Interactive Brokers LLC
| Company | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name of the Broker |  Interactive Brokers LLC | - |
| Broker | ||
| Accounts | ||
| Demo account link | Demo Account | - |
| Live account link | Live Account | - |
| Ratings | ||
| Overall Rating | 6 | - |
| Safety of funds | 8 | - |
| Software ease of use | 2 | - |
| Tools and resources | 5 | - |
| Set-up process | 5 | - |
| Customer support | 5 | - |
| Timeliness of application | 5 | - |
| Funding options | 5 | - |
| General | ||
| Dealing desk/NDD | NDD | - |
| Minimum account size | 10000 | - |
| Max leverage | 40:01 | - |
| Application processing time | 2 Business Days | - |
| Fixed spreads |  | - |
| Fractional pips |  | - |
| Automated trading | | - |
| Offer options | | - |
| News and Charts | ||
| Free charts | | - |
| Free charts with broker feed | | - |
| Premium charts w/feed | | - |
| Trading off charts | | - |
| News | | - |
| Economic calendar | | - |
| Applications and Usability | ||
| Integrated charts | | - |
| Integrated news | | - |
| Margin watcher | | - |
| Trailing stops | | - |
| Web based application | | - |
| Downloadable application | | - |
| MT4 available | | - |
| Training video available | | - |
| Usability of software (1=poor, 5=very good) | | - |
| Courses and Webinars | ||
| Free training signals | | - |
| Webinars | | - |
| Beginner course | | - |
| Intermediate course | | - |
| Advanced course | | - |
| Help and Support | ||
| Phone Support | 00800-42-276537 | - |
| Live Chat | Live Chat | - |
| Email support | Email Support | - |
| Other Details | ||
| CFTC/NFA member | | - |
| FSA (London) | | - |
| Other (by whom) | NYSE-FINRA and SCP | - |
| Segregated account available | | - |
| Segregated account standard | | - |
| Client funds held separate from operating funds | | - |
| Balance sheet available | | - |
| NFA member page |  | - |
Interactive Broker Basic Information
Interactive Brokers is a well capitalized firm with $4billion in equity capital, handling over 1 million traders per day, however they do not specialize in Forex trading. They offer a variety of products from stocks and options to forex, bonds and futures. They also allows their clients to trade in over 70 international markets. For Forex, they use an ECN model allowing clients to trade with direct interbank prices with spreads as low as ½ pip. They do not mark up the spread as they charge a commission on trades instead. They have also won best forex brokerage by Stocks and Commodities magazine in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Their commission structure can be a little complicated for new traders. For trades less than 25,000, they charge 1 basis point (or pip) with a minimum of $2.50. For IdealPro, the commission vary based on monthly trading volume. For monthly volume less than 1,000,000,000, they charge 0.2 basis point commission per trade with a minimum of $2.50. Trading volume from 1,000,000,001-2,000,000,000 has a 0.15 basis point commission per trade with a minimum of $2.50. For those who trade more than 2,000,000,000 per month, the commission is 0.10 basis point per trade, with a minimum of $2.50 per trade. Interactive brokers is ideal for very active traders who do not need a lot of help as they have minimal customer service.
IB Most Popular Features
Interactive Brokers won Best Forex Brokerage Award by Stocks and Commodities Magazine from 2006-2008. They also provide depth of market information as well as have API access for traders who require it.
Trading Tools at Interactive Brokers
They allow traders to code their own automated trading programs using their API. They also allow traders to create their own custom indicators.
Education
They provide live and pre-recorded webinars to teach traders how to use their platform, Trader Workstation
Spreads
Interactive brokers is geared towards traders who have come over from other markets. They do not market up the spread and instead charge a per trade commission that ranges from 0.10 basis points for the most active traders to 1 basis point for the average trader (with a $2.50 minimum commission per trade). Because of this, spreads are as tight as a ½ pip per trade.
Regulation
Interactive Brokers provides both audited and unaudited statements of financial commitment on their website and Standard and Poor’s also gives IB an investment rating. As they also allow clients to trade stocks, they are regulated by the Securites and Exchange Commission (SEC). Their clients are also protected by $30million of SIPC by Lloyd’s of London securities account protection. They also hold no subprime debt, CDOs or credit default swaps. They are also registered with the CFTC and are an NFA member.
