Interactive Brokers - Technical issues

[renkcub]

Hey all,

since tech support with IB is so lackadaisical, I thought maybe some vets here could help...

So far so good, except I seem to be having problems around data feed.

I seem to be able to get delayed data for options, etc.

I cannot enter certain securities, and get a "No Market Data Permission" error, in the desktop.

When on the mobile app "Portfolio" page, I have a ??? under Last, Chg, and unrl P&L... although I can pull up history graphs for my options.

Any ideas on how to get data working properly? Does anyone know where to upgrade to streaming data and how much it costs?

Thanks.

[Kim]

Do you have subscription to US bundle? it's $10 per month, waived if you generate $30+ commissions per month.

[kowski06]

to get streaming go to account management home > Trade > Configuration > Market Data Subscriptions. I believe you you select US Bundle you will get the streaming. (the fee is waived if you spend $30.00 in commission each month) If you go into the user guide and search under "Subscriptions" it will give you more details.

I am not sure about you other questions, though

[RobertB]

I once grilled IB support for precise information about their data fees and minimum commission fees based on how much in commissions you had generated for them. Here are my notes:

1) These fees are billed during the first week of the following calendar month.

2) Data fees (possibly waived, see below) are applicable if at any time during the previous calendar month you were a data subscriber for any length of time. Unsubcribing and re-subscribing within a calendar month does NOT generate two possible charges.

3) IB has a per-calendar-month $10 minimum-required total commissions. If you are below $10 in total commissions for that month, you pay only the difference between your total and $10. For example, if your trading had generated $6 worth of commissions that month, you pay only $4 extra to meet this requirement.

4 To have the $10 data fee waived, you must generate $30 worth of commissions within the previous calendar month. If you do not meet this requirement, you pay the full $10, not the difference. Thus if you had generated $29 worth of commissions that month, you wouldn't just owe $1, but the full $10.

Edited October 10, 2012 by RobertB

[renkcub]

Guys,

Thanks so much for the quick and in-depth insight.

It turned out to be my status set as "professional" - therefore I had no access to free data.

After a couple tries with customer service, they corrected the setting. I now have live data and no issues!

Thanks!!

[Kelly Park]

Is anyone else having trouble with IB charting today? My charts are Ok for stocks and ETFs but nothing comes up when I try to chart any options (indivdual or combos).

[Xfanman]

Is anyone else having trouble with IB charting today? My charts are Ok for stocks and ETFs but nothing comes up when I try to chart any options (indivdual or combos).

I'm away from my office today so I don't know if its a service issue but yesterday I was having the identical problem until I closed and restarted TWS.

[Kelly Park]

I'm away from my office today so I don't know if its a service issue but yesterday I was having the identical problem until I closed and restarted TWS.

I tried that with no luck. It really makes it hard to judge entry and exit points when you can't chart the position!

[Kim]

I had the same issue in the last 2 days, restarting TWS helped.

[Kelly Park]

Just tried again, still no luck with restarting TWS. Guess I'll open a ticket.

[RobertB]

This may not be related, but I'll mention it anyway.

Oracle pushed an updated version of Java to Windows machines in the past few days. TWS, and the charting feature in particular, is heavily dependent on Java. There may be an issue there. If your trading is really being hampered by the chart feature's not working, you might try a Windows system restore to restore your Windows system settings (which includes Java versions and Java settings) to an earlier time before the Java update. This just takes a few minutes, and you can easily undo it. Just go to Control Panel and search for "Restore your computer to an earlier time."

Or, you can try uninstalling Java from Windows Control Panel. Then, go to the Oracle site to download the previous version of Java and install it.

Of course, the problem you're encountering may have nothing to do with Java. But I've seen problems like this before immediately after the push of an updated Java.

[Kelly Park]

Opened a ticket at IB about the charting problem. Here is their response, it doesn't make any sense to me.

This is a known issue with the charts when you are using a Smart Routed Quote.

Our programmers are aware of this and they have suggested that for the time being you should direct route the option quote.

Please note, if you direct route the quote on the Chart and place the order from the chart, the order will be direct routed to the exchange and the commission is USD 1.00 per contract for directed orders.

[Kelly Park]

Obviously, IB is still trying to figure out the charting issue. There is a workaround, although I find it cumbersome. If you change your order to some direct routing (I used ISE), and chart it before transmitting the order, then it will chart. Just remember to change it back to SMART before submitting the order.

