MARGIN DEBT TOPS $300 BILLION, Last time was MARCH 2000!!!!!

Margin Debt is about $300+ billion now, higher than the March 2000 Margin Debt.

Aside from that the DOW is now on its 43rd RECORD HIGH as of OCTOBER 2006.

 

Includes short positions

 

The NASD, a brokerage regulator, recently sent out an "alert" to investors outlining the risks associated with margin. Through the end of March, the latest data available, the amount of debt taken on by investors to buy stocks totaled $317.7 billion. And while that was a bit below the $321.2 billion record hit in February, it still surpasses the $300 billion in March 2000 at the top of the tech-stock bubble.

 

When the it comes it going to look like Katrina hit the markets. Yup.

Two black swans in sequence. Maybe everything turns into a black swan from here on out?

 

this is through the end of march, I really think margin debt could easily be over $325 billion.

 

Is there some way to break out retail margin vs inst. margin?

Just curious.

 

You should never get a margin call if you are careful. I dont understand how traders get margin calls when the market only dips 4-8%. You would have to be either super leveraged or very unlucky.

 

Margin requirements were loosened in April when portfolio margining was introduced.

 

Adjusted for inflation we still have room to go there. I try to make it a habit to always adjust for inflation. $300 billion adjusted for inflation would be somewhere around $340-360 billion.

That's not to say that I don't think people are over-leveraged.

 

At this rate that can easily be achieved by end of June.