Like Tree24Likes

Dumb question about Interactive Brokers: how do I invest money, instead of day trade?

Closed Thread
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 LastLast
  1. #1

    Dumb question about Interactive Brokers: how do I invest money, instead of day trade?

    Hi all, I have a really basic question about an Interactive Brokers account that I opened. I know how stupid this sounds, but I seem to have my account 100% approved and ready to go, and I have it loaded with 10,000 HKD (the minimum for opening an account), but: I can't buy any stocks. When I try to buy, a pop-up sign says my account isn't authorized to do this.

    But maybe the distinction here is between "investing" and "day trading"? Because I'm clicking on the box that says "trade" in the upper right corner, and just trying to do the most basic thing--like, buy one share of Apple. I've looked online and apparently the rules are, I need a minimum of $25,000 USD to engage in day trading. So I'd need to transfer 200,000 more HKD to the IB account. But can't I just invest and buy a few stock shares? Where on their website can I do that?

    Apologies in advance for what is probably the dumbest post on GeoExpat this year. I feel like I'm asking, "I just bought some food at the grocery store. How do I eat it?" I seriously can't figure out how to invest money using my online investment company. IB is very difficult to reach--I can't e-mail them, they just have this looping set of "bot" auto-responses and "your question might have been asked before." It's hard to call them because there are super-long wait times because of market volatility. Meanwhile I'm getting a monthly charge and actually losing money during a historic bull market.

    GentleGeorge likes this.

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    6,714
    Quote Originally Posted by Expat Lit Tchr:
    Meanwhile I'm getting a monthly charge
    Why would they be charging you if you have not bought anything as yet?

  3. #3

    Do you need to update your trading permissions? I think it's under account management. You need to have permission to trade each type of asset and location. Maybe US stocks is not set up yet?

    The "Trade" button is not specifically for day trading. That's just the button I press to buy stocks.

    This doesn't sound like your issue, but sometimes IBKR says I'm not "logged in to trade". My guess is that happens when their server is too busy and a lot of people are using their services. Instead of saying "Trade" at the top right corner, it says "Log in to Trade". But if I wait a bit, that just fixes itself, and I'm able to trade again.


  4. #4

    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Posts
    3,240
    Quote Originally Posted by Nate Chung:
    Do you need to update your trading permissions? I think it's under account management. You need to have permission to trade each type of asset and location. Maybe US stocks is not set up yet?
    +1

  5. #5

    Every month, they charge 100 HKD, whether or not you've used the account or done any trades.


  6. #6

    Thanks for your reply, Nate. I've been looking around my "Account Settings," as you've suggested. There are certain things where it says "Request Trading Permissions" -- e.g., for futures. So I'm not approved for those things. But beside "Stocks," it all looks cool--there's this big long list of the countries in which, as far as I can tell, I'm approved to trade.

    I tried to buy another share of Apple as a test, and I've cut-and-pasted the response--it says I have $0 available. Maybe this is a clue about what's wrong?


  7. #7

    Thanks again to Nate for his reply, I've posted some additional info after I followed his suggestion and tried my "account settings"--hope the moderator approves it. One other thing about IB: they seem unreachable. I've never dealt with anything like it. When I click on the feature for an online chat with a representative, it says "the application is currently down for maintenance. Please try again later." When I try to submit a "ticket" to the Message Center, it doesn't let me actually send a message. It just says "search iBot." I can't actually email anyone. And I've mentioned being put on hold indefinitely on the phone.


  8. #8

    Basically, I tried Account Settings, and it seems like I'm good to go--there are some things that don't seem approved, like options, etc., but under "stocks," it has a long list of countries in which I'm apparently cool to buy, including the US. I tried to buy a share of Apple as a test, and it says that "cash available: 0.00," "cash needed for this order and other pending orders: 138." But I do have a "net liquidation value" of 10,700 HKD. So I'm really puzzled.


  9. #9

    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Posts
    210

    Have you converted your HKD to USD? Go to trade, convert currency.


  10. #10

    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Posts
    3,240
    Quote Originally Posted by Expat Lit Tchr:
    Basically, I tried Account Settings, and it seems like I'm good to go--there are some things that don't seem approved, like options, etc., but under "stocks," it has a long list of countries in which I'm apparently cool to buy, including the US. I tried to buy a share of Apple as a test, and it says that "cash available: 0.00," "cash needed for this order and other pending orders: 138." But I do have a "net liquidation value" of 10,700 HKD. So I'm really puzzled.
    Sorry you're having these problems, agree IB are super hard to reach (I did get through to them once during HK office hours after a ~30 min hold).

    I can't be sure why it isn't letting you trade - some thoughts, the permissions say they need 24 hours to update but are typically much faster, did that happen already? You *might* need to wait until market hours to place an order (is the default order only for the day?). Cash is in your account which should be enough. But if it's HKD not USD you will need to convert or enable margin trading (ie. They lend you USD against your HKD to buy apple). Do you see the sidebar with the various order types and limit prices?

    Once you get your head around the platform, it gives you lots of options and tools that make it worthwhile. It's my 1-stop-shop now for currency transfer, investment, short term cash borrowing, occasional insurance options trades and of course random punting.

Closed Thread
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 LastLast