IB Communiqué - June 30, 2009

Interactive Brokers - IB Communique
 
Quarterly enhancements to our trading platform along with expanded product offerings result in more unique advantages for IB customers. We've highlighted several of our recent developments below, and invite you to visit us at interactivebrokers.com to learn more.
 
Non Resident Indians
Trading for Non-Resident Indians
Last quarter, we introduced trading of options and futures products on the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) for residents of India. This quarter we have added support for stock trading on the NSE, and have expanded India trading to include Non-resident Indians (NRI) as well as Indian residents. To trade Indian products as a non-resident, you must open an account through the IB India Pvt Ltd. site, and you must qualify for NRI status.

For more details, visit the IB India web site
IB PortfolioAnalyst
IB is pleased to announce the beta release of our PortfolioAnalyst, an online tool that allows investors to evaluate the performance of their IB portfolio and save their analyses as reusable templates. Investors can select "dollar value" or "percent value" measures to analyze the monthly and quarterly performance of their entire portfolio, or a section of their portfolio based on specific asset classes or ticker symbols.

Results from analyses include data available from January 2008 to the present, and are displayed both as a color-coded graph and in a table. The next release will include the ability to export analyses to Excel, and to evaluate the performance of your IB portfolio against industry benchmarks.
IB Portfolio Analyst
PortfolioAnalyst is available on the Reports Management menu in Account Management. We encourage our customers to try out this beta version and send us your feedback at portfolioanalyst@interactivebrokers.com
Account Management Users' Guide
A comprehensive Account Management Users' Guide is now available online and in PDF form from the Accounts menu on the IB website. Log in to Account Management to administer and direct all aspects of your IB account, including funds and position transfers, trading permissions, user access rights, statements and reports and more. We have also recently added a release notes section where you can read about new features and changes to our Account Management offerings. To access the new users' guide and release notes, use the Accounts menu and select Account Management .
New Products Page
To help keep you up to date on all of our new product and exchange offerings, we have recently added the New Products page to the Trading menu. This list is updated daily and includes all new products sorted by the date they were added.
Technology Enhancements
Over the past months we have continued to enhance the TWS and API trading platforms. The major changes are noted below.
TraderWorkstation
TWS
  • Option Portfolio now has time slicing parameters which allow you to randomize the increment size and time intervals. (Release 893)
  • Option Portfolio adds a user-defined Reference Portfolio area. The query returns a simulated portfolio that matches or betters the P&L of your reference portfolio. (Release 895)
  • ScaleTrader now includes a chart, a summary area, and Top Price and Bottom Price fields for added control. (Release 895)
  • Advisors can now use the Percent Change Allocation for combination orders. (Release 893)
  • Deep Book data allowances have been changed to coincide with market data allocation, which is determined monthly based on commissions. Based on market data, the Deep Book data allows a minimum of three and maximum of 30 simultaneous deep books.
    (Release 894)
  • IB Risk Navigator now includes the ability to view portfolio relative P&L by expiry, using the Expiry Slicer. (Release 894)
  • OptionTrader now provides a button to auto-load chains for all option positions you hold in the underlying. (Release 895)
  • Redesigned Conditional Order builder allows you to drag and drop conditions into the builder, and translates conditions into readable text. (Release 895)
  • Default values are now included in the Precautionary Size and Price Limit fields on the order Presets. (Release 894)
  • Two new order types have been added, Trailing Limit if Touched and Trailing Market if Touched. These work similar to trailing stops, but put the offset on the opposite side of the market from a stop. (Release 895)
  • Non-guaranteed combination orders supported for some non-US products. (Release 896)
  • US Smart stock historical data for 1-day charts now goes back to 1995.
  • Ability to offset N225 futures trades between GLOBEX and SGX.
  • Post Only order attribute for directed Island and BEX limit orders lets you instruct TWS to never take liquidity.
    (Release 895)
  • Additional destinations added to European Smart Routing to improve fills.
  • Subscription-based support for ISE option depth of book data.
  • Ability to bypass IB auto-capping of market and stop orders for prices that seem out of range by checking the Bypass Market Cap checkbox in Misc tab on the Order Ticket. (Release 895)

