I am positive I know more than you. Shouldn’t you be on some other thread spouting stuff about the CFA exam, like something about being a CFA is like following the samurai code.
OK thanks.. Clearly putting on a naked short in that kind of market was a monumental fuck-up, I've seen this sort of event happen all the time. That's why shorting options vs say options spreads is akin to picking up pennies in front of a bulldozer. You do fine for a bit but sooner or later you're bound to get crushed. Having said that I understand your frustration at being unable to liquidate your short option position. In my experience IB is normally very efficient with forced liquidations. My guess is that they suspended auto-liquidations at the market's open because market orders in that kind of market with no offers might have caused you to get filled at $500 or $1000. Then they probably proceeded to close all their clients' positions manually, one by one. However you may have a case and might be able to get them to split the difference with a good lawyer. BTW, you made one huge mistake though. As GME was exploding higher in the after-hours market on 26 Jan, you should have immediately picked up the phone and asked IB to buy you 500 GME shares in the cash market. At least by covering your synthetic short at that time you would have crystallized your losses at a much lower figure.