IBKR’s Advisor Portal contains a variety of tools for options trading including option chains, the ability to enter combo orders and the exercise/lapse options tool.
Option Chain
Advisors can view Option Chains on a selected instrument from the menu by expanding the Trade menu, selecting Option Chains, and searching for a contract or underlying symbol in the search bar. The top of the page will include options data values for the selected underlying, including option volume, implied volatility, and historical volatility.
The expirations are listed below. The advisor can use the blue arrow icon to scroll through the expirations and click on the expiration they would like to view.
To the left of the expirations, the investor can access the Options Wizard. For more information on the Options Wizard, please see our lesson in the IBKR GlobalTrader course. The investor can adjust the View to Calls & Puts, Calendar Spread, Vertical Spread, or Diagonal Spread, and select the Settings icon to adjust the Strike Display, Time Period, and data Columns. Switch the toggles on to display Weekly contracts and Options Market Data.
With the view set to Calls & Puts, Call options will populate on the left, put options on the right, and the strikes down the middle. To select a contract to trade, the investor can click on the Bid price for a sell order or the Ask price for a buy order and a pop-up will appear on the right hand side with a summary of the advisor’s trade and performance profile.
In this example, the advisor would like to submit a buy order for a call option. They will start by selecting the expiration they wish to trade. In the option chains, the advisor scrolls through the list of strikes and then clicks on the corresponding Ask price under the Calls section to the left of the Strike. The buy order is populated in the order preview window to the right of the screen. Select the blue Order button in the top right corner and the Order Ticket will populate. The advisor can select the order allocation, modify the order parameters as needed, and select Preview or Submit Order when ready.
Combo Orders
Advisors can also create spread orders through the Option Chain page to submit orders for multiple leg combos. From the View dropdown menu, advisors can choose between Calendar Spread, Vertical Spread, and Diagonal Spread. In this example, the advisor chooses Vertical Spread. A table of predefined combination orders will populate into the chart. Click on the box for the desired combo and an order details window will appear to the right displaying the legs and a performance profile. To submit the order, the advisor selects the Order button to launch the Order Ticket.
If the advisor would prefer to build their own spread, they can do so from the option chain by selecting Calls & Puts in the view dropdown. In the list of contracts displayed, select the expiration followed by the bid or ask for one leg of the combo. The popup will appear to the right with a summary of the trade thus far. The advisor can click the arrow icon on the left side of the pop up to collapse the order summary window. Back in the Option Chain, the advisor will select the bid or ask next to any additional contracts they wish to add to the order to build the spread. In the Order Summary window, enter a quantity next to each leg to set the ratio for the order. For example, entering a quantity of one for one leg that is selling and two for the second leg which is buying will create an order to sell one contract for every two that are bought. Click on the word “Sell” or “Buy” next to the leg to update a sell order to a buy order, or a buy order to a sell order. Use the X icon to the right of the leg to delete a specific leg, and the “Clear” trash can icon to delete the entire order and start over.
Add a Stock Leg
If the advisor would like to add a stock leg to the order, they can select the Add Stock Leg button from the Order Summary window and the underlying symbol will automatically be added as a stock leg.
Select the blue Order button to populate the Order Ticket and fill in the order details for the options combo. When ready, select to Submit or Preview the order.
Options Analysis
The Options Analysis tab will display analysis data on Implied Volatility, Historical Volatility, Option Volume, Open Interest, and Skew.
Exercise/Lapse Options
If the advisor has any open American Style option positions they wish to exercise prior to expiration, they can use the Exercise/Lapse Options page from the Trade menu. A list of any long options positions will populate. Each option position will show an Out-of-the-money or In-the-money tag. To exercise an option the advisor will select the position from the list and input the number of contracts to exercise.
Join The Conversation
For specific platform feedback and suggestions, please submit it directly to our team using these instructions.
If you have an account-specific question or concern, please reach out to Client Services.
We encourage you to look through our FAQs before posting. Your question may already be covered!