HI, today HKFE changes margin requirement to HKD110,720 for one contract of HSI IB now has a 4% rule, current HSI is at 22964 (HSIQ7) 22964*4%*50=HKD45,928 50% of HKFE margin is 110720*50%=HKD55,360 I expected the HSI intraday margin to be max(4% rule margin, 50% HKFE margin)=HKD55,360 But when I check margin, TWS one contract of HSI require a margin of HKD68,039.40 (when HSIQ7 is at 22964 ) , how is this calculated ?
one or two weeks ago they raised all index futures intraday margin to about 68% or equivilence of the maintenance level. what i also want to say is that every time HKFE raises HSI margin IB is not notifying traders(i dont even mean instant notice which should actually be but morning notice). WHAT IS IT SO DIFFICULT A THING TO FORWARD HKFE's NOTICE TO HER CLIENTS??? i guess the fact that IB never bother to forward major markt messages somewhat reflects their attitude that these r trivial issues(to them). but to me things like sudden rise of futures margin often leads to immediate sharp rise or fall. it's a major risk for small traders. i'm frustrated about this. and a bit anxious. no longer know what else i consider important would be trivial in IB's eyes. maybe i should call those "cutie" girls at HK office to honestly tell them that "traders come from mercury IB comes from Mars". well, most local brokers notify on margin change before the market open in the morning. why not them? now that my choice to trade with the world class broker has ironically made me a blind. the sudden close of HKFE under typhoon signal is just another demo of IB's mindset. lack of preparation for major market events. i was MERELY LUCKY to be able to confirm the sudden close via another broker after making dozens of call in the almost paralysed cell phone network. sucks.. i better re-activate some of the old accounts to avoid the risk.
IB, you've committed to more timeliness with typhoon warnings and its great that you're adding an audio alert to the bulletins for those of us not watching TWS every minute. Would you please update the procedures for passing HKFE bulletins on ... changes in margin would seem to be something for which we should see a bulletin or email. Thanks.
One or two weeks ago I called IB HK office when I found discrepancy between the margin requirement indicated by IB website and TWS "check margin" function, they told me on that day that HSI margin was set to 78% of the HKFE margin requirement ( normally only 50% for intraday trade) But when did they change this to 68% or equivalent ?Is it indicated in some bulletin or website ? Anyway, I did not get any notice of the change. Yes, change in margin requirement is very important for every trader. And in my case it is even more important, because I calculate my position with a notional account size, which is bigger than my actual account size, and if the capital occupied in the account rises above certain percentage of the actual account ,I will have to make deposit into my account. Not being notified in time of any increase in margin requirement may result in an unexpected liquidation of the existing positions, or , inability to open enough positions, as what actually happened last time. I think IB should notify change in margin requirement with a flashing bulletin ,(hopefully with a sound alert fuction in the new versions). Email notification is not as fast and convenient as a flashing bulletin in TWS. Many of us closed the mail program during the trading session to keep focused and save more computer power for the trading.
IB offers thousands of futures. On the HKFE alone we offer HSI, MHI, HHI, FXC, HFI, and all the single stock futures. Add in all the other Asian markets and you'll be spammed with messages every time you log in. I thus don't think it is really that practical to send a bulletin every time any time the margin on a product changes. I suggest a few things: - look to the exchange you are interested to see if you can get on their mailing list for margin/circular updates. - check their website before trading (HKEx: http://www.hkex.com.hk/tradinfo/futuresmargin/margin.htm) - or, simply line up a 1 lot on the TWS and right click on check margin.
Right click on TWS makes the most sense. No LT surviving traders would trade with less than 2x margin anyway. Margin goes up with volatility, that's just fact of life. Noobs might find it difficult to swallow the first time around. But they will get used to it. LT surviving traders learned to scale back at the first sight of volatility, so their margins are never at risk.
I agree with Tums. I think the one lot test is the correct approach (so I'll forgo the margin warnings although I'd still like at least 1 hour warning before the exchange closes for a typhoon :eek: )
Fair enough. But Def could you advise how frequently you will change the margin. This morning I check margin and found it is now 78% of the HKFE margin requirement again. ( Yesterday it was of less percentage, and HKFE margin for HSI is same for today and yesterday.) Hopefully you only change margin requirment maximum once per day.
It should only change when the exchange changes it, currently the margin is being set to the overnight exchange requirement which is 83,250 which is the max of overnight or 4% of contract value. http://www.hkex.com.hk/tradinfo/futuresmargin/margin.htm