might still pay the higher fees. But that just happens and as I said long run should still be only ~0.75 per lot

Marco, could you explain what you mean by not lifting offers and hitting bids. Clearly this is another area where I sorely need education. I typicall place a market order for just above mid-point between Bid and Ask (if I am good with the current prices) or just below, if I think the days market action might bring the price down a bit more. Sometimes, if the order sits for awhile, I will raise my offer a bit, to try to fill it. This seems to be the way others do it and has worked for me before, but does it have a negative impact on exchange fees.?

[Marco]

Her explanation was that "those Combo orders you are doing" (said with a sneer in her voice) are "very difficult to fill", so they always reduce liquidity and incur exchange fees. By legging in, one leg would be increasing liquidity and might get a rebate. That's what she said. She also recommended market orders!, since they increase liquidity. Again, her words, not mine.

So, when you say your average is 75-80 cents, do you mean in a month? And what is the range? My lowest in 0.89 and highest 1.18., averaging abot 1.15.

market order always remove liquidity, plus this way you pay the full spread and lose much more than the comm would be - so that's a really bad advice. Their execution software doesn't care how many legs in the trade are. They don't become harder to fill just because of that. And legging in and out of trades increases the risk that the market moves against you when you are in the 1st leg. So another bad advice. Their customer support is notoriously bad. I get better answers if I email them (raise a ticket in message center) this way you don't get some random idiot to give you wrong answers but they seem to route the question to someone who actually knows.

[Kim]

I agree regarding opening a ticket. This way the answers became a bit better in the last couple of years than before.

[Marco]

Marco, could you explain what you mean by not lifting offers and hitting bids. Clearly this is another area where I sorely need education. I typicall place a market order for just above mid-point between Bid and Ask (if I am good with the current prices) or just below, if I think the days market action might bring the price down a bit more. Sometimes, if the order sits for awhile, I will raise my offer a bit, to try to fill it. This seems to be the way others do it and has worked for me before, but does it have a negative impact on exchange fees.?

a 'market' order for me means you buy or sell 'at best' so without limit and you just hit the bid or lift the offer - whatever it is.

say you have a bid/offer of 1.00 / 1.10. If you go in and pay 1.10 straight away you remove liquidity and depending on to what exchange that order goes you pay an extra fee. If you put in a 1.06 bid and a market maker then hits it you added liquidity therefore you dont pay that fee or even get a rebate on some exchanges. However what still can happen is that the 1.06 bid sits in the order book and nothing happens until the market moves down and now there is a 1.06 offer on another exchange. The smart order routing software will move your order to that exchange and you end up lifting an offer and removing liquidity and paying the extra fee again. Sometime you cant avoid it.

So seems you are doing the right thing - I don't understand how the lowest fee was 0.89 so far.

[Kelly Park]

Marco: I'm sorry. My last post SHOULD have said I place LIMIT orders. I never place market orders. Still interested in what you meant in your post. It seems like you have some handle on how to add liquidity, where possible, with your orders, so I need to understand that better. Thanks.

[Marco]

Marco: I'm sorry. My last post SHOULD have said I place LIMIT orders. I never place market orders. Still interested in what you meant in your post. It seems like you have some handle on how to add liquidity, where possible, with your orders, so I need to understand that better. Thanks.

did you see the post above? That should explain how to 'add liquidity'. If that still unclear I can try to explain again.

[Kelly Park]

Our last posts overlapped. I should be more patient. (Never happen!)

I wouldn't mind the 'crap shoot" of sometimes getting routed to another exchange and paying the fee, as long as rebates average the whole thing out in the long run. I just got worried when ALL of my orders where well above 0.70. I guess I'll keep an eye on it for a few more weeks. Thanks for the explanations, Kim and Marco.

[RobertB]

I agree regarding opening a ticket. This way the answers became a bit better in the last couple of years than before.

My experience with IB support tickets has been bleak. Usually before I create a ticket, I've already thought carefully about the issue at hand, hoping to solve it on my own. Often I do figure out what I need to know this way The fact that I have ended up writing IB asking for help means I've given up trying to solve it on my own. So usually the kinds of questions I ask them are not run-of-the-mill. What I usually get back from IB is a reply stating that they need to ask someone in a different area and that they will get back to me. And that is where it usually remains. I very rarely get a followup response after that. If, say, a week later I write again asking if they have an answer yet, I'll get a reply saying they're still looking at the issue. If I don't check back with them in this manner, they will close out the ticket. In other words, if they sit on their behinds and don't answer, the ticket automatically closes. I guess that's one way to "solve" problems: let the ticket die.

