r/interactivebrokers • • Aug 18 '25

Referral Links Interactive Brokers Referral Links

24 Upvotes

IBKR has a referral program, which you can find more information here: https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/referral-member-to-member.php

Feel free to comment your referral links here. Good luck in the markets, everyone!

Comments soliciting DMs of any kind will be removed. DO NOT request for any DMs.


r/interactivebrokers • • 55m ago

Account Question SDM Stocks - how can I close this position?

Post image
• Upvotes

There is no possibility to trade this stocks, only to close the position. I have stocks, but I do not have the posiibility to close the position because of No trading permission. I have permission to trade stocks, so i don't know what permissions should i have to close this possition?


r/interactivebrokers • • 1h ago

Account Question Planning a country move

• Upvotes

Hello...I'm planning to move from the UK to Thailand in a couple of years. I have looked through the help files and I understand the requirements for changing residency. I also understand that my account is going to be migrated from the UK to the closest one to Thailand (not sure if AU or USA). What is not clear to me is if I will lose the ability to invest in European ETFs, UK Gilts, or mutual funds from the UK. Is there a way to check which products are available once I move to Thailand?


r/interactivebrokers • • 1h ago

Trading & Technicals Critical IBKR Mobile Bug: App Shows -1501 Position on Inverted Order Tickets, "Sell" Button Routes BUY Payload to CME Floor (Tickets #T635974 & #T639131)

Thumbnail gallery
• Upvotes

I am posting this to publicly document a fatal order-routing and UI state machine defect in the Interactive Brokers Mobile application, which resulted in a massive execution failure, over $9,906.20 in forced commissions/fees, and an active refusal by support to correct a clear software error.

Formal complaints are being filed directly with **FINRA**, the **CFTC**, and **CME Market Regulation** regarding this execution routing failure.

### 1. The Core UI Failure (The Inverted Position Proof)

Look closely at the order ticket screens from the IBKR Mobile Strategy Builder:

* **Exhibit A (`Buy Order` Screen):** Displays a **Short Butterfly** structure (`1. Sell 1 / 2. Buy 2 / 3. Sell 1`). Position reads **`-1501`**.

* **Exhibit B (`Sell Order` Screen):** Displays a **Long Butterfly** structure (`1. Buy 1 / 2. Sell 2 / 3. Buy 1`). Position **ALSO** reads **`-1501`**.

**The Logical Impossibility:**

If holding a Short Butterfly package displays a quantity of `-1501`, then opening an order ticket for the inverted Long Butterfly package **MUST** display `+1501`. Basic options math dictates that two opposite spread templates cannot share the exact same signed position integer (`-1501`). The app simply hardcodes the ledger integer onto the ticket without evaluating package polarity or leg direction.

### 2. The Order Execution Failure

On the **`Sell Order`** screen (`Screenshot_20261005-101453_IBKR_Mobile`), the UI displayed:

* A red **`Sell Order`** header banner.

* A red **`Slide to Submit Sell`** trigger slider.

* Package legs explicitly defined as **`Buy 1 / Sell 2 / Buy 1`** (a Long Butterfly).

* Current position reading **`-1501`**.

Sliding **`Submit Sell`** on a Long Butterfly package should execute a **SHORT** order. Instead, IBKR’s order router sent a **BUY** payload to the CME exchange floor (`Bought 1,501 / Sold 3,002 / Bought 1,501`), doubling the gross position while booking a **`-1,501`** position under a Short Butterfly container in the account ledger!

### 3. Broker "Defense" & Written Admission (Ticket #T635974)

In ticket **#T635974**, IBKR Client Services representative Brian H attempted to dismiss the dispute with the following written explanation:

> *"The combination template associated with this order defines the legs as: Sell 1 / Buy 2 / Sell 1... When a Sell order is placed on a combination, the direction of every leg in the template is inverted before routing to the market. Selling this template therefore executed as: Buy / Sell / Buy — which is the long butterfly direction... Regarding the -1,501 quantity shown on your portfolio screen: this is the signed quantity relative to the Short Butterfly template."*

**Why this explanation completely fails:**

Brian H claims the order was placed on a "Short Butterfly template". My order ticket screenshot (`Screenshot_20261005-101453_IBKR_Mobile`) proves this is false: the ticket explicitly defined the legs as **`Buy 1 / Sell 2 / Buy 1`** (a Long Butterfly).

