Option Trading

[omad]

Thanks guys, really appreciated...joeshe915, thanks I'll call Halifax to get more info on that. Omad, do you go directly through Interactive?..and if so is how and where would the cash account be setup?..the US don't make it easy for us NZ'ers huh..

I go directly through IB, you can choose the base currency of your account and change it at any time, so you can have it set up in NZ dollars. Deposit and withdraws are made to/from an NZ bank. You can see how clients money is handled here.

I would imagine that if you go through Halifax that they would be clipping the ticket on commissions also, Joe should be able to answer this?

[FarmerHamilton]

I go directly through IB, you can choose the base currency of your account and change it at any time, so you can have it set up in NZ dollars. Deposit and withdraws are made to/from an NZ bank. You can see how clients money is handled here.

I would imagine that if you go through Halifax that they would be clipping the ticket on commissions also, Joe should be able to answer this?

IB are excellent if you have some experience trading options. To be able to day trade you'll need a decent slug of money otherwise you can get caught out by being "max-ed" out on the number of trades you can do ... I learned the hard way , couldn't hedge a position that was going against me , cheap lesson fortunately as it was only a small trade. To do it properly and make some decent money rather than just for fun I reckon you need $50k ...

The $1 commission to buy 100 Coca-Cola shares makes Direct Brokings $29.95 to buy 500 Sky City look EXTREMELY expensive !!!!

[omad]

Yep, you need US $25k + to avoid the day trading rules, it's a regulation so applies to all brokers.

If you want portfolio margin you'll need US $110k +.

[FarmerHamilton]

Yep, you need US $25k + to avoid the day trading rules, it's a regulation so applies to all brokers.

If you want portfolio margin you'll need US $110k +.

I'm over $110k US Omad , what are the benefits of portfolio margin , can it make a big difference ?

[omad]

I'm over $110k US Omad , what are the benefits of portfolio margin , can it make a big difference ?

Generally it will give you lower margin, you can see what sort of difference it makes by going to your account page and under the Margin Requirements section there should be a button at the top right next to the ? + signs, I can't remember what the button says but it's something to do with Portfolio Margin(PM). If you select this button it will show you what your Margin Requirements would be if you were using PM.

IB's got some info on PM here

[FarmerHamilton]

Generally it will give you lower margin, you can see what sort of difference it makes by going to your account page and under the Margin Requirements section there should be a button at the top right next to the ? + signs, I can't remember what the button says but it's something to do with Portfolio Margin(PM). If you select this button it will show you what your Margin Requirements would be if you were using PM.

IB's got some info on PM here

Up a heap in Sept so far ... long the market / short vols ... Took off about 25% of my exposure in the last 5 minutes of trading today , don't want to get too greedy but long may it continue.

[joeshe915]

I'm not totally sure Omad but Halifax don't seem to be clipping the ticket . From the P&L sheet the only charges are the IB $2 per contract. ie. $2 for every 100 lot of options.

[omad]

IB charge is 0.70 per contract (min 1.00) plus exchange fees which varies depending on where you get filled. Today so far I did a call spread in AAPL, 2 spreads so 4 options total & comms were 2.11. I also did a 5 lot spread in UVXY (10 options total) and only got charged 0.20, not sure what happened there.

[Longhaul]

I dabbled with options about 10 years ago after finishing university. I didn't stick with it and haven't looked at it since, but was wondering where is a good place to go to get back into it? Would be keen to start paper trading

[blueswan]

I trade a lot of US and ASX Options as well. I use IB for the US ones and IOS/IRESS for the ASX ones. I do a lot of Butterflies.