Ok, more info on this trade. I bought at 30.75 and sold it later that evening at 30.89, but I think I've been looking at the wrong line in my TD app. The upper left corner shows "Option Buying Power" (which is showing $11,620), but should I ignore that and just keep an eye on "Net Liq and Day Trades" (which is showing $12,241) for my actual account balance? My balance was down near $11,500 after I entered the trade, so it would seem that I did in fact recover the cost of the contract as well as the tiny profit.
You are quite new to this, aren't you. You posted in the financial future section, but ZL is, on the CME, soybean oil futures. Now you are speaking of "option buying power". Maybe if you posted some more info about your broker and platform, there will be more efficacious assistance here. What is a "TD app"? Do you know what that is? Futures question and performance bonds? I can answer those questions. Options and stocks? Not my bag. Define the parameters of your problem, dude! And smoke a bowl! P.S. If you bought something low and sold it high in futures, you made money.
If it were simply stocks, I'd say no, but clearly I'm new to this futures thing. I'm paper trading at the moment, trying to learn, but when I'm ready I guess my broker will be TDA/ThinkorSwim. Yes, this was the wrong section of the forum for my OP, sorry.
my account reads: current cash balance + open trade equity = total equity = margin excess + initial margin requirement
If you have a question about how to interpret your trading software, seek answers in the trading software section. I hear lots of folks use ThinkOrSwim 'round these parts.
Yeah, here we go, I see nothing that says "Total Equity". Anyway, like I've been told, this is the wrong place for this one, so I'll move on now.