TWS Order Presets: Attached Order Strategies
Brief video on how to configure presets for attached orders
Market Data Considerations for the Paper Trading Account
As a licensed distributor of exchange market data, IBKR is obligated to respect constraints imposed by the exchanges which serve to govern the dissemination and/or retransmission of this data.
As a general rule, within a given account, the real user can activate and maintain its own set of market data subscriptions. The paper user, by design, does not have a set of market data subscription on its own but can be configured in one of the following ways:
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The paper user can be set to share2 the live market data subscriptions of the real user:
In this scenario, if the real and paper trading sessions are running simultaneously, they must reside on the same device in order for the paper to receive live market data. If this is not the case, the real trading session will be still afforded the real-time market data but the paper trading session will not receive any data3 . Please see the section CASE 1 below for details.
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The paper user can be set NOT to share2 the live market data subscriptions of the real user:
In this scenario, the real and paper trading sessions are independent, in respect of market data flows. Hence, they can run simultaneously on the same or on different devices and the paper user will receive delayed data, as available. Please see the section CASE 1 below for details.
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In case the account possess multiple real users, the paper user can be set to share2 the live market data subscriptions of a chosen one.
Clients who wish to run real and paper sessions simultaneously and on different devices (e.g., stand-alone PC, smart phone, tablet), may create an additional real user for their account, as explained here: Adding a second user for an individual account holder. While this approach will result in additional fees for any paid market data subscriptions elected, it will allow maintaining different subscription sets. In this scenario, the client will be able to select2 which real user will share his subscriptions with the paper user, allowing the other real user and the paper trading sessions to run simultaneously on different devices. Please see the section CASE 2 below for details.
Example Cases:
Account users: 1 real user + 1 paper user
REAL_USER is subscribed to live market data
| Location of real_user session | Location of paper_user session | Sharing of live market data between real_user and paper_user is active? | Type of market data received by real_user | Type of market data received by paper_user |
| DEVICE1 | DEVICE2 | YES | LIVE | NO DATA3 |
| DEVICE1 | DEVICE1 | YES | LIVE | LIVE |
| DEVICE1 | DEVICE2 | NO | LIVE | DELAYED |
| DEVICE1 | DEVICE1 | NO | LIVE | DELAYED |
| USER NOT LOGGED IN | DEVICE1 | YES | N/A | LIVE |
| USER NOT LOGGED IN | DEVICE1 | NO | N/A | DELAYED |
Account users: (after the creation of a secondary real user) : 2 real users + 1 paper user
REAL_USER1 is subscribed to live market data
REAL_USER2 is subscribed to live market data
| Location of real_user1 session | Location of real_user2 session | Location of paper_user session | paper_user is mirroring the subscriptions of | Type of market data received by real_user1 | Type of market data received by real_user2 | Type of market data received by paper_user |
| USER NOT LOGGED IN | DEVICE1 | DEVICE2 | real_user1 | N/A | LIVE | LIVE |
| USER NOT LOGGED IN | DEVICE1 | DEVICE1 | real_user1 | N/A | LIVE | LIVE |
| DEVICE1 | USER NOT LOGGED IN | DEVICE2 | real_user1 | LIVE | N/A | NO DATA3 |
| DEVICE1 | USER NOT LOGGED IN | DEVICE1 | real_user1 | LIVE | N/A | LIVE |
| USER NOT LOGGED IN | DEVICE1 | DEVICE2 | real_user2 | N/A | LIVE | NO DATA3 |
| USER NOT LOGGED IN | DEVICE1 | DEVICE1 | real_user2 | N/A | LIVE | LIVE |
| DEVICE1 | USER NOT LOGGED IN | DEVICE2 | real_user2 | LIVE | N/A | LIVE |
| DEVICE1 | USER NOT LOGGED IN | DEVICE1 | real_user2 | LIVE | N/A | LIVE |
| DEVICE1 | DEVICE1 | DEVICE2 | real_user1 | LIVE | LIVE | NO DATA3 |
| DEVICE1 | DEVICE1 | DEVICE1 | real_user1 | LIVE | LIVE | LIVE |
| DEVICE1 | DEVICE2 | DEVICE2 | real_user2 | LIVE | LIVE | LIVE |
| DEVICE1 | DEVICE1 | DEVICE2 | real_user1 | LIVE | LIVE | NO DATA3 |
| DEVICE1 | DEVICE1 | DEVICE2 | Set NOT to mirror | LIVE | LIVE | DELAYED |
| DEVICE1 | DEVICE1 | DEVICE1 | Set NOT to mirror | LIVE | LIVE | DELAYED |
| DEVICE1 | DEVICE2 | DEVICE1 | Set NOT to mirror | LIVE | LIVE | DELAYED |
| DEVICE1 | DEVICE2 | DEVICE2 | Set NOT to mirror | LIVE | LIVE | DELAYED |
Notes
