[RobinHood]

I was considering parking some money in an IB account so I can use them just for the data and occasional stock trade (probably none). I don't want to move all my money because I want be able to trade futures (age requirement for margin use).

Are there any problems which may occur as a result of this?

I know they have a $3 p/month fee but apart from that I'm basically getting data I would otherwise be paying $100 or so per month for. There are no requirements for me to trade etc?

Quoting this post....

interactive brokers provides stock/futures/bond data for free. Account minimum required is $2,000 USD (or is it $5,000USD?)

HOWEVER: a "bug" if you like with I.B; once you have deposited the funds and your account is active, you can withdraw your 99% of your funds (leave like $50 in there).

After a few months, they will send you an auto generated email along the lines of:

"please note, your account is below the minimum, please deposit additional funds or your account will be closed..." etc.

What they actually do is seize the funds from inactive low-balance accounts, however because that is such a cruel thing to do, they have to give plenty of warning. Like 2- 4 months.

After you get the warning emails, go into your I.B account and click the button that indicates you are putting in a deposit. This begins the cycle again - After a month your 'pending deposit' expires, you get another warning email, send another 'pending deposit' note, wait a month, etc etc..

I have had an old I.B account with less than $10 in it for over a year now. (smwinc)

[mishnas]

Neat! I hope the IB dudes don't see this post.

[Kiwi]

There have been people complain that IB closed their accounts - I suspect they fit the category you are planning to join. So don't complain when it is closed.

[Trader333]

IB data is hopelessly inaccurate for volume so as long as you don't want to use volume in your trading you should be fine. It is more accurate on price though than most other feeds that I have come across.


Paul

[Head2k]

Originally Posted by forsearch »

[I]interactive brokers provides stock/futures/bond data for free. Account minimum required is $2,000 USD (or is it $5,000USD?)

The initial deposit must be at least 10,000 USD, unless you fit into a special category, such as students and some others. The data are for free, but there is some activity required to obtain the free data. If you dont spend at least 10 USD for commission in a particular month, they will charge you 30 USD for the data for that month.
But I cannot recommend using IB data, as there is a poor download speed, very limited backfill and VERY inaccurate volume.

[Trader333]

Originally Posted by Head2k »

If you dont spend at least 10 USD for commission in a particular month, they will charge you 30 USD for the data for that month.

Actually you have to spend $30 in commissions or you get charged $10 for the data and this only applies to US Stock and Futures data. Other sources of data have to be subscribed to at a cost but Forex data is free.

I have not had any issues with the speed of data and have found it to be as fast if not faster than any other data feed when used in real time.


Paul

[smwinc]

Yes, sorry I couldn't remember how much the deposit was.

I never had any major problems with volume when trading US futures. Never really traded stocks through them.

At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. Bang for your buck, you can't beat I.B.