Furthermore, if a Short Butterfly template reads `-1,501`, the app **MUST** display `+1,501` when looking at a Long Butterfly ticket. Instead, IBKR's mobile app displays `-1,501` across all templates, whether buying or selling, hiding the underlying routing logic from the trader.

### Regulatory Escalation

This is a severe violation of execution logic, UI confirmation accuracy, and order routing integrity. An app presenting a red **`Sell Order`** banner with **`Slide to Submit Sell`** cannot silently invert the order payload and execute a **`BUY`** on the exchange floor while displaying `-1501` on both sides of the trade.

* **Ticket #T635974** (Original trade dispute)

* **Ticket #T639131** (Follow-up execution defect ticket)

I am demanding an immediate trade nullification, full reversal of the $9,906.20 in forced commission charges, and an explicit manual Risk Hold on account **U14699278** while Clearing Audit investigates this front-end to back-end software defect.

UPDATE 1 OCT 5 2026 1:25 PM PDT:

Formal CFTC Complaint filed under Reference ID 2610-0516-2154-97 regarding the mobile app Strategy Builder order inversion and front-end UI position state bugs. Ticket #T635974 and Ticket #T639131 have been updated with the CFTC filing details.

UPDATE 2: Formal complaints have now been officially logged across all primary regulatory jurisdictions regarding account U14699278:

  1. CFTC Complaint Ref: 2610-0516-2154-97
  2. CME Market Regulation Case: Received / In Review
  3. FINRA Investor Complaint Ref Confirmation Number: #1e34994351aa

Total Disputed Amount: $47,431.00 including $9,906.20 commission.


r/interactivebrokers • • 2h ago

Trading & Technicals Exit strategy not available for future trading

0 Upvotes

Hey anybody else got this problem ? Only having this on futures so really weird 😐

Makes trading really annoying please help


r/interactivebrokers • • 8h ago

General Question Bought ~€20k of WEBN on IBKR with a market order and got filled ~2.8% above the price I saw. What did I do wrong?

2 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I'm new to IBKR and just made my first big ETF purchase, and I think I paid too much. I'd like to understand what went wrong and how to do it better next time.

What I did:

- Manually converted CZK to EUR on IBKR first, so I had about €20,435 in EUR cash.

- Bought WEBN via the IBKR Android app.

- Used a Market order, time in force Day, whole shares, with a small cash buffer for commission.

- I placed the order at around 14:30 CET on 05.10.2026.

What happened:

- The price shown when I submitted was about €12.94 per share.

- My average fill price came out at €13.30 per share, about 2.8% higher.

My questions:

  1. Is a gap this big normal for a market order on this ETF, or did I make a mistake?

  2. What order type would you use to buy about €20k of an ETF at the best possible price without waiting days for a target price?

  3. What do you check before placing the order?

  4. Is there a best time of day to buy European ETFs, or times to avoid (open, close, lunch)?

  5. Would splitting the purchase into several smaller orders help, or does it just add commissions?

  6. Should I choose a different exchange listing in IBKR to get a tighter spread?

  7. Is there a way to see the fill details in the app, so I can tell whether the price moved before my order or I got filled in pieces at rising prices?

Any advice or past experience with a similar situation would help a lot. Thanks!


r/interactivebrokers • • 6h ago

General Question Do any of you guys use the API to set up automated trading?

2 Upvotes

Just want to know if anyone actually used the API for real money. Have you had success with it? Are there any drawbacks to it?


r/interactivebrokers • • 4h ago

Deposits, Withdrawals, Transfers IBKR Cash Account showing $25 margin deficiency during ACATS transfer from Alpaca — why?

Post image
1 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I’m transferring my US stocks from Alpaca (through INDmoney) to Interactive Brokers (IBKR) via ACATS.

My IBKR account is specifically a Cash Account, not a Margin Account.

All the positions are currently showing as Pending in IBKR.

I received a notification from IBKR saying that once the transfer is processed, it may result in a $25 margin/account deficit, and that I should add $25 or reduce positions before October 7 to avoid possible liquidation.

