thanks for the info... maybe the bug is causing the auto conversion?...

anyways... not a problem i worry... cheers...

https://ibkrcampus.eu/trading-lessons/mecha...overseas-trade/


imho... logically the sg guy case... 1st time should be deduct $20, margin loan $1380... 2nd time margin loan $1400... reoccurring or not shouldn't be treated differently... anyways...

This post has been edited by dwRK: Mar 4 2024, 12:15 AM

many thanks. the links are of great help.

do you get charged any interest? assuming the stocks you buy are not exceeding your margin equity?

As long as your cash is positive, no interest will be charged by IBKR.

Got it. Thanks for the tip on t bills. I figure if the fund expense cost is 0.14% then for a usd5 commission i just need to make a purchase that’s greater than 5/0.0014=~$3700 to make the usd5 fee breakeven vs buying BIL.

But BIL makes sense for small amounts and has the added convenience of automatically rolling over vs having to manually roll over every three months?

Also there is not clear info can Google, but if interest rates remain constant, the secondary market price of the T bill should increase slightly everyday, approaching the face value, just like the NAV of BiL right?

This post has been edited by diffyhelman2: Mar 4 2024, 02:27 AM

Got it. Just upgraded my account from cash to margin on ibkr. This means that if I sell a usd bond or t bill or etf the fund is instantly available to buy usd securities right?

As mentioned just now, do ensure your entire account don't drop below $25k.

(can fall below, but then you gotta learn the complex rules)

this probably explains why our car prices didn't shoot up with inflation. all those jap components actually became cheaper.

Car prices already done the shooting up last couple of years, margins should be pretty comfortable now (see all the discounts being offered at point of sale).

Hehe that's opportunity cost, not really breakeven per se. But yea, that's one way to compare. Another way is to look at an IRR of 4.8x% (for BIL) vs the return of a 4-week T-bill yield of 5.4% minus the 5 USD fee (assume you pay once and hold the T-bill till maturity). I use a 4-week T-bill because the duration of BIL is around 1 month too (0.08 years = 0.96 months).

As for the automatically roll over part, yea, BIL ETF manager will purchase T-bills, T-notes and T-bonds with maturities of 1-3 months in the market on behalf of you whereas if you DIY you get to choose the T-bills/notes/bonds you wish to hold. If you choose a short-term one, you will have to rollover the proceeds of the previous matured issue to the next one and incur 5 USD charge every time you do so. So there is a tradeoff here you need to decide. In general, T-bills/notes/bonds which will mature in less than 12 months are very liquid, especially the very short-end ones. There is a big secondary market and you should be fine with either the 1,3 or 6 month issue.

Correct. T-bills are issued at a discount to the face value. Day by day the value of a T-bill appreciates until the date of maturity when the entire principal/face value is returned to you. The maturity profile looks something like that except that since T-bills are short-term, the line should start from somewhere around $950 instead of $100ish, i.e., the curve is not that steep.



It is important to note that BIL is a portfolio of Treasury bills/notes/bonds, not just a particular issue of T-bill. You can have a look at the detailed portfolio holdings of BIL here: https://www.ssga.com/us/en/intermediary/etf...-t-bill-etf-bil

This post has been edited by TOS: Mar 4 2024, 09:38 AM

after reading, my interpretation is if you have spare $XXX that you don't want to put to stocks, buy T bills in multiples of $3700? then the remainder spare, put into $BIL for further optimisation

My only concern is liquidity issues if you want to liquidate in small amounts (even 3700 seems small when you look at typical bid volumes ). Ie is there a huge spread penalty when trying sell small amounts of T bills. Say tranches of 5k. Will observe more tonight when the bond market opens

Actually I made a mistake, the latest SCE yields for BIL n sgov is only like 0.2% lower than the latest 1 month (maturing April) T bills. That’s surely due to the expense ratio and maybe some premium/ spread. But considering the advantages in liquidity and no need to manage roll over, Bil seems very tempting especially for amounts less than 10k. Only downside is, they withhold 30% of paid dividends for close to a year…

This post has been edited by diffyhelman2: Mar 4 2024, 11:33 AM

Yup that's why using IRR is a better way to compare since the 30% WHT refund is taken care of in the cash flow calculation when the IRR is computed. In the end we care about the returns we get and we compare them. Fees can fluctuate.

Any members here staying near Damansara/PJ area can meetup this Wednesday around 2pm ++ near TTDI MRT station for a late lunch at a nearby mall with another LYN FBIH friend.

PM me for details if you are interested.

This post has been edited by TOS: Mar 4 2024, 10:53 PM

(Very) Good read on PE stuffs.

https://www.ft.com/content/55837df7-876f-42...20-02ff74970098

(Paywall ahead...)

This post has been edited by TOS: Mar 5 2024, 04:52 PM

I went with BIL. but take note, after researching more, if you do not want to have to wait for your WHT to refund (up to one year opportunity cost), the next best thing seems to be the BOXX non dividend distributing T bill ETF.
TER is ~0.19% up to jan 2025
https://www.morningstar.com/etfs/boxx-promi...-taxable-income



This post has been edited by diffyhelman2: Mar 7 2024, 12:53 AM

Oh BOXX was discussed a few pages before. You can have a read at the posts quoted below:



This post has been edited by TOS: Mar 7 2024, 09:03 AM

Hmm, been using for months but suddenly ran into this error today. VWRA is still in the fractional share trading list though.

Anyone else having the same issue?

Hoshiyuu you are not the only one https://www.reddit.com/r/singaporefi/commen...no_longer_work/

This post has been edited by Medufsaid: Mar 7 2024, 11:56 PM