I sell a call at say 2150 expiring on Jan. 9 and buy one for 2220 expiring EOM, my margin, for the week, is $5000. And if I sell a put spread similarly OTM and dated weekly and monthly, it does not add to my margin. Not using portfolio margin, using IB. Thanks in advance. By the way, in the parlance of the trade, what is this spread called (no snark please). Diagonal time calendar?
Here is the problem with Reg-T and options. Each firm uses what they call a margin optimizer. They can pair off spreads however they want. I don't know what IB does, and they won't tell you. The best way to simulate Reg-t margin is break down your spreads into pairs and use this:http://www.cboe.com/tradtool/mcalc/ Enter your call spread 1st. Then enter your put spread and add the requirement together. Even though there are situations where you can't have max loss on two spreads, they might calculate it that way. Then hope that your broker is using the same pairs you are. 1245