# IBKR behaves weirdly when converting currency and immediately buying with a cash account
**URL:** https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894
**Category:** Investing / Brokers
**Created:** [May 31, 2024, 1:33pm UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894 "2024-05-31T13:33:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Lucien](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/Lucien)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2024, 8:05am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/67 "2024-09-14T08:05:12Z")
I live in Ireland. Just stumbled across this forum while looking for an explanation for the topic in question.
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### Author:  [@nabalzbhf](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/nabalzbhf)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2024, 8:11am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/68 "2024-09-14T08:11:14Z")
In that case, would be better to consult an Irish resource/forum š
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### Author:  [@Lucien](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/Lucien)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2024, 8:12am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/69 "2024-09-14T08:12:07Z")
Thank you, just wanted to make sure
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### Author:  [@donato](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/donato)
#### Post date: [September 17, 2024, 11:41am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/70 "2024-09-17T11:41:32Z")
> [@Interactive Brokers: Changes in currency conversion for Cash accounts in April 2024](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/interactive-brokers-changes-in-currency-conversion-for-cash-accounts-in-april-2024/12498/6):
>
> However, please note that the conversion rate applied by IBKR may be adjusted from the standard market rate to account for any differences between the settlement cycle for your stock trade and the typical settlement cycle for that currency pair. This rate adjustment allows IBKR to manage the associated risk and costs.
Apologies, I just posted in the other thread but I see that the conversation has picked up again hereā¦ Can anyone explain what the āhoweverā means in practice? Thank you!!
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### Author:  [@Quack](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/Quack)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2024, 9:01am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/71 "2024-11-25T09:01:41Z")
Is there an easy way to see the amount of āfullyā settled cash available in each currency?
Fully in quotes because Iām not sure the technical word to use. When i convert to USD it instantly shows as settled USD cash even though I know it takes 2 days until the FX transaction is finalized
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### Author:  [@jmp](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/jmp)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2024, 12:58pm UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/73 "2024-11-25T12:58:56Z")
> [@Quack](#):
>
> an easy way to see the amount of āfullyā settled cash available
I havenāt found it displayed anywhere.
My workaround (for one currency) is to use the dialog for withdrawing cash; it shows two numbers, and the really settled cash is the amount available for withdrawal without margin loan (0.00 in my screenshot below, because I have cash waiting to be settledā¦). Then of course I abort the withdrawal.
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### Author:  [@EdgyTwinkle](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/EdgyTwinkle)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2024, 4:17pm UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/74 "2024-11-25T16:17:50Z")
I had a super weird behaviour recently with autofx and market order. I moved 3k CHF to my ibkr account with the intention of buying some VT. I had about 50.- sitting there before.
At last weekās fx rate, that was worth about 3400$. VT was at 119.64$.
I calculated I could buy about 28.4 shares, so I went for 28 (I prefer not having partial shares). I used autofx and market order.
What happened is ibkr refused, saying I didnāt have enough funds. I was surprised and thought my math was wrong, so I tried 27 shares and it worked. Then I noticed my account still had about 200CHF cash, so I could indeed get a 28th share! I went back on the trading screen and bought a single VT share (autofx+market order) andā¦ It worked!
How come I wasnāt able to directly buy 28 shares? Anyone has an idea? Unfortunately I didnāt copy the error shown when it happenedā¦
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### Author:  [@nabalzbhf](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/nabalzbhf)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2024, 4:37pm UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/75 "2024-11-25T16:37:53Z")
> [@EdgyTwinkle](#):
>
> How come I wasnāt able to directly buy 28 shares? Anyone has an idea? Unfortunately I didnāt copy the error shown when it happenedā¦
I think you need to use limit order instead of market, then it knows you have the fund.
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### Author:  [@EdgyTwinkle](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/EdgyTwinkle)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2024, 4:47pm UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/76 "2024-11-25T16:47:13Z")
Interesting thanks! Indeed previously I was only doing limit order, then after reading here and there that market orders were great, I tried it. So Iāll just go back to limit order then, takes a bit more time to complete, but at least they work well.
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### Author:  [@nabalzbhf](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/nabalzbhf)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2024, 4:53pm UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/77 "2024-11-25T16:53:06Z")
> [@EdgyTwinkle](#):
>
> then after reading here and there that market orders were great, I tried it
Sounds pretty dangerous, you can always do a limit order above the current ask if you want it to execute (but you limit your downside).