For trading session, we consider a user session successfully established and actively running on any of the following platforms:
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Trader Workstation (TWS)
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IBKR Mobile
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Web Trader
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Client Portal
On the Client Portal, those functions are present in the section: Settings -> Account Settings -> Configure (gear) icon
3. No Data: On the paper session, the trading platform will display a warning message containing: “...production username associated with this paper-trading username is also running on...”
How to open a paper trading account
Any client who completes an application for an IBKR account will be given a paper trading account to try our Trader Workstation platform. The client will be able to login with the username and password they created during the registration process. This paper account will provide delayed market data and access to many advanced tools. Once the client funds their live account, we will copy their free trial settings to their live account. While a new username and password will be created for their paper trading account on the back end, the client will be able to use the original username and password they created to access either their live or paper account by using the drop down menu on the login window.
To those clients who opened their account prior to us launching the TWS Test Drive (as explained above), they will have the ability to create a paper account through Client Portal. Once logged into Client Portal, the client will want to select the Settings > Account Settings menu option and click the Configure (Gear) icon next to Paper Trading Account option. The Paper Trading account will then be made available within 24 hours under normal business circumstances. While the system will require the user to create a new username and password for their new paper account, they also will be able to log in with their production username and password using the drop down selector on the login screen. Although they are not required to use it, we recommend that account holders save and protect the Paper Trader username and password in the same way one would protect other confidential password information.
For additional information, please visit our website and select the Trading menu followed by TWS Software and scroll up to the Paper Trading section.
For information on how to change your Paper Trading account password, please see KB48.
Can I open a paper trading account for practice purposes before opening a live account?
IB does offer a paper trading account which allows one to use the full range of IB trading facilities in a simulated environment using real market conditions. This account, however, is made available only after the regular trading account has been approved and funded. Until that time, we recommend that you try the online demos made available to prospective customers through our website to get an overview of system functionality. A demo of both the TraderWorkstation or WebTrader trading platforms may be found by visiting our website at www.interactivebrokers.com and selecting the Individuals page. There you will be presented with a series of links including one titled 'Demos'.
I received an execution in my Paper Trader account that did not correspond to the market at the time, what happened?
Overview:
A paper trading account is a simulated account trading in a simulated market. IBKR programmatically simulates, to the best possible abilities, actual market conditions. However, it is not a real market and prices cannot exactly match. IBKR is simulating not only the trader’s functionality and the market, but also the role of the exchange. In a real, live account, the order would be sent to the exchange, and the exchange would be doing the execution—not IBKR. The exchange has an anonymous book and orders are matched anonymously. With the simulated account IBKR is trying to simulate the role that in the real markets is played by the exchange. While these fills may or may not be within the bounds of the live market at the time, in no way is it indicative of what would happen in the real market. Again, IBKR is simulating the exchange’s role in the live market, and in that market the onus for order matching/filling is on the exchange.
Background:
The simulated trader is for clients to acclimate themselves to the software, test various orders and strategies, and to serve other learning functions. There is no way to exactly replicate live markets. They are simply too dynamic. The IBKR simulator does a very good job of it, but no simulator could be perfect.
