Interactive Brokers

robertdoyle

Hi all, I am looking to invest in two or three companies in the near future over a short term period. I was going to use interactive brokers (http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/main.php) and wondered if anyone had any experience with them Are they reliable and can I trust them with my money?

Thanks,

Rob

Pennystockwhiz

Terrible customer service and only care about their high net wroth clients like hedge funds. Despite this I would still open an account with them because they have good trade executions + great borrows for small cap stocks. They have a $10,000 minimum.

It depends on what kind of companies you are investing in, are they large/small cap stocks?

strmin

I've been with interactive brokers for years. Couldn't be happier. Very reliable, customer support is excellent, deposits and withdrawals are usually done in one day. Just be aware of the minimum $10/month commission policy. If you buy and hold, you'll be still paying $10/month. IB is for active traders.

Cute Hoor

IB only charge .01% commission, hard to beat if you want to trade worldwide, good to deal with. The $10 monthly fee is a bit of a drawback, but probably worth trading once a month to avoid the charges.

delux

I use them as well. The $10/month "problem" hasn't been an issue for me because i sell put and call options to cover it. I mean with $1 per option contract you can easily make money on out-of-the-money options that will never be exercised, which you couldn't otherwise do if you were paying $10/ contract on other platforms. OK some people will say there's a chance they could be exercised, but for me so far it's worked great.

Pennystockwhiz

Trading out of money options is an aggressive trading strategy for experienced options traders only.

Hibrasil

strmin wrote: »

I've been with interactive brokers for years. Couldn't be happier. Very reliable, customer support is excellent, deposits and withdrawals are usually done in one day. Just be aware of the minimum $10/month commission policy. If you buy and hold, you'll be still paying $10/month. IB is for active traders.

Any harm in asking how you put funds in to your account and have you ever transferred shares that you held in another account

strmin

Hibrasil wrote: »

Any harm in asking how you put funds in to your account and have you ever transferred shares that you held in another account

I make a wire transfer in Euros. Never transferred any shares, in my case it was easier and cheaper just to sell and buy them back.

Hibrasil

strmin wrote: »

I make a wire transfer in Euros. Never transferred any shares, in my case it was easier and cheaper just to sell and buy them back.

Thanks for confirming what I thought was the real options:)

Itchyness

One thing to note is that if you dont have leverage on your account, when you sell the funds wont be accessible for three days or so until the trade clears.