For details on all of the latest enhancements and fixes to the TWS, please see the Release Notes page.
API
API (Application Program Interface)
  • The C++ API code has been refactored so it can be built on any POSIX-compliant platform.
  • Users can override mandatory precautionary settings validation from the API by setting the overridePercentageConstraints parameter in the Order object to TRUE using "1".
  • The DDE for Excel API sample spreadsheet (TwsDde.xls) has been updated to more closely parallel functionality supported in the Java, C++ and ActiveX APIs.
  • The ActiveX for Excel API now includes a sample spreadsheet.
  • New haltedLast tick type added for halted contracts, 1 for halted, 0 for resumed.
  • secIdType now supports ISIN identifier for stocks, as well as CUSIP, SEDOL and RIC.
  • Fields added to Contract Details object to provide more complete contract description.
For details on all of the latest API enhancements, see the API Release Notes page.
Margin Explained
Borrowing money to purchase securities is known as "buying on margin." The concept may sound simple, however understanding it can be anything but. To help our customers grasp the implications and requirements of trading on margin, we have redesigned our series of margin information pages which discuss everything from the concepts of initial and maintenance margin to the specific calculations for determining margin at the time of trade. Graphical examples make this complex topic easier to understand. Get started by clicking marginon the Trading menu.
Traders' University
Recent additions to the Traders' University, our tuition-free collection of trading courses, gadgets and widgets, include a new series of Forex tours created by our own senior market analyst Andrew Wilkinson. Forex Markets 101 is designed to help investors recognize the nature and needs of participants in the currency market. Forex Markets 102 helps investors better understand the mechanics, quotations and pricing behind currency trading, and what makes the exchange of currency different from other types of investing. Access the Traders' University from the Education menu.

Followers of Andrew's daily Options and Futures Intelligence Report and FX View can now receive these reports directly into their email inbox by registering at seekingAlpha.com. Once registration is confirmed, search on Wilkinson, and click the Follow button under Andrew's bio to subscribe to his reports.
Traders' University
Statement Enhancements
Recent enhancements to our statements include:
  • The added time period selection of Year-to-Date for Activity Flex and Trade Confirms Flex queries.
  • Reg T Equity with Loan Value, Reg T Margin Requirement and Special Memorandum Account information has been added to the Margin Summary section of the margin reports.
  • Activity Statements now include merged Forex commissions information, and a new Cash Report line item, Cash Settling MTM to show futures, CFD and option cash settlements.
You can find all changes and enhancements to our Statements and Queries on the new Statements and Reports Release Notes tab of the Statements and Reports section of the Accounts menu.
New Third-Party Commercial Tool Providers
We have recently added the following third-party integrated software solutions to our Commercial Tools program:
  • ZeroLine Trader
  • Quant Station
Find our more about our Commercial Tools and Technology Partner Programs on the IB web site.
Traders Edge
As our customers know, IB's TraderWorkstation™ is a comprehensive and versatile platform that lets you trade multiple products on numerous exchanges around the world from a single screen. The Traders' Edge focuses on one of our existing TWS tools that we think is worth a second look. This quarter we reintroduce you to the BookTrader.

BookTrader
Market-maker designed to instantaneously transmit orders with a single click, the TWS BookTrader is a favorite among active traders, scalpers, and arbitrageurs to take advantage of immediate trading opportunities. BookTrader allows you to rapidly enter orders from a deep book window with a single click - at any price, including the best bid and offer.

This TWS feature component functions independently, yet shares common elements allowing you to view market data and monitor price variations in the underlying, submit and manage orders, and view execution reports and changes to your portfolio from this stand alone window.

BookTrader

For more information on using the BookTrader, see the TWS Users' Guide.
If you do not wish to continue to receive the IB Communiqué click here.

Interactive Brokers - 2 Pickwick Plaza - Greenwich CT 06830

Interactive Brokers LLC - member NYSE, FINRA, SIPC

Any trading symbols displayed are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to portray recommendations.

Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. For more information read the "Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options". For a copy call (203) 618-5800 or click here. Supporting documentation for any claims and statistical information will be provided upon request.