[Xfanman]

I just got my charting back in IB..hopefully they figured it out for good this time.

[Kelly Park]

Thanks for the head's up, Scott. Mine's back for now, too.

[Xfanman]

Well some good news, if you're an IB user ( or you're not but thinking about it) and you haven't checked your mail tonight, IB says they are lowering fees for Option Modifications/Cancellation as a test with potential elimination down the road. Two big thumbs up!!

Edited November 7, 2012 by Xfanman

[Kim]

Those are certainly good news, not so relevant to our trades since we trade spreads only. I hope the next step will be eliminating those ridiculous exchange fees for remove liquidity, although except for PSE, most of the time I'm actually getting a rebate.

[Xfanman]

I agree Kim, they can nuke PSE right off the planet for all I care (of course then my fills will go to hell and I'll be complaining about that next)! I do trade straight options too though and have had to pay these fees occasionally. I'm just happy to see them being responsive to customer input (seemingly) and addressing a major gripe that people have about their service. Now if I could get some charting enhancements put through I'll REALLY be a happy camper!

Edited November 7, 2012 by Xfanman

[Xfanman]

Just a heads up that IB released update notes for version 933 of TWS that show some nice changes to Mozaic if you use that side of their trading platform. You'll be able to dock (or lock) and move or re-size your setup as one screen or unlock it and interchange individual screens as you see fit. As of this morning the new version wasn't available on their website but it should be soon if they released the update notes. You can find the release notes here if you're interested in this and a couple of other changes -->

http://www.interacti...S_Notes_933.php

Edited November 9, 2012 by Xfanman

[Kim]

I noticed that lately (at least for the last week, probably longer) I did not have a single fill at PSE. Has anyone else noticed that?

[Hannes Kury]

Yes, I happily noticed that too.

[Xfanman]

I noticed that lately (at least for the last week, probably longer) I did not have a single fill at PSE. Has anyone else noticed that?

That would be great news if they were used less frequently or not at all!

[Guest listolyman]

PSE brokered a trade for me today. 7 straddles was $21 commission.

[cwerdna]

Out of 6 trades I made in the past week, only 1 was filled on PSE.

[Xfanman]

The account P&L numbers on IB are useless. I'm not even sure why I have the portfolio view turned on most days.

[Marco]

The account P&L numbers on IB are useless. I'm not even sure why I have the portfolio view turned on most days.

agreed, I'm just 'enjoying' the P/L jumps on the RUT butterfly that we opened. I have the 800/830/860 put fly and the 860 Put is quite deep ITM so spreads are wide and it doesnt trade often so the last is often outside the new b/o spread. So no idea what IB uses to claculate P/L but it's not mid (or they are very slow to update that) so no idea what the P/L they show is based on but more often than not it is wrong especially with option spreads in your book.

[Kim]

P/L shows correctly few hours after the close but not mid day.

[Xfanman]

My favorite is when the P&L shows you way down, your Net Liquidity Increases and god only knows what the unrealized P&L is doing! I understand how they are "supposed" to work but it's quite the light show at times.

[Marco]

P/L shows correctly few hours after the close but not mid day.

I'm not even sure about that. I had end of day valuations on SPY (doesn't get more liquid than that) that we're quite a bit away from the last price that day. They use some official closing price from the exchange but I find that to be off ocasionally. However worst offender in that category seems to be RUT positions. i learend to live with the noise around my P/L by now and have most of it on spreadsheets anyway.

[Marco]

My favorite is when the P&L shows you way down, your Net Liquidity Increases and god only knows what the unrealized P&L is doing! I understand how they are "supposed" to work but it's quite the light show at times.

I reckon NAV updates a lot less frequently then the P/L / unrealised P/L in your portfolio view. So you get have one up while the other is down

[Hannes Kury]

I am somewhat uncomfortable with these wide spreads on the RUT. I know it should save commission but maybe being comfortable is also worth something. Am I right that the calendar and the fly could be done with the IWM or even the SPY, and the results would not differ much?

[Kim]

I am somewhat uncomfortable with these wide spreads on the RUT. I know it should save commission but maybe being comfortable is also worth something. Am I right that the calendar and the fly could be done with the IWM or even the SPY, and the results would not differ much?

