I am mainly trading options and worried about PFOF on which these tradier/RH/webull brokers rely on -- correct me if am wrong - its better to pay major brokers commission than losing $1 per contract when these brokers don't execute orders at best price due to PFOF or otherwise
I have several accounts at Schwab, most of them retirement so I can't have margin. I've got level 2 options (spreads) in those accounts and must cover all spreads with cash. I've been using SWVXX as my "manual sweep" account. At the end of the day, I put everything left over in SWVXX. When I need cash for spreads or buying indices, I sell SWVXX. The actual transaction takes place at 8:30ish ET, but the cash is available immediately after I issue the sell order. There is an advantage to SWVXX when I'm selling cash covered PUTs. I don't have to sell my shares of SWVXX, it is treated as cash by Schwab and I only have to sell if the contract is assigned. There are probably other MM funds that can perform this function, it's the only one I've used. I see this as an edge over sweep accounts, because I'm earning interest *while* my contracts are (hopefully) making premiums.
No. We have only $14K in cash, but the option requirement is $54K. And we are not paying interest. There is no margin loan. There is no margin call. No money due. The account is in full compliance. The option requirement of $54K is satisfied because we have well over $54K in marginable securities in the account. I tried to send you a private message, but it won't allow it. I think you have private messaging disabled. You may send a message to me and I will reply.
I did send you DM but may be you have not received it - but nothing much I said - I expressed personal thanks for your meaning conversation.
What exactly were you trying to accomplish / to check? Unlike futures margin, on the equities / equity options side of the account, the margin requirements of all positions are simply added (or a combined margin calculated for portfolio margin), and the total has to be lower than the account value; there is no specific set of securities eligible for security margin deposit as far as I know, correct? In other words, as long as the net cash in the account is positive, no debt interest is charged. Your interest bearing cash balance, credit or debit, is exactly the cash balance in the account that you see, no more and no less. Note the difference between cash balance / margin interest, and margin requirement - those are separate and relatively independent concepts that retail investors, including some participants in this thread, are often confused about, because both terms include the word "margin". This is a bit different from how futures margin works, where cash (or other eligible securities like T-bills) is set aside and moved to the futures side of the account (for combined accounts like at Interactive Brokers), which in turn implies that your interest bearing cash (incurring "margin interest" for debit balances) may be different from the total net cash in the account, i.e. you can have a positive total cash balance, and yet be charged margin interest.
What ironchef was told makes no sense to me, and I think your experiment or observation is correct; although to be honest I don't know how the mechanics of the margining works if you sell options, receive cash for them, and buy other "stuff" with this cash; i.e. what (if any) does the broker have to deposit with the OCC as security for your liability arising from the short options position, and if it is cash, how is it accounted for in terms of overnight interest.
I see a huge difference in buying power requirement among different brokers. What is naked short put buying power requirement at tradier - just give a example of Amzn 200 put expiring March 21 2025 -- usually it should be around 20% of the current price of that stock but some brokers use 40% of that price
You said for index options its is good value but I see even with pro plus it is 0.10+0.45 for spx so its not a huge advantage compared to others - am I missing something ?