Current Available Funds is what you have available to open a new position. In the Securities segment of your account, the Available Funds is the Equity with Loan Value less the total Initial Margin Requirements (ELV - Initial margin). For accounts that have been designated as a Pattern Day Trading account, the Available Funds in the Securities segment is the lesser of either today's Equity with Loan Value or the end of the previous day's Equity with Loan Value at 16:15 EST, less total Initial Margin Requirements. The Current Available Funds to open a future contract is the Net Liquidation Value in the Commodities segment less the total Initial Margin Requirements. Upon submission of an order, a check is made against real-time available funds for all open orders plus the order being submitted. If Available Funds after the order request would be greater than or equal to zero, the order is accepted. If Available Funds would be negative, the order is rejected.
Buying Power suggests the value of securities you can purchase without depositing additional funds. In a Reg T margin account, the Buying Power is displayed as 4 times the Current Available Funds and suggests you would be buying marginable securities that have a 25% initial margin requirement during the Regular Trading Hours session. At the start of the Reg T margin check period each day at 15:50 EST, the 50% Reg T margin will become effective. Portfolio Margin accounts display Buying Power as 6 times the Current Available Funds and suggests a well diversified portfolio of marginable US securities with a combined margin requirement of 15%.
Please Note
- Actual Buying Power for securities depends on the type of the margin account and the Initial margin requirement of the products you are trading.
Additional Information
- Key Margin Definitions in the IBKR Knowledge Base.