Yes, this is what I plan to do if I don't get anywhere with a phone call on Monday. Peil pointed out the fact that the broker has the authority to grant me a waiver, which would be mighty large of them. On Friday, the rep told me that I could not sell any of my existing securities to cover the purchases. Do you think that he meant the securities that were involved in the Reg T restriction, or was he "spot on" with his info. ( I would assume that the proceeds from the sales would take 3 days to settle as well) Heh, I'll be scouring the forums searching for the "idiots guide to account management" thread in the next couple days..Maybe 90 days will be perfect for perfecting my precision trading "skillz" Thanks for giving me your time guys... Todd
Todd, You really don't have a problem. Just enable the margin account and trade with it while letting your cash account go thru the 90 day restriction. The restriction just means you have to call in the order with a live broker so they can probably charge you higher commission while checking to make sure you have the "cash" in the account.
Thanks... I'll jump on it Monday morning.. Hey, do you mind if I go off topic a sec and I ask you what you use for trading software. The Marketspeed doesn't do it for me ( which will probably be obsolete once E trade finishes the aquisition, probably to be replaced by Lightspeed) but it comes with the account, streaming quotes is monthly...But there is no order book, print sizes, ticker and charts stink, I like my old Metastock better. I posted a question about Hammertrade in the appropriate forum, but I was basically wondering if third party trading platforms will work with my brokerage account. Any thoughts are welcome.. Todd
Todd, Some people have had good experiences with Etrade but others have had horrible experiences. With their purchase of Harrisdirect, im not really sure if you may be in the same boat as I was. Regardless, If you continue to have an Etrade account, please take the necessary precautions to protect your account. Best of luck. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showt...erpage=6&highlight=etrade fraud&pagenumber=33
Transfer your account out and go to a place like MB Trading or IB. I think you can day trade with them with a 60k account value for sure. I guess it might take a month to transfer everything out but better then 90 days. You can also liquidate all your stocks and request a check and do the above which would be faster.
It took me about 4 business days to transfer all my stocks from Ameritrade to IB. BUT, when I wired money out from my Ameritrade to IB, it happened on the same day which was the fastest wire transaction I've seen. I requested wire at 10am EST and the money was in my IB account by 4pm EST.
In a cash account, regardless of the account having any type of cash-call or not, the brokers will not let you take money out until the proceeds of your trades have settled. However, you can withdraw money out from a margin account before the trades settle, but you have to pay margin APR until the day the trades settle. Ameritrade does not give you problems to take your money in/out fast. It remains to be seen if Todd's broker let him take out his money without any hassle.
OK, it looks like they have finished the margin paperwork, thanks to all for your advice. My account is now a margin account. I have decided to wait until the smoke clears and all HD accounts transfer over to Etrade on Jan 6 before I decide on making further changes, and risk a big mess. However, if you could help me avoid any further problems, I have 3 questions. First, I only have one account, it was a cash account, but now that it is a margin accout, does the Reg T restriction still apply to transactions? By that I mean, if I trade on margin, is it a separate account than the cash account, even though it's the same account #? Second, if I initiate and close a trade(s) on the same day, is there interest to be paid if I use any available margin? Lastly, if I make multiple round trip trades during the day, do the "purchase" amounts add up towards the total available margin? I mean, if I have 10k, and buying power of 40k ( 4:1 right?), and I buy(and sell) 10k of stock 5 times throughout the day, did I go over the limit? Thanks Todd
I can only answer the first question... the restriction is on your cash account only but you should ask your broker and they should answer that. P.S. Have you read about E-Trade having security problem here? People got money wire out of their account by a third party and E-Trade said it's not their problem. Smell like an inside job too.
I am not an E*Trade customer yet...But I will read up on it, and take the information seriously...Thanks for the info, I have a hard time understanding how two accounts have the same acct #.. Any chance with the other two questions anyone? Todd