Correct. But look at it this way: the bid/ask on 830 RUT call is 21.50/22.00. This is the same as 2.15/2.20 on IWM. You should be able to buy it around 21.80 and sell around 21.60. That's 1% slippage. Can you do the same 1% slippage on IWM? If the spread on IWM is 2.15/2.17, I doubt you will be able to enter at the mid, so giving up 2 cents each way will be 2% slippage.

[Hannes Kury]

Correct. But look at it this way: the bid/ask on 830 RUT call is 21.50/22.00. This is the same as 2.15/2.20 on IWM. You should be able to buy it around 21.80 and sell around 21.60. That's 1% slippage. Can you do the same 1% slippage on IWM? If the spread on IWM is 2.15/2.17, I doubt you will be able to enter at the mid, so giving up 2 cents each way will be 2% slippage.

I know you are right. Therefore, I will stick with the RUT for now. Actually, I think, like with many things here, I will get more comfortable over time.

[ykotowitz]

Does anyone have information on trading via LIVEVOL.? Their platform appears to be very good for analytics and the trades are done through IB, so execution should be ok.

[Xfanman]

Since my account with IB has been beaten down below 25k I have to be careful of getting hit with the PDT rules until I can add funds or build it back above the 25k limit.  I've looked everywhere I can think of but haven't found anything obvious that tells me where I am with my day trades for the 5 day business cycle.  Is there anywhere in TWS that tracks this for me or do I just need to do it manually?  I'm afraid I'll forget about a trade earlier in the week and end up getting my account locked down.

 

Thanks much...Scott

[Kim]

Since my account with IB has been beaten down below 25k I have to be careful of getting hit with the PDT rules until I can add funds or build it back above the 25k limit.  I've looked everywhere I can think of but haven't found anything obvious that tells me where I am with my day trades for the 5 day business cycle.  Is there anywhere in TWS that tracks this for me or do I just need to do it manually?  I'm afraid I'll forget about a trade earlier in the week and end up getting my account locked down.

 

Thanks much...Scott

Go to the Account screen and look under "available for trading".

[Xfanman]

Go to the Account screen and look under "available for trading".

 

Excellent, thanks Kim.  It was hidden and I missed it until I expanded it.  I like how they even show the rolling 5 day window with the trades available each day!

[Kim]

I don't see spread quotes in IB - is it only me? The quotes for individual options show fine, but spreads are missing quotes.

[Hannes Kury]

No quotes and no greeks here.

[Xfanman]

Same here Kim, the chart seems to be working but not the mid indicator.

[kowski06]

I don't see anything either.  quotes were there first thing, but then went away.  I even tried logging off and back on, but still no quotes

[Xfanman]

CBOE is down

[K. Miller]

Ah, I restarted the program 5 times, clearing my java and everything!  Ah well at least its not just me.  TWS really hates it when I kick on my VPN and other network wonkiness, but I guess thats not the problem this time.

[Xfanman]

Working Again!

[jr1221]

Has anyone been able to set price alerts for combos?  Say I want to be alerted if the Mar/Apr VIX 16P calendar mid price hits -.45.  I've been playing around with the alerts and it doesn't seem to allow me to work with combos. 

[kowski06]

Has anyone been able to set price alerts for combos?  Say I want to be alerted if the Mar/Apr VIX 16P calendar mid price hits -.45.  I've been playing around with the alerts and it doesn't seem to allow me to work with combos. 

If you put a combo in your quote panel (use "Add to Quote Panel" button" in the combo tab)  Once it's in the quote panel you can right click on the combo, select Analytical Tools which will let you do an alert

[Hannes Kury]

No quotes on IB spreads again?

[RobertB]

Hannes,  About 20 minutes ago, my spread quotes disappeared too.   I called IB.  Tech Support said to enter Ctrl-Alt-F (if you're on Windows) to refresh, but that didn't work.   So I restarted TWS, and then my spread quotes returned.    

 

I asked the tech support person how I would reset the quotes without restarting TWS, but he had no answer.

[Hannes Kury]

Thank you Robert!

[Xfanman]

Does anyone know if I can tie my Stop Order to the underlying stock price in TWS instead of as a % or $ value?  In other words, if I buy a contract on stock XYZ when the stock is at $100 and I want to sell my contract if the stock drops below $95, this is much easier to set a stop on as opposed to calculating the Delta of the option I own given a % decrease of the stock and the sliding Delta of the option.  You can do this with Options House if I remember correctly but I don't see that as an option in IB.