DEF: I don't think somebody should be able to 'plunk down 500.00 and trade futures'...especially if he has no other investment $$.....One of the things I've been trying to get across to everyone is that it's because of people like this that we now have PDT rules enacted by the SEC... Everyone who had some spare change was throwing it down and trading....Didn't everyone know at least 5 people who " quit their professional job, emptied a 401k and began trading"?????//....and then when the market tanked an these same guys had no money and no job they did what every other warm blooded american does......they got a lawyer and sued everybody...We can agree to disagree, but if you are saying that it's IB's policy to let a person actively trade options with stated liquid net of less then 25k, then I think you may have some problems down the road. Time will tell, but i have to belive your ROP is not approving that....You can trade with LESS then that amoutn but i will bet he only approves them if they have STATED financials that are higher.
TM, we're on the same page. i differ a bit on the numbers but yes, I do agree with you on the big picture.
I got screwed by the damn PDT rules this week I took some money out of my acct leaving only 1 grand above the 25 K figure made a bad trade in a stock , did not cut my losses panicked sold it out and then could not buy it back as the stock was moving back up to my original purchase price AS the PDT rules kicked in (my acct had dipped below the 25 K level )
around those stupid PDT rules just have 5 trading accts and move the money from one acct to the other anytime one of them gives you the pdt ( wait 5 days ) rule .
If you tried that with two accounts, anyhow, and didn't do it often enough to raise suspicions from the firm, you might manage to use it as a backup plan. When I found out in December how easy it is to shift money between separate IB accounts, I got the same idea, but was informed that if they suspected accounts were being used to get around the rule, they would be forced to close down the accounts. Do it discreetly once in a while and you might get away with it. My advice though to anyone getting pissed off by this bogus rule is simply stop giving your business to anything the S.E.C. presides over. They don't want your business, they don't have any respect for you, why continue to patronize their shop? Switch to Single Stock Futures and E-minis, and leave their stocks and stock options to get along without your support.
And PDT rule applying to buying options (likely to hedge a stock position to reduce loss), plain stupid.
I was a victim of the PDT rules. I must be compensated one way or another. SEC, you have the responsibility to do something. Hello, hii oo are you here?