BrownsFan019 wrote: But doesn't the exchange spell this out? They are the one's that establish the over-night margin amounts that brokers must impose on traders. Don't they also tell the brokers the time during which the over-night amounts are in effect?
I am not aware of any brokers that will let you hold through a closing period with less than the exchange limit. I was told this is to help safegaurd them in case of a limit move. I do know you can trade all night long with $500 margins if your are on good terms with your broker, but they have to okay it and they assume the liability for the traders actions. The terminology is misleading, Overnight is defined as holding a position through the close of ES trading. Not opening a position after previous close and trading at night.
They may have low margins, but it comes with a price. They will liquidate your position when you least expect it. They have also been fined for Fraud by the NFA. Do your homework, they can not be trusted. If you don't believe me, email them and try to get the email address of one of their officers. They won't provide it. If you do a backround check, you will see they have been fined many times. Stick with a reputable trading firm. Also, many people don't talk about this, but they DO NOT give you a real time value of your equity so you are trading a bit blind. TradeStation does. Believe me, stay away from them. I had money left on account, and they liquidated my entire position even though I had enough on account to ride out another point. Oh, and I got a market order AT THE HIGH OF THE DAY. And it happened AFTER my position was coming back my way (toward the pivot). Suddenly I was sold off at the high of the day. NO PHONE CALL, NO EMAIL, NOTHING. My account NEVER went negative, and they LIQUIDATED my position. BE VERY VERY VERY CAREFUL!