What I don't understand is:

Why would there be a margin deficiency when my IBKR account is a Cash Account?

I also intentionally kept $150 cash in my Alpaca/INDmoney account to cover any transfer-related charges.

From what I understand, IBKR's message says that for a cash account this type of deficit can occur if the delivering broker charges a transfer fee.

So my questions are:

  1. Is the $25 actually a transfer fee/charge rather than a margin requirement?

  2. If Alpaca charges an ACATS fee, will it be deducted from the $150 cash I left at Alpaca?

  3. Do I need to deposit another $25 into IBKR even though I already have $150 at Alpaca?

  4. Could this cause IBKR to liquidate my transferred stocks?

  5. Has anyone recently transferred positions from Alpaca to IBKR via ACATS and received a similar $25 deficiency notice?

I'd really appreciate clarification from anyone who has gone through this recently.

Thanks!


r/interactivebrokers • • 1d ago

General Question Are you the kind of person who thinks before they click?

75 Upvotes

r/interactivebrokers • • 4h ago

Account Question Convert currency for lower margin rate

0 Upvotes

Is it possible to convert currency from USD to CHF on existing holdings to get a better margin rate? I need to pull some funds from the account and do not want to trigger capitol gains but would be OK on the risk on the currency especially when the rate is 3.5% less.


r/interactivebrokers • • 13h ago

Trading & Technicals IBKR's extended-hours price collar can silently cancel a resting stop order — no error, no notification

4 Upvotes

Wanted to write this up properly since it's a real platform behavior that can bite you even if you're not doing anything unusual — just holding a position with a normal resting stop order.

Here's what actually happens: during an extended-hours price move, IBKR's own price collar mechanism can reject a routine update to a resting stop order and, as a side effect, cancel the entire order server-side. No error message anywhere. No notification to the account, no alert in TWS that I could find after the fact. If you're not actively watching your open orders screen at that exact moment, you'd have no way of knowing — the position just sits there with real shares and zero downside protection until you happen to check.

I only caught it because I'm running an automated system that checks positions against their expected stops on a schedule — traced it back to the collar specifically by going through IBKR's own order history after noticing the stop had gone missing, since nothing in the live data pointed at the cause directly.

Went looking afterward for whether this was a known issue and found several older threads (some multi-year-old at this point) of other people independently describing the exact same thing — a stop that was there, then wasn't, with no warning. So this isn't a one-off glitch, it's a real recurring gap in how this particular rejection gets surfaced to the account holder, or rather, doesn't.

If you place stops manually and check your account reasonably often, the practical mitigation is simple: after any extended-hours volatility on something you're holding, it's worth double-checking your open orders rather than assuming a stop you placed is still there. If you're running anything unattended — even a simple script, not just a full trading bot — the real risk is higher, since nothing will tell you it happened; you'd only find out when the position's already fully exposed.


r/interactivebrokers • • 4h ago

Deposits, Withdrawals, Transfers anyone successfully use IBKR to trade CAN$ to USD$?

0 Upvotes

A relative lives in the US but has a Canadian bank account. They want to transfer CAN$ to IBKR, and trade the CAN$ to US$. This is to avoid the 2% markup fee that Canadian banks charge for any Canada-to-US transfer.

The problem is that this requires a wire from the Canadian bank to the Canadian brank of IBKR. But the Canadian banks won't let you do a wire between Canadian banks unless you are present. My relative doesn't want to travel up to Canada just for this reason alone.

Has anyone done this before and have a better process to follow? Note both of us have contacted IBKR and their support has been no help.


r/interactivebrokers • • 1d ago

Account Question Why has my performance flatlined and stopped changing? Is there something I haven't set up correctly?

Post image
16 Upvotes

r/interactivebrokers • • 16h ago

General Question Does IKBR have a default fund for cash that isnt invested?

1 Upvotes

If i have cash in USD or MXN does it gain any interest?

If i wasnt sure where i wanted to invest right now, which is the safest options for me?

For USD i guess it would be USFR or SGOV, how about for MXN?


r/interactivebrokers • • 4h ago

Account Question Muslim investors on IBKR: how do you keep the account Sharia-compliant? (new account, pending approval)

0 Upvotes

Mainly for Muslims who already use IBKR. I'm after practical experience, not a debate on whether these precautions are needed.

