Hi guys, maybe I haven't payed attention or maybe it was a dream in my head... I thought short strangles can't be double charged margin as "only one side can possibly lose" .. I swear I remember doing strangles and it only costing the higher of the margin side????
If you have a Reg-T margin account, the margin requirement does not provide an offset for naked short calls and puts. You need the full margin for both. If you have a PMA, the OCC only looks at the side that would cause the larger loss with a shock of 15% on an equity, not both. IB can require more margin but not less.