That depends on which instruments you want to trade. You can open a trading account with as little as $1000 however if you wish to trade options and want to open a ‘Margin Account’ you will need $5000.

The two main types of brokerage accounts are cash accounts and margin accounts. A cash account requires that all transactions must be made with available cash or long positions.  A margin account allows clients to borrow money against the value of the securities and cash in their account.  For a more detailed explanation, check out Investopedia.

Interactive Brokers uses “SmartRouting” technology.  This ensures that you get the best prices available at the time of your order, whether it’s for stock, option or combination order.

Our Personalised Portfolio Program is perfect for Buy & Hold investors. Buy & Hold investors will  benefit from our numerous portfolio analysis reports and back testing. We can guide you through your risk management and diversification as well as helping with rebalancing and stock selection.

Trading commission are deducted on the Interactive Brokers trading platform. The rates are:

• Stocks – 0.01 cent
• Options – $1.50 per contract
• $10 minimum per trade

If you already have a trading account with Interactive Brokers we can still work with you.  Contact us and we can have your account brought under our Financial Advisor account. 

Diversification is a strategy that mixes a wide variety of investments within a portfolio.  The portfolio can be diversified across asset class as well as within asset classes. It can be diversified geographically by investing in both domestic and international markets.  Diversification limits risk but it can sometimes mitigate performance, at least in the short term.

Yes, there is a large variety of subscription based data feeds available with Interactive Brokers.  Several of the fees are waived provided you do a certain number of  trades within a month – normally just 1 or 2 depending on the instrument you are trading.

Your risk profile is the evaluation of you willingness to risk and the ability you have to take that risk. It is a key component in determining the proper investment asset allocation for your profile.

Variance is a measurement of the spread between numbers in a data set.  It is used to see how much risk an investment carries and whether it will be profitable.  It is also used to compare the relative performance of each asset in a portfolio to achieve the best asset allocation.

The Sharp ratio can be used to evaluate the total performance of an individual stock or an aggregate portfolio.  It indicates how well an investment performs in comparison to the rate of return on risk-free investments. A high Sharpe ratio is good when compared to similar portfolios with lower returns.

Post Modern Portfolio Theory is a methodology used for portfolio optimisation that utilises the downside risk of returns.  Like Modern Portfolio Theory it details how risk assets should be valued while stressing the benefits of diversification, with the difference being how they define risk and it’s impact on returns.  For a more detailed insight in to PMPT check out Investopedia. 

0.50% of assets with a minimum annual fee of €2000.00

As explained in Investopedia the efficient frontier comprises investment portfolios that offer the highest expected return for a specific level of risk.  Returns are dependent on the investment combinations that make up the portfolio and optimal portfolios that comprise the efficient frontier tend to have a higher degree of diversification. The standard deviation of a security is synonymous with risk. Lower covariance between portfolio securities results in lower portfolio standard deviation.

Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) is a theory on how risk-averse investors can construct portfolios to maximise expected return based on a given level of market risk. It can be used to construct a portfolio that minimises risk for a given level of expected return. Check out Investopedia for a more detailed understanding.

Back testing assesses the viability of a trading strategy by discovering how it would have played out retrospectively using historical data.  The theory being if it worked well in the past it will possibly work well in the future.

According to Investopedia – Technical analysis is a trading discipline employed to evaluate investments and identify trading opportunities in price trends and patterns seen on charts.  Technical analysts believe past trading activity and price changes can be valuable indicators of future price movements.

It may be contrasted with fundamental analysis which focuses on a company’s financials rather than historical price patterns or stock trends.

Trading indicators are mathematical calculations the produce pattern based signals produced by analysing historical data.  Technical analysts use indicators to predict future price movement.  There are literally hundreds of different indicators some called leading indicators and others lagging indicators.  It is important when trading not to get bogged down by introducing too many indicators in to your trading decisions.

A benchmark is a standard with which to measure performance.  When investing in the US stock market you may choose a market index such as the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones 100.  Depending on the particular investment strategy the benchmark may differ, if you are in to technology for example you may choose the Nasdaq.  It is important to choose the appropriate benchmark to suit your investment style. 

Momentum indicator is one that shows the speed of price changes in a stock.  It shows the rate of change in price movement of a period of time to help traders determine the strength of a trend.  Bullish momentum means the price is rising. Bearish momentum means the price is falling.

It is a stock indicator that is commonly used in technical analysis. It helps to smooth out the price data over a specified period of time – 10 day, 20 day, 50 day.  There are several different types of moving averages:

Simple which is calculated by taking the arithmetic mean of a given set of prices over the specific number of days.

Exponential which is weighted giving greater importance to the price of a stock on more recent days, making it an indicator that is more responsive to new information.

This is a very popular indicator because it is easy to understand and has a high degree of accuracy.  It shows when a stock has moved in to an overbought or oversold position thus indicating whether it is time to buy or sell a security.  It is often used in conjunction with the RSI indicator.

The Relative Strength Index is a momentum indicator, it provides technical traders signals about bullish and bearish price moment.  A security is usually considered overbought when the RSI is above 70% and oversold when it is below 30%.

They are a momentum indicator designed to identify when a security is oversold or overbought. The are a set of trend-lines plotted 2 standard deviations (positively & negatively) away from a simple moving average of the security’s price.  It can be adjusted according to a traders own preference.

MACD stands for Moving Average Convergence Divergence is a momentum indicator that follows trends.  It shows the relationship between 2 moving averages of a securities price.  The trigger signals are when it crosses above (to buy) or below (to sell) it’s signal line. It helps traders to understand whether the bullish or bearish movement in the price is strengthening or weakening.

Pivot points are commonly used by day traders, they are an intraday technical indicator used to identify trens and reversals.  The are calculated to determine levels in which the sntiment of the market COULD change from bullish to bearish and vice versa.  Day traders use them to calculate entry, exit, stops and profit taking.

It is a Stop and Reverse indicator used by technical traders to spot trends and reversals.  It is a series of dots superimposed onto a price chart which indicates that a reversal may occur when the dot goes from above to below the chart or vice versa.

It is a collection of technical indicators that can show support and resistance levels as well as trend direction and momentum.  It is composed of 5 calculations, 2 of which compose a cloud where the difference between the 2 lines is shaded in.  Simply put when the price is below the cloud the trend is down and when it is above the cloud the trend is up.  The trend is considered stronger if the cloud is moving in the same direction as the price. 

Fibonacci retracement levels are horizontal lines that indicate where support and resistance may occur.  They are based on Fibonacci numbers, each level being associated with a percentage.  The connect any 2 points that the trader views as relevant, typically a high and a low.  The percentage levels provided are areas where the price could stall or reverse.