And as everyone knows, and has been pointed out in this thread, calling IB is usually not worth it at all. The people who answer the phone know much of the jargon, but that's it. They have not a clue about trading options. They know nothing about the Greeks other than how to display them in the software. Ask about any less common feature that you might wish to try and you will very likely get an on-the-fly, invented answer. I kid you not. Instead of their support simply saying they don't know the answer, they'll make up an answer for you. It's laughable! I have encountered this scenario with them many times.

IB has great commissions and a very good routing algorithm (both of which keep me as an IB customer) and provides a good platform for professional traders. But you are basically on your own.

[Kim]

100% agree.

[xpresstalk]

I am considering the move to IB. I currently have accounts with Trade King and OptionsXpress. OX has a flat $11.50 per trade, which seems expensive. But, if you are trading a 10 contract Straddle, that's all you pay. They don't charge per leg. So, when you say .70 per contract, would that mean a 10 contract Straddle would cost $7 or $14? (I'm not taking into account the nuisance fees, and I was able to negiotiate a little better that the adverstised rate on the OX Website).

Also, the reason I haven't moved to IB already is they have the $10,000 minimum to open the account, which I have but, say in a period like now, we have 6 trades open, kinda hard to move. I think open position can be moved, but that seems to risky to me if an adjustment or immediate sell needs to be made. My question is, is their a "calm" period, where we don't have a lot of open trades that would be a good time for me to have everything in cash and make the move?

[Kim]

With IB, 10 contracts would $14. So if you trade 10 contracts, OX would be cheaper. But with 10k, you usually can trade 3-4 contracts per position assuming 10% allocation.

If you still want to move, just don't open new positions, close gradually what you have and move. Just remember that it takes time to open an account with IB.

[xpresstalk]

Thank You! I don't want to miss any trades, Do you forsee a "calm" period any time soon?

[Kim]

No, we are actually entering one of the most busiest periods for the earnings trades. The third month of the earnings season is usually the less busy, we just passed it.

[RobertB]

Also, the reason I haven't moved to IB already is they have the $10,000 minimum to open the account, which I have but, say in a period like now, we have 6 trades open, kinda hard to move. I think open position can be moved, but that seems to risky to me if an adjustment or immediate sell needs to be made. My question is, is their a "calm" period, where we don't have a lot of open trades that would be a good time for me to have everything in cash and make the move?

Another way to move your funds over that might work for you that you may not have considered is to advance yourself $10,000 (or whatever you need) from a credit card, and use it to open an IB account. Many credit cards have promos where there is no fee to do this. But even if you were charged 12% annually, that would only be $100 for 30 days. That might be well worth it to you so that you can gradually close out your positions with your current account while depositing the resulting funds into your IB account. Eventually, you will have no positions open at your current account, and all your funds will be at IB. At that point (or sooner), you can repay your credit card.

[Marco]

IB has great commissions and a very good routing algorithm (both of which keep me as an IB customer) and provides a good platform for professional traders. But you are basically on your own.

yep that sums it up perfectly

[K. Miller]

With IB, 10 contracts would $14. So if you trade 10 contracts, OX would be cheaper. But with 10k, you usually can trade 3-4 contracts per position assuming 10% allocation.

If you still want to move, just don't open new positions, close gradually what you have and move. Just remember that it takes time to open an account with IB.

Actually they set up an account pretty damn quick with me. The hard part was getting my old brokerage to cough up the money!

[Guest listolyman]

Can the IB mobile app support spread trades(IC's, straddle, strangles) on an iphone?

[Marco]

Can the IB mobile app support spread trades(IC's, straddle, strangles) on an iphone?

Yes, you can build your own combos from a put/call options screen

[BillP]

The way I am reading the posts here is, OH is 5 for 5, 10 for 8.75 plus .15 thereafter. IB is roughly .80 so on 5 contracts IB is cheaper, but 10 and over OH is cheaper. So, if you do both 5 and 10 it appears to be about a wash.

[MichaelJ8]

The way I am reading the posts here is, OH is 5 for 5, 10 for 8.75 plus .15 thereafter. IB is roughly .80 so on 5 contracts IB is cheaper, but 10 and over OH is cheaper. So, if you do both 5 and 10 it appears to be about a wash.

nope. Its 5 for 5 .. OR 10 for 8.75 + .15 per contract. You can not do both, unless you change it, but it takes 24 hours to take affect.

for spreads its different. you get 12.50 base +0.15 per contract, which is great if trade larger numbers, or 10 for 10. but again you can not do both in the same day and need 24 hours to change fee structure.