(Also with IB, doing a midpoint limit order is often better, you can even get a price improvement while often adding liquidity so getting a fee rebate from the exchange).
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### Author:  [@Dr.PI](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/Dr.PI)
#### Post date: [November 25, 2024, 5:58pm UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/78 "2024-11-25T17:58:06Z")
Probably a safety mark up in order of 3-4% on the amount you wanted to trade.
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### Author:  [@EdgyTwinkle](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/EdgyTwinkle)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2024, 8:24am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/79 "2024-11-26T08:24:50Z")
Thereās an article on thepoorswiss about how market orders are fine. After reading it carefully I decided to give it a try, after all most of what I know about investment come from either there or here and so far it all went well.
I lost a couple peanuts but learned something, not that bad! Wonāt do it again though.
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### Author:  [@Abs\_max](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/Abs_max)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/81 "2024-11-26T19:54:50Z")
its because while using AUTO FX, IBKR likes you to have 100 USD at the end left in cash account
If you want to really run down your cash balance, you need to first convert to USD, wait for currency to settle & then buy. In that case you can suppress the 100USD warning.
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### Author:  [@gaijin](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/gaijin)
#### Post date: [December 2, 2024, 7:08pm UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/82 "2024-12-02T19:08:16Z")
> [@Compounding](#):
>
> his sponsor Neon
From my understanding thepoorswiss has referal links of the services that he uses himself. Neon is one of them, as are IB, Degiro, Finpension, ā¦ I didnāt see any futher indication that Neon goes beyond the other companies. So I donāt understand what you mean by sponsoring.
> [@Compounding](#):
>
> As @nabalzbhf mentioned, market orders can be pretty risky, maybe not for highly liquid funds like VT,
I think thatās the point of thepoorswiss. When you trade highly liquid funds and want to make your investment life as simple as possible, market orders are just fine.
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### Author:  [@anon95353169](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/anon95353169)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2024, 5:19am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/83 "2024-12-03T05:19:24Z")
> [@Compounding](#):
>
> I was quite surprised by this article of poorswiss, frankly. Maybe the fact that his sponsor Neon doesnāt (or didnāt) allow limit orders played into it.
I donāt have sponsors, but multiple partners and they play no role in choosing the articles I write š
I wrote this article because I myself use only market orders (never used another order in 5 years now). And I still believe that they are perfectly fine for anyone using only high volume ETFs.
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### Author:  [@Luk\_nuts](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/Luk_nuts)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2024, 5:57pm UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/85 "2024-12-03T17:57:22Z")
> [@Compounding](#):
>
> As to Neon: Beside the point, but them not offering interest is simply not competitive anymore
To which other solution do you compare them?
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### Author:  [@fittim](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/fittim)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2024, 6:47pm UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/87 "2024-12-19T18:47:10Z")
After using the Auto FX buying VT on my cash account with base curreny CHF since itās possible (March or so), I did not have a USD position any more. Yesterday, IBKR changed automatically from CHF to USD, but only to have 0.01 USD. Yesterday was also the ex-dividend date for VT. I only have VT, by the way, no other securities. Anyone experienced the same? Any idea, what the reason might be.
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### Author:  [@mabi](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/mabi)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2024, 7:36pm UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/88 "2024-12-19T19:36:09Z")
> [@Abs\_max](#):
>
> its because while using AUTO FX, IBKR likes you to have 100 USD at the end left in cash account
Is this new? and documented maybe somewhere?
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### Author:  [@Abs\_max](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/Abs_max)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2024, 1:21am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/89 "2024-12-20T01:21:18Z")
I donāt know if itās documented but I always get a warning when amount is less than 100 USD
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### Author:  [@mabi](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/u/mabi)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2024, 7:03am UTC](https://forum.mustachianpost.com/t/ibkr-behaves-weirdly-when-converting-currency-and-immediately-buying-with-a-cash-account/12894/90 "2024-12-20T07:03:16Z")
I have never seen this warning and also got affected by these AutoFX conversions so I was trying to find a solution to avoid these and at the same time not need to wait 2 days for my CHF to USD conversion to settle. Next time I will try leaving \>100 USD after buying some VT.
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