TWS Release Notes

These release notes document the major enhancements and bug fixes distributed in the current TWS version 940.

Open Settings File Function Renamed

The commands to restore or simply open a settings file from a previous day have been renamed and the functionality has been simplified for ease of use. In legacy TWS, use the File menu and select Settings Recovery. In Mosaic, use the File menu and select Layout/Settings Recovery. Choose a date from the list to open a layout from the past five days, or click Custom to browse the directory for a different settings or layout file.

IB Risk Navigator: Margin Sensitivity Report

The IB Risk Navigator introduces a new report, Margin Sensitivity, which displays along the report tabset next to the VAR report tab. This on-demand report shows you the margin impact to your portfolio of a specific increase and decrease in your positions or a group of positions. Use the report's Control Panel to specify how to modify the positions in your portfolio. This is set to "Order defaults" by default. Once the position change is specified, the report shows the initial and maintenance margin sensitivity for both position increase and position decrease.

Note that the change to the position is shown in the Position Change field in the Report Panel.

Overall - Uses the value you set in the entry field. If this radio button is selected, enter the change amount for all positions in your portfolio in the enterable field.
Order defaults - uses the Order Quantity default specified in the order presets, based on asset type. If the stock default quantity is 500 and the option default order quantity is 5, all stock positions will display margin impact on + and - 500, and all option positions will show impact for + and - 5 contracts.
By asset type - Use the Edit box to enter the change value for each asset type.
Position Size - Changes the current position by the current position size. A stock position of 7200 will show margin impact for a position of 14,400, and 0 (+7200 and -7200).

In the bottom right corner you can change the display from "All Underlyings" to a specific underlying, and you can change the way the report is displayed by selecting "Margin Sensitivity by Underlying."

Funari Order Type

A new order type, Funari, is now supported for stocks directed to the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSEJ). The Funari order submits the order quantity as a limit order at the user-specified limit price, and then resubmits any unfilled order quantity as a market-on-close order at the end of the trading session.

Mosaic Predefined Market Scanner for Options

The Mosaic Market Scanner now includes a predefined Option scan that returns all complex strategies on a specific underlying that has a native bid/ask quote or that has traded today. To find the strategy that has traded the most today, sort the results by Volume (click on the Volume column to sort).

To use the Mosaic Market Scanner, from within Mosaic click the "+" sign in the Watchlist Plus window and select Mosaic Market Scanner. In the Predefined Scans section, click Option and then select Complex Orders and Trades. In the Symbol field, enter the underlying symbol for which you want to see complex strategies. Note that the new Mosaic Market Scanner is labeled with the selected underlying symbol.

Mosaic Window Groups

Customers can now configure their own Mosaic-style group of windows using the New Windows Group command from the Mosaic File menu. Once you have named the new group, a blank frame opens up. Simply click the New Window menu at the top of the frame and select a tool to add. The new window is automatically sized and placed into the blank frame. Add as many tools and windows as you need, and add as many Windows Groups as you need. For example, you may want a group that focuses exclusively on options tools, and one that hold all news windows.

Minimum Quantity Orders for Bonds

To create a Minimum Quantity order for bonds, specify the minimum acceptable order size for the bond order that is equal to or less than the full order size. This feature allows the bond order to fill in minimum-order sized components. If the minimum order size is set to the full order size, the order acts like an all-or-none order.

Mosaic Windows Size Appropriately with Quick Font Change

The ability to change the font size for the Mosaic only has been enhanced to automatically size the Mosaic windows and columns to accommodate the larger or smaller font size. To use this feature, click the wrench icon from the Anchor window of the Mosaic (the Anchor is along the top of the Mosaic and holds the buttons, layout locking mechanism and search field) and click "Smaller" or "Larger" to change the font size. Select the option "Adjust window and column widths" to keep the font-to-window size ratio intact.

Precision Change for Mutual Funds

For closing orders on mutual funds (opening orders use price not size) the current size increment has been updated to 0.001 from the previous 0.0001.

Short Interest Fields Added

Changes to TWS to support short sale statistics include the addition of three new fields categorized under Short Interest. The new fields include:

Days to cover - Calculated as the aggregate short interest for the month, divided by the average daily share volume traded between short interest settlement dates. Also known as "Short Interest Ratio."
Shares short - The total number of shares of a security that have been sold short by customers and securities firms that have not been repurchased to settle outstanding short positions in the market. The net short positions outstanding in the stock as of settlement date.
Short % of Float - Percentage of short interest shares to float shares that are outstanding. The calculation is: Percentage of Float = short interest/float shares * 100.

To add fields, hold your mouse over any field title for two seconds, then click "Insert Field." Click a field in any category to add the field to the left of the selected field title.

Charts Estimated Price Range

A new selection in the Chart Parameters box, Estimated Price Range, will show you the estimated price range of an asset to one, two or three standard deviations. The estimated range is calculated based on the current price, the implied volatility of the symbol's option, and the distance in time from "now." The graphical representation uses a blue shaded area to chart the estimated range over time. This feature is only available for underlyings that have options.

Global Configuration - "Bring All Windows to Front" Reset to Off

The Windows Handling section of the Display > Settings page in Global Configuration has been updated. The obsolete "Workspace windows snapping" option has been removed, and the optional feature "Bring all windows to front when one is selected" has been reset to off. When this feature is selected, all TWS windows will come to the front when just one is selected. If left unchecked, the application windows remain unlinked and only the window you select will come to the front.

Multi-Account Customers: Shortcut to Configure Models and Account Groups

Customers who manage multiple accounts, including Advisors and iBrokers, can now access Model Portfolio and Account Group setup screens more quickly using the setup shortcuts at the top of the Select Account drop-down list, which is available from any trading page.

For Models, from the drop-down list click Setup next to the Models heading to go directly to the Portfolio page. The first time you use the shortcut you will get a confirmation message, and can elect to hide this message in the future by checking "Don't display this message again."

For Account Group setup, from the drop-down list select Setup next to the Groups heading to go directly to the Account Groups page in Global Configuration to set up or modify a group, Additionally, click the FA Setup button from the TWS toolbar.

Fixes and Changes

The following have been fixed or modified in TWS version 940:

Previously the time zone for GTD orders was incorrect. This has been fixed.