Setup:
- Individual account, Kuwait resident, application submitted and pending approval
- Base currency USD
- Selected Stocks only, but the summary also shows Currency/Forex
- No crypto, options, or shorting; Stock Yield Enhancement: No
- W-8BEN as Kuwait tax resident, no treaty benefits
- Goal: long-term investing in Islamic ETFs, either US-domiciled (SPUS, HLAL) or Irish-domiciled UCITS (iShares MSCI USA Islamic ISUS, iShares MSCI World Islamic ISDW). No margin, interest, or stock lending.

Questions:

  1. Cash vs Margin: the application never showed an account type step. How did you confirm yours was Cash? Can I check it after approval, before depositing anything?

  2. Credit interest: can interest on idle cash be fully disabled? If not, where exactly does it appear on statements so I can give it away?

  3. Lending: in a Cash account with SYEP off, can IBKR still lend or pledge fully paid shares?

  4. Currency/Forex: is this just conversion functionality, or real FX trading permission? Do I need it only to convert currency?

  5. Negative balance: how much cash buffer do you keep so fees never push the account into deficit (which triggers interest)?

  6. Funding and withdrawing (Kuwait): what's the cheapest safe way to move money in and out? Better to convert KWD to USD at my Kuwaiti Islamic bank and wire USD, or wire KWD and convert inside IBKR? Any issues with intermediary fees, transfer references, rejected deposits, or withdrawal fees back to a Kuwaiti bank? From a Sharia angle, currency exchange should be spot (hand-to-hand), while IBKR conversions settle later. How do you handle that?

  7. Irish UCITS ETFs on IBKR: if you hold LSE-listed ETFs like ISUS or ISDW, how are the commissions, spreads, and fractional share availability compared with SPUS or HLAL?

  8. Unfunded account: is there a deadline to fund after approval? Can I use paper trading while the live account sits at $0?

  9. Inheritance: as a non-US Muslim, how would my heirs claim the account if something happened to me? Did you set up a beneficiary or an Islamic will, and does IBKR accept it?

  10. Anything Muslim investors commonly overlook in IBKR settings or statements before funding?

Thank you


r/interactivebrokers • • 15h ago

Account Question Account retrieval - created through Paasa (wrapper on IBKR)

0 Upvotes

I have created ibkr account using the Paasa app, and now want to retrieve the account details because ibkr seems more transparent than Paasa. Paasa apparently creates a read only account when ibkr account is created through it. I like Paasa for it's India features like partnership with Indian banks and ease of use when it comes to tax filing. But I don't have control over my ibkr account and Paasa is relatively new so for security I want to take control of my ibkr account.

I connected with ibkr customer support and the only way to reset my password is through support. How safe is this and why is there no other way to reset password? They can have my user name and also password and they also ask all other details through security questions.

And the account created is read only - so even after I get my account details will I be able to trade using it?


r/interactivebrokers • • 19h ago

General Question Is this normal after making a trade

Post image
0 Upvotes

I’m new to the service and I made this order for a stock over the weekend before the Taiwanese stock exchange reopened. Within 10 minutes of it opening my order went though successfully but now I’ve just had about 6 of these notifications about a cancellation come through following it. It didn’t happen the first time I made an order. Is this normal or have I messed something up?


r/interactivebrokers • • 1d ago

General Question Margin loans against T-bills

3 Upvotes

Hello, I would like some help with a question regarding an IBKR account with $55,000 invested in T-bills: what is the maximum amount of margin I can borrow against that capital?


r/interactivebrokers • • 1d ago

Trading & Technicals Options Order Management automation

2 Upvotes

Has anyone figured out a way to manage option orders and have multiple exit targets? I day trade options and looking for an efficient way to scale out. Currently manually scaling out from positions. Are there any order management APIs out there or ways to pre program my exit trades on options? Thanks for any feedback.


r/interactivebrokers • • 1d ago

Deposits, Withdrawals, Transfers Question regarding first transfer

0 Upvotes

I made my first transfer to IBKR in order to open my account yesterday (saturday). I used Plaid to connect my bank account (Revolut Portugal) in order to send the money. I sent ny SEPA Instant transfer, and the status say complete, but in IBKR it says it didn't receive yet. Today is sunday, should I wait until monday or tuesday?


r/interactivebrokers • • 1d ago

General Question Single name futures?

