Available for Trading Values

The Available for Trading values show you the state of your account at a glance. Your Available Funds tells you if you can put on a trade. Your Excess Liquidity tells you whether you have sufficient cushion to maintain your current positions, your Buying Power tells you how much you have at your disposal including your equity and IBKR's margin.

To View All Available for Trading Values

  1. On the Account Window screen expand the Available for Trading section using the green plus (+) sign.

  2. To customize this view to show only the values you want to see, click the green plus (+) sign in the top right corner and check off the boxes next to the parameters you would like to view.

  3. If you have strategies or models, view them by expanding a line, or use the drop-down selector to view values only for a selected model/strategy.

Available Fields in the Available for Trading Section

Parameters Securities Account Commodities Account

Current Available Funds

Equity with Loan Value - Initial margin.

This value tells what you have available for trading.

Net Liquidation Value - Initial Margin

Current Excess Liquidity

This value shows your margin cushion, before liquidation.

Equity with Loan Value - Maintenance margin.

Net Liquidation value - Maintenance margin.
Post-Expiry Excess (predicted)

Provides a projected "at expiration" excess liquidity value based on the soon-to-expire contracts in your portfolio. Value displays at expiration and are highlighted in red. All other times the value is "0". The projected value in this field includes the anticipated account value including the expiring contract. To see just the projected margin and excess liquidity value for the expiring contract, double click the entry.

Note that in a Portfolio Margin (PM) account, the margin requirement is calculated on a portfolio basis and, likewise, the Expiration Exposure is calculated on a portfolio basis. So while Expiration Exposure is displayed here on a per product basis, the account's overall expiration exposure will not necessarily be additive.

 Provides a projected "at expiration" excess liquidity value based on the soon-to-expire contracts in your portfolio. Value displays at expiration and are highlighted in red. All other times the value is "0". The projected value in this field includes the anticipated account value including the expiring contract. To see just the projected margin and excess liquidity value for the expiring contract, double click the entry.
Special Memorandum Account

Line of credit created when the market value of securities in a Reg. T account increase in value.

See here for details.

N/A

Look Ahead Available Funds

This value reflects your available funds at the next margin change. The next change is displayed in the Look Ahead Next Change field.

Equity with loan value - look ahead initial margin.

Net Liquidation value - Look ahead Initial margin.

Look Ahead Excess Liquidity

Equity with loan value - look ahead maintenance margin.

Net Liquidation value - look ahead maintenance margin.

Overnight Available Funds

Same as during regular trading hours.

Net Liquidation value - Overnight Maintenance margin

Overnight Excess Liquidity

Same as during regular trading hours.

Net Liquidation value - Overnight Maintenance margin.

Buying Power

Cash Account: Minimum (Equity with Loan Value, Previous Day Equity with Loan Value)-Initial Margin

Standard Margin Account: Minimum (Equity with Loan Value, Previous Day Equity with Loan Value) - Initial Margin *4

Not applicable for futures.

Leverage

Gross Position Value/Net Liquidation.

Same.

Look Ahead Next Change

Shows you when the next margin period will begin.

Same.

Day Trades Left

Number of day trades still available for 4-day pattern day trader period.

Not applicable for futures.