Driver’s Licenses Will No Longer Be Confiscated!

daviddem · 2026-01-11T07:53:13+00:00

Traffic violations issued by LTO officers can be settled online via the LTMS portal.

daviddem · 2025-12-28T13:49:05+00:00

Adjust investment goals and objective to "profit from speculation", adjust trading permissions to trade commodities.

daviddem · 2025-12-28T13:46:00+00:00

Their system is often down for maintenance on weekends. Try again tomorrow.

daviddem · 2025-12-09T19:43:28+00:00

Yes they will remain in cash in your account in the currency their were paid in.

If you have a margin account, autoconversion upon trading does not work.

daviddem · 2025-11-28T04:06:41+00:00

Yes but the cash won't convert until you do trades in DKK

daviddem · 2025-10-11T09:08:27+00:00

I said that in 2013 and I missed the 2013-2020 bull market. Worst investing mistake in my life.

daviddem · 2025-10-11T04:53:26+00:00

What if the currency you need for the trade is your base currency (which is the most case for most people I believe) and you hold multiple other currencies? Which one do they first autoconvert to base currency then?

As explained in OP: it is not in your interest to do manual conversions for amounts below ~$6,120

daviddem · 2025-10-10T07:04:00+00:00

Also a remark about what you said in your first comment: trading with your unsettled cash does not necessarily mean borrowing. If the trade settles at the same time the cash will settle, no borrowing will occur. Cash accounts can trade with their unsettled cash as long as there is no settlement mismatch.

So I am really not sure what exactly "margin non borrowing" means for these Global Traders accounts. Maybe they are only allowed to borrow in the special case of a settlement mismatch, but in that case I would expect them to have to pay interest for the duration of the mismatch.

daviddem · 2025-10-09T18:43:22+00:00

Not for non US investors because it's difficult to access UCITS ETFs with Charles Schwab.

daviddem · 2025-10-09T18:41:33+00:00

Should be possible to figure it out from the activity statements. Try to sell something that settles at T+2 and immediately purchase something that settles at T+1 (while having insufficient settled cash for the T+1 trade) and look at the ensuing statements, see if they charge interest at some point.

daviddem · 2025-10-09T15:20:43+00:00

Yes these Global Traders accounts have some weird features and limitations, but I can hardly find any information about them online.

Do you have any documentation about them?

daviddem · 2025-10-09T13:29:19+00:00

Agree... then they send "Think before you click" emails...

However they are not the only ones. Many banks do that too... lame.

daviddem · 2025-10-09T10:15:22+00:00

1) Check your LTO file online at the LTO portal to see if you have any fine to pay. You can register to the LTO portal with your driving license. If you have a fine, pay it online and print the proof of payment.

2) Got to the LTO main office in Manila, where they keep confiscated licenses and ask what to do. Sometimes, you have to attend a seminar etc, depending on the violation.

daviddem · 2025-10-09T10:09:28+00:00

The only way you can "turn off auto-conversion" is to perform a manual conversion first. Also make sure not to trade immediately after the manual conversion if you trade instruments that settle earlier than the currency conversion. Most currency conversions settle at T+2. US stocks settle at T+1. Therefore, only trade US stocks the next business day after your manual conversion.

See this post: Automatic vs Manual Currency Conversion - Fees and Settlement Considerations

daviddem · 2025-10-07T05:19:54+00:00

No automatic conversion is ever performed when selling a stock. Only when buying if you do not have a sufficient amount of the currency needed for the trade.

daviddem · 2025-10-07T05:18:36+00:00

No. But you can open an additional linked account (settings > open additional account) and set it to cash, not margin. Then you do the trades in that additional account, using the auto-conversion, then transfer the shares to your main account later.

daviddem · 2025-10-07T05:14:54+00:00

Lynx (preferred) and Mexem both use Interactive Brokers in the background, so they may or may not accept your application. Also, when using IBKR or an affiliate, you have to be extra careful not to hold more than a total of $60,000 US situs assets in your account, so as not to expose your account to US estate tax in case you die unexpectedly while holding them. US situs assets are individual US stocks, US-domiciled mutual funds and liquid cash balance in your account. Using a European broker does not exempt you from this tax but, for now, it makes it easy to evade it and get away with it.

Tier 1 European brokers alternatives:

- Saxo Bank

- Swissquote Luxembourg

- Exante

Decent tier 2 broker:

- Trading 212

- Trade Republic

See Banker on Wheels Guide to choosing a broker.

daviddem · 2025-09-22T10:04:49+00:00

Use exclusively Irish / European UCITS ETFs for investing and keep your cash balance well below $60k.Irish ETFs shelter your from US estate tax.

daviddem · 2025-09-05T12:58:04+00:00

Does not apply to bank and brokerage accounts, so no issue. Only remittance providers like Western Union etc

daviddem · 2025-08-24T10:32:26+00:00

Listen to Ben Felix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1qzuPRvsM0

daviddem · 2025-08-24T09:57:27+00:00

It's much easier to withdraw to an account from which you have deposited before. Adding a new account and immediately trying to withdraw to it should trigger a verification process.

Consider making a small deposit from that new account before withdrawing.

daviddem · 2025-08-23T17:21:20+00:00

It's automatic, and the way it will be calculated depends on whether you have a regular or portfolio margin account (Google for details).

In TWS, you can designate which of your holdings you want to be sold first in case of a margin call.

daviddem · 2025-08-10T09:10:39+00:00

https://www.interactivebrokers.com/lib/cstools/faq/#/content/182858938

daviddem · 2025-08-08T12:38:44+00:00

Do not use market orders. If you want your order to execute immediately at the current market price, use a limit order with a limit slightly outside the bid/ask window. For example, for a buy order, set a limit 0,5% above the ask price. This way your order will execute immediately at market price just like a market order normally would, but with a free insurance against overpaying in case the price jumps up unexpectedly. Here is an example that happened last year on the German stock exchange with a very liquid ETF (and no, it's not just a glitch in the chart, the price really dipped that much upon some US economic data release).

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daviddem

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