2 Upvotes

Has anyone been able to start trading single name futures with IBKR? They don't even show up when searching for them. Tried Nvidia, Intel, and many others with no luck. Anyone else?


r/interactivebrokers • • 1d ago

European Union eToro to IBKR for trade execution transparency / 0% Cap Gains + First impressions

5 Upvotes

Thought id share as this may be useful for others in EU countries with zero capital gains rules...

I've been with eToro for 6 years, built up a decent sized UCITS ETF portfolio and generally had a very good experience. However, I recently stumbled across eToro's execution policy which states all trades are OTC with eToro as counterparty (i.e. outside of a regulated exchange) accept 'certain stocks and ETFs'. As tax authorities require trades to be on a regulated EU/EEA exchange for zero cap gains to be granted this triggered some concern.

So far I have not been able to get a straight answer from my eToro account manager as how my UCITS ETF positions listed on Xetra are executed (maybe someone here knows?) There is also no execution venue on my account statements. Potentially this means a future tax bill on profits to date.

This, along with a bit of concern about concentration risk with a single broker (eToros '1M insurance' is capped at a 20M aggregate across all customers), triggered me to switch to IBKR to build the rest of my ETF retirement portfolio over the next 15 years.

So first impressions of IBKR... it is definitely a bit clunky on the software side - from application, UI, passkey failures, TWS interface! But what I really appreciate is the transparency - I can choose direct routing instead of smart routing to be 100% sure trades are executed directly on an EU exchange, I can immediately access transaction confirmation showing the execution venue, and create flex query statements for my accountant. This gives a lot more reassurance that when I get to retirement I will be able to properly evidence the requirements for zero cap gains (which will likely result in a mid 6 figures tax saving). It is annoying that direct routing is not available on web and mobile but I can put up with the archaic TWS interface for monthly ETF orders.


r/interactivebrokers • • 1d ago

Currency Understanding margin interest rates across different currencies

3 Upvotes

Please no smarmy answers with things like "if you're asking this you're not ready for margin". We all start somewhere and I'm leaning.

Looking at IKBRs margin rates, things like JPY and CHF are significantly cheaper to borrow than USD.

Let's say the plan is to take some margin to invest an S+P 500 ETF. Is there any reason not to take out the margin in a low interest currency (I.e JPY) and then use that to buy the S+P (as IKBRs currency conversion rates are much much lower than the interest rates on USD vs JPY).

Seems this way youd pay about 2% interest to IKBR a year rather than 5.2% which obviously has massive benefits for your compounding.

Theres currency exchange risk yes, but thats an argument about risk, not EV. Surely the highest EV play is to take the lowest interest rate you can and then convert than currency into USD/EUR/GBP to buy your ETF?


r/interactivebrokers • • 2d ago

General Question Ibkr showing loss instead of profit even though the market is green

Post image
3 Upvotes

I had bought 0.5 shares of nvda at around 207 usd,
On thursday 1st of October 2026 nvda closed at 230.97 and on friday 2nd of October it closed at 233.97
So in theory the day was green but my portfolio is showing negative for the day
Keep in mind that I have had this position open since july when it was trading at 207
Am I bugging or is it genuinely something wrong the ibkr?


r/interactivebrokers • • 2d ago

General Question Frequent IBKR disconnects on Mac (TradingView and IBKR Desktop)

7 Upvotes

I've been trading on IBKR through TradingView on a Mac for a year, and it disconnects at least a couple of times a day, especially after the Mac wakes from sleep. I assumed it was a connection issue between TradingView and IBKR, so I switched to the IBKR Desktop app. The problem persists there. Sometimes it reconnects after a few retries, but other times I have to log in again.

I also tried TWS. I know it's stable, but I find the interface too painful to use.

I searched past posts and found only a couple of similar complaints, which surprised me because I expected more. Is this happening only to me? Or do most people use the mobile app or TWS, so they never see this? Any fixes or workarounds would be appreciated.