Also, optionshouse is terrible at filling spreads(Actually just closing them). I lost a lot of money because they couldn't fill me quickly enough, that and I didn't know why they couldn't fill me even when I offered to sell well below the bid price. I would stay a way from options house. Their smart routing is dumb...

Edited July 9, 2012 by MichaelJ8

[BillP]

Sorry, yes you are right you can't do both. I have been with them for about 3 years. Some of my fills have been great, like on the rut if I place the order before market opens, but yes, I imagine there are alot better brokers out there.

[smt1]

I've been trying out tradeMonster lately, based on this year's Barrons brokerage reviews. It's pretty solid-- the platform reminds me of ToS. Also relatively cheap, cheaper than IB depending on how many contracts you trade.

That being said, I'm going to stick to IB because I'm absolutely convinced IB has the best routing. I don't care about their CS.

[Kelly Park]

A bit of a followup. The only 2 trades I have had that were not 1.17 per contract were the GOOG and AAPL RICs. I don't know if they traded on a different exchange (that doesn't have liquidity fees) or if they just filled more slowly and were not considered to be reducing liquidity. I've been trying to find a wayo back over my trades and see what exchange they were traded on, but can't seem to find that information. The trade confirmation reports have commissions, but no breakdown of fees included.

[Marco]

If you drill down in the trade execution window (the button that flashes red after a fill) you can drill down (plus sign) to see each single fill and that also shows the exchange. Some exchanges have fees and other don't but the smart order routing will take that into account and only filly you at an expensive exchange if the option price including the fees is better than on the cheaper exchanges. Not sure what we are doing differently but for me fees per lot above are quite rare and definitely averaging in the lower 0.70'ies / lot

[Kelly Park]

Thanks, Marco. Can I still access that information later, after my trade window has been closed? I'd like to go back over the past few weeks trades and see where they were all executed.

[Kelly Park]

Also, I just got a notice form IB that looks like they are adding another $0.03 per contract to all orders, for some fee they previously forgot about.

[Marco]

Thanks, Marco. Can I still access that information later, after my trade window has been closed? I'd like to go back over the past few weeks trades and see where they were all executed.

well that trade window goes back a week or so for anything later you have to create a report in their report centre.

[Kelly Park]

Which report? The Trade Confirmation reports show commissions, but don't break out the fees or show the exchange.

[Marco]

Also, I just got a notice form IB that looks like they are adding another $0.03 per contract to all orders, for some fee they previously forgot about.

yep me too. annoying but not changing THAT much on their overall comm (4% increase on 0.75)

[Marco]

Which report? The Trade Confirmation reports show commissions, but don't break out the fees or show the exchange.

well the activity statement has the comm in there but not the exchange, not sure if thats on any other report, but they have a flexible report where you can define all sorts of fields. Not very intuitive but you can REALLY tailor your report. it has an exchange field (see screenshot)

[Kim]

Kim,

When you say you should be paying much more than about 1.2% per trade in commissions are you referring to the round trip? I'm paying TD/TOS's "matched" commission structure of Trade King. That is 65 cents per contract and 4.95 per leg. This isn't truely "matched" to trade king but it's better than their standard commission structure for me.

Yes, round trip.

Assuming 0.75 per contract with IB and ~$3.00 average cost of our spreads, that would be 0.75*4=$3 per spread which is 1%. For RIC it is double ($6 for round trip), but average cost of RICs is also higher (around $4.50) so it is around 1.3% of the value of the spread.

With your commissions structure, you need to buy at least 15 contracts to lower it to around $1.00 per contract which should be the maximum you would pay.

[smorgoun]

On IB cancel/modify fees:

My observation is that if I see an order that would have a cancel/modify fee and I really want to avoid it, I just need to round the price up or down to nickel or dime.

E.g., I put in a limit order of 1.17 and CxFee warning appears next to Confirm button. I then can change the price to 1.15 or 1.20 and the warning goes

Edited July 12, 2012 by smorgoun

[tjlocke99]

On IB cancel/modify fees:

My observation is that if I see an order that would have a cancel/modify fee and I really want to avoid it, I just need to round the price up or down to nickel or dime.

E.g., I put in a limit order of 1.17 and CxFee warning appears next to Confirm button. I then can change the price to 1.15 or 1.20 and the warning goes

So IB does not charge for modifying the single option order price, only actually canceling the order? I thought they charge for modifying as well?