Interactive Brokers Trading — Direct Access to Global Markets

Interactive Brokers provides access to stocks, ETFs, options, futures, futures options, forex, bonds, mutual funds, and metals across 150+ global exchanges in 33 countries. Asset availability varies by account type, regulatory jurisdiction, and your country of residence. IBKR Pro accounts offer the broadest instrument coverage including European-listed stocks, Asian futures contracts, and global bond markets. Certain leveraged products like CFDs may be available to eligible clients in permitted jurisdictions. The platform categorizes available instruments by asset class and exchange, with clear indicators showing which markets your account is authorized to trade based on completed permissions and market data subscriptions. For complete asset availability by account type, review the product listings during the application process or consult the Interactive Brokers knowledge base for the most current exchange access information and product specifications.

IB SmartRouting is the proprietary order execution system that searches for the best available price across all competing exchanges, dark pools, and market makers simultaneously. When you submit any order type, SmartRouting evaluates not just the current bid and ask at each venue, but also exchange rebates, access fees, and the statistical likelihood of complete execution at each destination. The system constructs a total-cost-of-execution score for every possible route and sends your order to the venue that offers optimal execution. SmartRouting dynamically monitors unfilled portions of orders — if a better price becomes available at another venue while your order sits partially filled, the system will cancel the remainder and re-route to capture the improved price. Interactive Brokers publishes monthly execution quality statistics quantifying the price improvement delivered versus the national best bid and offer, which has historically shown consistent savings for client orders across all asset classes.

Interactive Brokers clients access markets across three major geographic regions. North American coverage includes NYSE, NASDAQ, NYSE American, NYSE Arca, Cboe exchanges for stocks and options, TSX and TSX Venture in Canada, plus CME Group futures. European access spans the London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Börse Xetra, Euronext exchanges in Paris and Amsterdam, SIX Swiss Exchange, Borsa Italiana, and Nordic exchanges. Asia-Pacific market access covers the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Australian Securities Exchange, Singapore Exchange, and Korea Exchange. The specific exchanges you can trade depend on factors including your Interactive Brokers entity, account type, completed trading permissions, and regulatory restrictions in your country of residence. Some emerging market exchanges require additional documentation or local custody arrangements that Interactive Brokers can facilitate for qualified institutional clients.

Getting started with Interactive Brokers trading follows a straightforward path. First, complete the online account application which collects your personal information, financial background, employment details, and trading experience. The application system determines which trading permissions you qualify for based on regulatory suitability requirements. After approval, fund your account through ACH transfer, bank wire, check deposit, or an asset transfer from another brokerage firm. Once funded, choose your preferred trading platform — Trader Workstation for desktop, Client Portal for web-based access, or the IBKR Mobile app. New traders should spend time in the paper trading environment to learn platform navigation and test order types with simulated funds. Market data subscriptions can be activated separately for real-time quotes on the exchanges you intend to trade. Interactive Brokers provides extensive educational resources including the Traders' Academy, video tutorials, and user guides accessible through the platform's help system to support your learning journey.

Interactive Brokers supports over 100 order types and trading algorithms across its platforms. Core order types include market orders for immediate execution at best available price, limit orders to specify maximum buy or minimum sell prices, stop orders that trigger when the market reaches a specified level, stop-limit orders combining stop activation with a limit price, and trailing stops that adjust the trigger price as the market moves favorably. Advanced order types encompass bracket orders with simultaneous profit-target and stop-loss exits, OCO orders where filling one automatically cancels the other, conditional orders triggered by external events or prices in correlated instruments, pegged-to-market orders that track the bid or offer, VWAP algorithms for volume-weighted execution, iceberg orders that display only partial quantity, and scale orders that execute incrementally at stepped price levels. Options traders access additional order types including volatility orders, delta-neutral strategies, and multi-leg contingent orders. Not all order types are available for every asset class — futures, forex, bonds, and international stocks each support specific subsets of the full order type catalog based on exchange capabilities.