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Closing and Rolling Futures Positions

Lesson 9 of 11

Duration 3:29
Level Intermediate
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In TWS Mosaic investors can quickly and easily create orders to close out existing futures positions or roll them to another expiration date from the Portfolio tab or a Watchlist in the Monitor panel.

Creating a Closing Order

To create a closing order the investor can hover the cursor over the instrument and click on the mouse to bring up an information box. The investor can choose to use the information box to close out either 100%, 75%, 50%, 25%, or a custom percentage of the position. Above the information box there are four order buttons: Buy, Sell, Close, and Roll. The color of the boxes indicate what type of order will be created, blue for buy and red for sell. The investor chooses to use the Close button, which will create an order in the Order Entry panel to close 100% of the position.

In the Order Entry panel, the investor can adjust the order type, price, and Time-in-Force and when ready, click on the “Submit” button in the bottom right-hand corner. The Order Confirmation window will appear and after reviewing the order description, amount, and balances the investor can click Transmit to send the order. Once sent the order will populate the Activity panel and the investor can monitor its status, make changes to the order type or price, or cancel the order if it hasn’t yet been filled.

Rolling a Futures Position

To create an order to roll an existing futures position the investor can hover the cursor over the instrument and click on the mouse to bring up the information box and the four buttons and click on “Roll”. As previously mentioned, the box will be either blue indicating that the investor will be buying back a short position and rolling it to another short position or red indicating the investor will be selling an existing long position and rolling it to another long position.

In this example the investor has a long futures position and wants to roll it to a later expiration date. Once the “Roll” button is clicked the Futures Roll Builder box will appear showing all the possible combinations for closing out the existing position and rolling it to another expiration. The investor selects the desired combination and clicks “OK”.

The combination will then populate the Order Entry Panel. The side of the order and the size is already populated to close out the existing position and the investor can adjust the order type, price if applicable, and Time-in-Force. When they are ready, they click “Submit” in the bottom right-hand corner of the Order Entry Panel and an Order Confirmation window appears. Once the investor reviews the information, they can click Transmit to submit the order.

The order will populate the Activity panel and the investor may modify the order type, Time-in-Force, and price or cancel the order if it hasn’t been filled.

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If you have a general question, it may already be covered in our FAQs. If you have an account-specific question or concern, please reach out to Client Services.

4 thoughts on “Closing and Rolling Futures Positions”

  • Anonymous

    why doesn’t ‘roll’ show up on my account?

    • Interactive Brokers

      Hello, thanks for reaching out. Please view this FAQ to roll over an future position in IBKR:https://www.ibkr.com/faq?id=36996766

      Please reach out with any more questions. We are here to help!

  • BP

    This feature doesn’t seem to be available on the mobile app. Any plans to add it in the near future?

    • Interactive Brokers

      Hello, thank you for reaching out. It is possible to close and roll futures positions in IBKR Mobile.

      Please view this FAQ for instructions to roll a future in IBKR Mobile: https://www.ibkr.com/faq?id=36996698
      Please view this FAQ for instructions to close a position in IBKR Mobile: https://www.ibkr.com/faq?id=42700408

      We hope this information is helpful!

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Disclosure: Interactive Brokers

The analysis in this material is provided for information only and is not and should not be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security. To the extent that this material discusses general market activity, industry or sector trends or other broad-based economic or political conditions, it should not be construed as research or investment advice. To the extent that it includes references to specific securities, commodities, currencies, or other instruments, those references do not constitute a recommendation by IBKR to buy, sell or hold such investments. This material does not and is not intended to take into account the particular financial conditions, investment objectives or requirements of individual customers. Before acting on this material, you should consider whether it is suitable for your particular circumstances and, as necessary, seek professional advice.

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Disclosure: Futures Trading

Futures are not suitable for all investors. The amount you may lose may be greater than your initial investment. Before trading futures, please read the CFTC Risk Disclosure. A copy and additional information are available at ibkr.com.

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