Fields below relate to the Available Funds section of the Account window.

Fields below relate to the Balances section of the Account window. | |…

Forms the basis for determining whether a client has the necessary assets to either initiate or maintain security positions.  Equals cash + stock value + bond value + mutual fund value + European and Asian options value (excludes market value U.S. securities & futures options and cash maintained in futures segment). …

Funds that you currently have available for trading. For a securities account, this value is your Equity with Loan (ELV) value minus your Initial Margin Requirement…

Fields below relate to the Margin Requirements section of the Account window.

This value shows the amount of equity that must be maintained in order to continue holding a position. In the U.S., the rules of the listing exchanges specify the maintenance margin requirements on security transactions subject to SEC approval.  The exchange maintenance margin requirement for long stock positions is currently set at 25% although brokers often establish 'house margin' requirements in excess of that, particularly where the security is considered low-priced or subject to volatile price changes.  The exchange maintenance margin requirement for short stock positions is currently set at 30%…

This value, often referred to as the "traders' cushion, is the difference between your account's Current Equity with Loan Value and Current Maintenance Margin, or ELV - Maintenance Margin Requirement…

SMA, or Special Memorandum Account, represents a line of credit that is created when the market value of securities in a Reg. T margin account increase in value. While an increase in market value over original cost creates SMA, a subsequent decline in market value has no effect on SMA. SMA will only decline if used to purchase securities or withdraw cash, and the only restriction with respect to its use is that the additional purchases or withdrawals do not bring the account below the maintenance margin requirement. SMA will also increase on a dollar for dollar basis in the event of cash deposits or dividends…

This is the minimum portion of a new security purchase that an investor must pay for in cash. For U.S. stocks, this is defined by Reg. T and is currently 50% (Reg. T Initial Margin). Since IBKR calculates margin on a real-time basis and Reg. T is enforced at the end of the day, IBKR performs an initial margin requirement check at the point of trade, albeit at a rate generally less than 50% (IB Initial Margin). …