Has anyone ever gone through a forced liquidation with ameriturd (or other discount broker)? I was within the margin req for each contract I sold but then got the email 2 days later. Do they wait for "unfavorable" conditions before acting or are they likely to do it before op ex even if the pos are profitable? Maybe I should reply that I promise to wire more funds in next week?
I have been asked to close positions on expiry day if there is chance of assignment and not having enough $$ in my acct to cover the stock holding.
It doesn't matter if the position is a winner or a loser, if you don't have enough excess equity to cover the requirement you may be forced to cover or they may cover for you. It's also possible that you had enough to cover the requirement of the position but did not meet their minimum equity requirement for the strategy. It's not unusual to be forced to exit an ITM position (long or short) on expiration Friday if the resulting stock position is too large for your account.
Thanks for the feedback, guys. That makes sense with ITM since you could get assigned anytime. I sold contracts $5+ OTM and so I'd be happy to wait until the 16th if Ameriturd doesn't act. The warning was an automated msg.