Can someone help me calculate margin interest?

Discussion in 'Retail Brokers' started by JK124, Aug 24, 2007.

  1. JK124

    JK124

    Say I'm short on a position w/ a market value of -35,954. I have 25,668.52 in my account. How much will I be charged for holding the position until monday? I'm with IB.


    P.S. Be nice....I'm new :)
     
  2. pbj

    pbj



    Assuming that you sold a stock short for about $36k, then IB does not pay you the short interest on amounts less than $100k and you won't earn anything for the short. However, if IB says that the stock is "hard to borrow", then IB could charge you a fee for that. In summary, you won't be charged anything for holding the position except any "hard to borrow" fees if they apply.
     
  3. JK124

    JK124

    Thanks...:)


    So a related question: How much time before the closing bell should I close my positions? I tried closing this position w/ 15secs left (closing bell ringing) and I got a message saying the market was closed.
     
  4. pbj

    pbj



    If you are worried about closing positions before the market close, then entering orders 5 minutes before market close should be sufficient. Then if your local clock is off by 1 minute, you won't miss the close. You can also trade after hours by unchecking the RTH (regular trading hours) box, but you need to check that the spread is not too large when you place your order.