Yeah that has been confusing for me too. So basically, first I deposited a larger amount (>50k). A few weeks later, I deposited an amount <50k. After that second deposit, I was charged the interest. So i wrongly assumed the interest’s been charged due to my second deposit, not my first. The reason’s that IBKR will charge you the interest a lot later than the time of your deposit, and will not indicate what exactly you’re paying the interest for. You can figure that out by creating a special interest report on IBKR.
Anyway, I learnt a lot, and customer service was friendly, so I’m still VERY happy with IBKR compared to extortionist Swiss brokers
Maybe I wouldn’t have had the whole currency conversion delay with a margin account? Also, isn’t it a little outdated to have closing times for currency conversions in the evenings and weekends? On the other hand, I think trading directly at currency markets also gives you the best exchange rate, so maybe I should have just timed my conversion better.
In my opinion you should just not have a large cash balance at IBKR, I mean why are you doing this in the first place? When an investment opportunity arises it’s a matter of a few hours to transfer funds to IBKR.
Well that’s the thing, I placed the order to convert the CHF to USD as soon as I got notice the sum had been deposited. I subsequently also invested the USD into ETF the very same day.
But there was a huge delay in actually executing my currency conversion order.
The delay was due to currency market opening times, IBKR taking time to clear the order, and the two weekend days where no currency conversions take place.
I think it charges you once a month, on the last/first day of the month.
I don’t think so. If you don’t make it to settle the exchange on Friday, it will get settled on Monday, with or without margin account. Margin does not make the forex magically work different, I guess. One more thing to add to the mix is how the trades for some asset classes get settled 2 days after the trade date. Don’t know why it has to be like this, but it’s the standard.
I think the only thing a margin account allows is to trade with borrowed money. So you want to buy some stock with USD that you don’t have, you can do it. But if you send a very large CHF cash deposit, it will yield negative interest until you sell it and the trade has been settled (again, I guess).
I guess you’re not with Postfinance then It’s 24h at least, sometimes up to 3 days.
I admit to sometimes trying to take advantage of some minor market corrections at the end of the month, but Postfinance successfully prohibits me from any kind of market timing
By reading and partipating to this forum, you confirm you have read and agree with the disclaimer presented on http://www.mustachianpost.com/
En lisant et participant à ce forum, tu confirmes avoir lu et être d'accord avec l'avis de dégagement de responsabilité présenté sur http://www.mustachianpost.com/fr/
Durch das Lesen und die Teilnahme an diesem Forum bestätigst du, dass du den auf http://www.mustachianpost.com/de/ dargestellten Haftungsausschluss gelesen hast und damit einverstanden bist.
