retail leverage under 25k is 2-1 If you have less then 25k in your account your subject to 2-1 margin If you trade prop then you know everyone uses it for leverage period
I was there while it was happening. I was sitting right next to the risk manager. They booted the guy after 2 or 3 trades because it didn't make any sense. Lisa is a class act, nothing shady about her at all, its a shame this happened to her.
These are slap-on-the-wrist fine amounts... Basically the minimum you could get for a full investigation like this... Something you might get for improper books and records... For something that is *** shady on so many levels ***.
Slap on the wrist for the owners but it says Mercury is out of business. Does anyone know what happened to the traders at these companies?
Just a comment. Back when they started PDT, I was sort of mystified. They "insisted" on $25K, which is fine. But then they doubled the amount of margin, from 2x to 4x. For some reason, that just made little sense to me. Given the other basic drawbacks for PDT retail accounts (wash sales, matching trades, no Mark to Market, minimal capital usage,etc.) why give them more $$ to hang themselves with. I'm a free market guy, and I think Americans should make their own minds up as to whether they want to trade or not. Retail or professional (and, yes, many retail traders are professional in many senses). If I want to buy 5000 SPY in my Schwab account, and sell it back, then I should be able to buy it again, darnit, LOL. So, forgot my point... oh yeah, LOL... not so sure it's just the PDT that made things so weird. Don edit: Oh yeah number 2. the same firms I bring up, the "other two" and us, were around for a long time before the PDT rule.